“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
I was a bit confused by this. Why
would angels ride on Jesus? Aren’t they supposed to be able to move independently?
So I checked out another Bible. The NKJV has Jesus saying, “…the angels of God
ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”
Which begs the question, if
angels are from Heaven, how could they ascend, or rise up, to rest upon Jesus while He walked the earth? That
would meant they were lower than Him. In Heaven’s hierarchy, they are but that
doesn’t apply to actual physical space. Or is this passage a foreshadowing of
what was to happen after Jesus’ death when He
would ascend to sit at the right hand of God, the Father?
The Jesus Centered Bible I quoted
at the top does provide a clarification that Jesus is the stairway between
heaven and earth…hmmm…neither life nor death can change the nature of God…He is
as He has always been and always will be…
Oh, dear, what a muddle! And I
have no idea where this is all going.
Perhaps it’s okay to admit I
don’t understand this passage. It’s even better to hope that one day it will
make sense to me. Perhaps all that matters is believing Jesus is the stairway between Heaven and earth
and that one day, I will climb His steps to be with Him…
Noooo…I don’t have to wait
because He is with me now…
Sigh. Now my head is going to
explode because it would seem up, down, here or there are words of a mortal
being; concepts created due to the physicality of a mortal body and being aware
of its placement in regards to other objects. It is also limiting because our
body can only be in one place at a time.
It’s also our awareness of the passage of time
that thwarts our ability to grasp the timelessness of God.
It’s hard to try and understand what we cannot
understand because it is beyond our knowledge and experiences.
But, God gave us an
imagination. With the Holy Spirit as a tour guide, where would you like to go?
(Smile.) There is this flight of stairs that is worth
exploring...
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