Today’s Gospel:  John 1:47-51

REFLECTION
In today’s Gospel, what is meant by the angels “ascending and descending on the Son of Man”? Nathanael was not talking about angels, although he had been convinced by Jesus’ prophetic insight into his life that Jesus was indeed the Messiah. Now Jesus responds to him, saying in effect, “You haven’t seen anything yet!” He goes on to describe the experience we find in today’s Gospel. What does it mean to see heaven open? And why would it be significant to see angels of God “ascending and descending” on Jesus?

It is obvious that there is a change of audience in John 1:51. Up until this time Jesus has been addressing Nathanael, and the pronoun “you” is singular. In this verse Jesus speaks “to him” (singular) and says, “I tell you (plural) … you (plural) shall see…” In other words, within the verse the focus shifts from Nathanael to the whole group of disciples. Jesus is expanding his audience. It is not just Nathanael who will have this experience, but the whole group gathered at that time.

What is it that the whole group will experience? The reference to angels of God ascending and descending is probably a reference to Genesis 28:12: “He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.” The difference between “on it” and “on him” (underlying John’s “on the Son of Man”) is not significant in that the Hebrew could be translated both ways.

John’s reference is wider than simply Genesis 28, for he also uses the phrase “you shall see heaven open,” which suggests the descent of the Spirit at Jesus’ baptism (Mk 1:10).
So what we have here is a complex picture. Heaven is open; there is a way from heaven (the presence of the Father) to earth. That way ends in or on the Son of Man, or Jesus. As Jacob comments in Genesis 28:17, “This is the gate of heaven.” All of this is said in a context of seeing greater things than simply a prophetic word from Jesus, which is what Nathanael had already received.

There is no place in John’s Gospel in which the disciples see literal angels moving between heaven and earth, or between heaven and Jesus. However, angels are those who bring the divine presence and so are the divine intermediaries. So the question becomes, “Where in the Gospel of John do we see the divine presence revealed to the disciples?” The answer comes quite quickly: in the next chapter of John.

In John 2:11 we read, “This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.” In the miracle of turning the water into wine the disciples saw Jesus’ glory revealed. This resulted in faith. What was Jesus’ glory? John has already answered that question in John 1:14-18: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. … No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.” John is saying that the glory or reputation that belongs to the Father is seen in Jesus. We could put it that Jesus is the window through which one sees the Father.

Jacob at Bethel sees a stairway to heaven and experiences the presence of God. The disciples during Jesus’ life did not literally see a stairway to heaven, but they did experience the presence of God and the connection between heaven and earth in Jesus. They had this experience when they observed the signs which Jesus performed and saw his glory, which was the glory of the Father. Nathanael had believed because of a prophetic word given by Jesus. Both he and the other disciples would experience more than this: they would experience Jesus as the “gate of heaven,” the place where the presence of the Father in heaven was expressed on earth. They saw this in the signs which Jesus worked, and they responded with commitment (faith).
John picks up this theme in John 14:12, when he indicates that the presence of the Spirit in the believer will make him or her into one who can be even more of a window into heaven.  At this point what we notice is that Jesus is the point of contact between God and the world. In him there is traffic between heaven and earth. That traffic is seen in his signs in which the presence of the glory of the Father in him shines through. This, John is saying, calls for belief. Nathanael committed himself to Jesus on the basis of what he had; we have far more basis for committing ourselves than he did.

Today’s Reading:  Rev 12:7-12

PRAYER
Lord, although we haven’t seen you as the apostles did, we have “seen” you with the eyes of faith.  And as we “see” you, we also see the Father.  You are our Lord and our God, and we bask in the warmth of Your glory. In Jesus’ Name we pray.  Amen.