Under the Stairway

And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it! … Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it. --Genesis 28:12, 16

And he said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.  – John 1:51

Jesus is the Stairway to heaven.  Probably countless messages have been preached over the last two thousand years proclaiming Christ and the Cross as Jacob’s Ladder.  In speaking to Nathanael, who was astounded that Jesus had seen him under a fig tree, the Lord says that such clairvoyance is nothing compared to what the disciple will see as he follows.  Heaven will be opened.   Sometimes even the most literal of literalists fail to take the Bible literally enough. 

For all of Jacob’s faults, the transformation of his life began when he came to a place which he would call Bethel, the House of God, where he lay down to sleep as a homeless fugitive. Dreaming of a stairway, he understood that his dream had a prophetic significance, and that he, deceptive and slippery though he was, had an offer of access to God.  He did what he could.  He set up the stone on which his head had rested as a pillar and anointed it.  He pledged a tenth of all that he gained would be offered to the Lord.  He began the long journey from Jacob, the supplanter, to Israel, a prince who strives with God, by the recognition of the presence of the Lord. 

Like Jacob, Nathanael and the other disciples would be new men when they understood that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself.  As we read:  For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. (Ephesians 2:18)  Then, again, Paul tells us:  This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. (Ephesians 3:11-12)

You and I live under that open heaven.  For a long time some of us walked around and had no idea that the Lord was present.   If we thought of Him, we considered Him as one far off who viewed us as through a telescope.  One day we awoke and found out that we lived in Bethel where the angels ascend and descend.  Recently I was struck so forcefully by this that I was actually fearful of losing my mind, not that I have a lot to lose or anything.  In some ways it might be the best thing, especially if I have a mind set upon the wrong things. 

One thing is certain.  Our prayers are heard.