And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. --Genesis 28:12
I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. --John 14:6
MAX (formerly HBO) has seen huge success recently with its show scripted by Julian Fellowes (author of the popular Downton Abbey), called The Gilded Age. Set in late 19th century New York, the show’s season two finale featured the opulent opening of the newly constructed Brooklyn Bridge. The bridge was a major feat of engineering for its time. It was the first suspension bridge to use steel cable wire. But more than that, just as the newly built railway systems facilitated long-distance commerce and transportation, the Brooklyn Bridge stretched across the East River, connecting Manhattan with Brooklyn, and allowed people easier access to downtown New York jobs. The miraculous bridge, one of the three engineering and architectural wonders of its time, spoke of a new kind of cultural efficiency and contributed to the birth of the modern technological age in New York.
I want you to imagine for a moment that you are standing on the Brooklyn side of that expanse of space looking over at distant Manhattan. Now, rather than boarding a ferry and making your way slowly across the water, imagine twists of cable wire stretching all of that way, enabling you to simply step out and cross. Imagine looking down and seeing only the blue of the river beneath you, feeling the wind on your face, as you dare to walk that bridge for the very first time. Exhilarating right? Amazing! Almost surreal. This new and amazing bridge to a bright and hopeful future.
Now imagine another scenario. What if you could connect to God in an equally miraculous way? What if suddenly a gateway appeared, a kind of portal between this life and the next, a bridge of sorts that would enable you to see and access God and God’s Kingdom of Heaven, to see to the other side. Not just see, but to get there over that newly appeared “bridge.” We call this kind of “bridging” a revelation, God revealing something to us that we formerly could not see, attain, imagine, access from our current place in time and space.
In Genesis 28, Jacob saw just that kind of “bridge,” in which God seemed to break through from the heavenly realm and to make a path, a connection for Jacob, so that he would always know that he would have access to God and that God would watch over him, no matter where he was. Unlike the Brooklyn Bridge, God’s “bridge” between heaven and earth would be a “movable feast,” which could appear suddenly and unexpectedly at any given time. It’s the ultimate in God’s method of “incarnation.” It’s also an amazing metaphor with which to celebrate the season of “epiphany!”
The word for this connective medium that God offers to Jacob is translated in the English versions of our scriptures as “ladder” or sometimes “staircase.” But the Hebrew word, as usual, is so much more interesting than that. In fact, the usual words employed in Hebrew to indicate a ladder or staircase are not listed here at all. Instead, the Hebrew word here is “sullam.” More interesting is that this is the only time that this word is used in the scriptures in this particular form, so that to translate it offers a challenge. But we can get clues from its root and related cognate words: m’sillah (highway) and salal (to build up, raise up, or exalt).[1]
The closest meaning we can come to for “sullam” is a kind of gateway or portal, a “raised up road or spiritual pathway.” If the words now of John the Baptist come to mind, you are on the right track (pun intended):
John replied in the words of the prophet Isaiah:
“I am a voice shouting in the wilderness,
‘Clear the way for the LORD’s coming!’” (NLT)
Have you caught that “epiphany moment” yet? John, using the words of the prophet Isaiah warns us to make way for God’s ultimate incarnation. He alerts us to look for the emergence of God into our world in a spectacular and miraculous way –by means of a “gateway.” Jesus will emerge into the world by means of God’s incarnational miracle. God, who dwells outside of time and space, will “break through” into our world in a miraculous way, establishing a connection between heaven and earth that will result in the presence of Jesus, incarnated “Son” of God. God become human. Immanuel, “God with us.”
And who is Jesus? Let’s look at John’s gospel again:
“I AM the gateway” ( 10:7).
“I AM the Light of the world” (8:12).
“I AM the door (10:9).
“I AM the vine (15:1-5).
“I AM the Way, and the Truth, and the Life” (14:16)
And in our scripture for today: “You will see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending over the Son of man” (1:43-51).[2]
As Timothy explains (1 Timothy 2:5), Jesus is the “mediator between God and mankind,” come to reconcile humanity with God. He is the connector. He is the bridge.
Now, when we say vine, we don’t mean that we climb up Jesus to get to heaven, like we’re “Jack going up the beanstalk!” But we mean that Jesus allows us to become connected to God in a new and redeeming way, a spiritually healthy and healing way.” In him, we receive “salvation” (ultimate spiritual, emotional, and physical health and wholeness).
When John the Baptist announces that the Messiah will come, he encourages us to “clear” and “make way” our spiritual pathway to God, because the messiah will be appearing in our midst, and we need to be aware to look for his presence in our lives. Jesus has made access to God feasible for us, if we put our trust and faith in Him. He IS the path. He IS the “Way.” Or as he tells Nathanael in our scripture today, “you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.” Jesus does not merely come down via a ladder or bridge from heaven. He IS the Ladder. He IS the bridge. He is God’s holy medium of revelation. And he offers his holy “hand” to us, as a bridge to salvation and life in the kingdom of heaven. In Jesus, heaven and earth are interconnected. He is our saving grace.
Nathanael is blessed, because, like Jacob, he “sees” and “recognizes” Jesus immediately. Whereas Jacob recognized God’s presence as a “holy place” or as being surrounded by God’s “spiritual realm,” Jesus exudes from his very being that “presence of God.” And like Jacob’s ladder, God’s intervention into human life and history is not static but is a “movable feast.” Wherever Jesus is, God’s intervention is happening. And like Jacob, whom God blessed to be a blessing to all who encounter him, Jesus will bestow God’s blessing upon all who believe in him.
Jacob names the place in which he encountered God, “Beth el”: “house of God. Jesus, Son of God, becomes a play on that Hebrew concept, as Jesus is not merely Son of David, not merely a descendent of the etymological heritage of that human genealogy or as the Hebrew word suggests, “household.” Jesus is “Beth el.” He is descended from God. He is Son of God. He is of the “household” of God. He is Bayit YWHW and collectively Bayit Israel.
Like Jacob, Nathanael realized that “the Lord was in this place!” And for this, Jesus recognized in him a true “Israelite.”
The beauty of the Hebrew scriptures and their fulfillment in Jesus’ life and words comes to life in this passage today. For as we continue to celebrate the Epiphany of our Lord, the miracle of God’s incarnational presence here among us and his never-ending promise of salvation, we must begin to “recognize” Jesus in our midst.
For in the power of the Holy Spirit, he’s still here, among us, as our “highway” and “high way” to heaven and our fulfillment of God’s promise to all people.
Close your eyes. Feel the power of Jesus within you and around you. When you open them again, know that he is with you wherever you go, and that you are truly and always blessed.
[1] See Strongs Hebrew 5551. See also Strongs 4546 (m’sillah) and 5549 (salal). Additionally, see the relationship between these at hebrewwordlessons.com/2023/08/13/sullam-msillah-ladders-hhighways/.
[2] Note also that this “lighted pathway” will appear again from heaven and rest over and around Jesus in the moment of his baptism and in the moment of his transfiguration.