Today’s first reading from Genesis is the story of Jacob’s ladder or stairway. This ladder reaches from the ground to the heavens. God’s “messengers” or angels were “going up and down on” this stairway. God reveals himself to Jacob as the God of his ancestors and promises blessings to Jacob and his descendants.
John’s Gospel picks up this imagery from Jacob’s dream in Genesis to describe Jesus as the one who now provides real access to God. Jesus refers to Jacob’s ladder in his dialogue with Nathanael:
Nathanael: “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.”
Jesus: “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree…Amen, amen, I say to you, you will see the sky opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” (John 1:49-51).
Jesus is now the ladder who provides access between heaven and earth. Jacob’s dream is realized in Jesus, the Word made flesh, who provides access to the heavenly Father:
“No one has ever seen God. The only Son, God, who is at the Father’s side, has revealed him.” (John. 1:18).
Jesus reveals the one true God and shows us the one true God as Jesus explains to his disciples at the Last Supper in his dialogue with Philip:
Philip: “Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.”
Jesus: “Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” (John 14:8-9).
The Gospels and the whole NT teach us that in Jesus we have immediate and continual access to God. When Jesus is crucified the Temple curtain is not just opened but torn in two so this curtain can no longer be closed. This curtain prevented unlimited access to God or even looking into the holy of holies. The tearing of the temple symbolically teaches that Jesus’ death puts an end to this restricted access to God. Paul teaches this same message in his letter to the Romans:
“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith to this grace in which we stand, and we boast in hope of the glory of God.” (Romans 5:1-2).
Today we do not have to dream, like Jacob, of access to God. Jesus himself is the stairway or ladder who provides us immediate and continuous access to our heavenly Father. This access is God’s gift to us in our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us approach our God today with great joy and humility.
Image: “Jacob’s Ladder” by SNappa2006 is licensed under CC BY 2.0.