Day Seven: The Ladders

 

Two ladders stand propped against the wall of the stable. Ladders often appear in paintings of the ‘Deposition’ when Jesus’ body is taken down from the cross. Maybe these ladders hint at this later, darker event in Jesus’ life.

The only ladder I can think of explicitly referred to in the Bible, though, is the one that  the patriarch Jacob sees in a dream in Genesis chapter 28.  He has run away from his family, and, he thinks, from God, and finds himself in the middle of nowhere with nothing but a stone for a pillow but as he sleeps, he dreams of a ladder with angels climbing up and down it, between heaven and earth. God is where he is, the dream tells him, and he always will be. Jesus makes reference to this dream when he calls Nathanael to come and follow him. He tells Nathanael that he had seen him in a vision earlier in the day, and describes him sitting under a fig tree. Nathanael is astonished at this, but Jesus tells him “You will see greater things than [this]...Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man” (John 1. 51) Maybe these ladders remind us that when Jesus is born, heaven and earth touch each other, right here, in this ramshackle stable.

 For Reflection

Jacob said: “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this the gate of heaven.” Genesis 28.17

 Have you had unexpected moments when you have felt God close to you?

Are there places that feel “god-forsaken” to you (real places or situations in your life story)?

The whole picture:

https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/jan-brueghel-the-elder-the-adoration-of-the-kings