The Stairway to Heaven - July 23, 2010

Good Friday morning! This morning, I realized that some of you will not be reading this on Friday, but will get up on Saturday to read this devotional. Somewhere out in the Pacific Ocean, the next day has already arrived even as we get up to Friday morning. Back in the day, scientists or politicians or someone in authority, drew an imaginary line on the globe and said, "This is where we'll begin the next day!" They could have drawn the line right through a nation or city, but what if they drew it down the aisle separating the Republicans and Democrats in the Senate? I suppose the political rhetoric in Washington is crazy enough without having one party on Friday and the other on Saturday. What if the International Date Line were drawn at midfield of the World Cup? Okay, so I'm going off the deep end on Friday morning (Saturday for those of you on the other side of the Pacific). I think that a little odd thinking might even be necessary for today's verse.

Then he (Jesus) said, "I tell you the truth, you will all see heaven open and the angels of God going up and down on the Son of Man, the one who is the stairway between heaven and earth." (John 1:51)

And that ends Chapter 1 of John, thank you for your time and enjoy the day...

When I come to a verse like this one, I get a strong feeling to run away from it. How do you explain a statement like this? The experts who write the footnotes in my study Bibles say this is not a physical experience. Both footnotes use that exact phrase, not a physical experience. How can they be sure?

How many times have you heard your pastor say something like, "We believe the Bible is the incorruptible and indisputable word of God." And then we read in the footnote that something like this is too fantastic to be a physical experience. Jesus begins the verse with , "I tell you the truth..." followed by one of the more mind-bending statements in the Bible. The reference is to Jacob's dream in Genesis, but why do we immediately think the experience cannot be physical right after Jesus says, "I tell you the truth"? Do we know how large an angel is? How far it is to Heaven? Does any human know how heavy an angel is? If we cannot answer these questions, why do we automatically assume Jesus is speaking figuratively? We also know that Jesus often spoke in eternal terms. In other words, he may not have meant the disciples would see this the next day or even in their earthly lifetimes.

I will admit that I am not a college or seminary trained Bible scholar. Perhaps that is why I tend to disagree with them when faced with some of the more fantastic statements made in the Bible. My question is always the same, "Why do we assume that Jesus doesn't mean exactly what he said?" The fact that none of us can understand exactly how an angel could ascend and descend from Heaven on the Son of Man does not mean that it cannot happen. I'm thinking that a child would believe that statement without question, exactly the kind of faith we are to have. Jesus may have made statements like this to remind us of that child-like faith we are to have in everything that God says.

The imagery of the stairway to heaven or Jacob's ladder has fascinated us for centuries. We have both secular and Christian songs, poems, and even shows about the stairway, the great divide, and the way to heaven. My favorite is probably The Great Divide by Point of Grace. One of these days I want to take that stairway between Heaven and Earth. I'm sure that all of you want the same thing. In order to walk the steps up to Heaven, I suppose we had better start by believing what Jesus said!

Have a wonderful day in Christ!

Bucky