He Saw A Ladder

Genesis 28:10
John 1:40-51

Here in our department we are all familiar with ladders.  You have ladders that extend; you have ladders that you use for various types of things.
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If you were going to try to get on top of a tall building you would have to have an extension ladder.  A step ladder won’t do you any good.  You have to have the right ladder for the job. We know there are fiberglass ladders, aluminum ladders…. there are all types of ladders.  But today we won’t be talking about a physical ladder as we know it. 

As we see in the word of God here is Jacob, tired on his travels, and he lays down, taking some stones for a pillow.  As he lays there he goes to sleep and then as he is sleeping Jacob has a dream.  In this dream Jacob sees a ladder that’s extending from earth to heaven. 

Right there that lets you know it was no ordinary ladder.  That was not a ladder as we might see today. This passage tells us of angels on this ladder who were going from earth to glory and from glory to earth. 
Jacob saw this ladder in the book of Genesis the first book of the bible.  One other place in the bible that we see angels ascending and descending from heaven is in the book of John. 

In John Chapter 1 Jesus is calling disciples.  He’s calling Andrew, Peter, and others. Here Philip makes this declaration:  “We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.  And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see.”

As we read and study the bible we know that Nazareth was not a Hollywood - it was not a New York City.   It wasn’t a flashy place.  It was a place where a lot of poor people lived.  That’s why Nathaniel said “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?”  But what did Phillip tell him?  “Come and see”; he told him to “come and see”.

In this passage Jesus tells Nathanael that He saw him under the fig tree.  In other words He sees us regardless of where we are.  I mean He wasn’t just looking across the street.   I’m saying that Nathanael was in another part of the village.   He was under the fig tree, probably like us, maybe eating figs; maybe it was hot, maybe he was cooling off.  But miraculously Jesus saw him under the fig tree.  Nathanael answered and said to him “Rabbi, thou art the son of God…”

Nathanael was one of the first of the disciples called by Him to acknowledge Him as Rabbi.  He was the first to acknowledge Him as the Son of God; the first to acknowledge Him as the King of Israel.  In response, Jesus said to him: “…thou shalt see greater things than these.  And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.”

This goes right back to my subject: “He saw the ladder”.   In Genesis we saw Jacob as he saw the ladder extending from earth to glory, as he saw angels ascending and descending upon it.  Now, in this passage from the Gospel of John Jesus tells Nathanael that he will “see heaven open” and see “angels ascending and descending upon the Son of man”.

My brothers, what Jacob saw in the book of Genesis is the same as what Jesus is talking to Nathanael about. He says “hereafter” - in other words after this life.  After everything is over you are going to see the Son of man and you’re going to see angels ascending and descending upon the Son of man.

So Jacob saw Jesus - he saw a figure of Jesus.  The ladder is a figure or symbol of Jesus.

The word of God teaches us in the 14th chapter of the book of John that Jesus is the only Way.  Jesus says “I am the way, the truth, and the life no man can come unto the Father but by me”.

In other words if you want to get up there you’re going to have to go by Jesus.   You’re going to have to go by the ladder.  Like I said earlier, if you want to get on top of this building you can’t use a step ladder, you’re going to have to have an extension ladder.  You’re going to have to have something that is able to reach up, something that can get you there.  

You know what, everyone that is expecting to go to heaven is going to have to go by that ladder. They’re going to have to go by Jesus, because as He told us no one goes to the Father except by Him. We gotta go by Him. Some folks might try to go by another way - they might try to go by Mohammed, Buddha, or whoever, but we know Jesus is the way. He is that ladder, my brothers, that Jacob saw and He is the ladder, as he told Phillip and Nathanael, where we will see angels ascending and descending upon the Son of man.

We thank God for you all and we thank God for this opportunity.   We thank God that He has made a way for us to get to Him, we thank God for the Ladder, Jesus Christ.
~J. T.