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Scripture Reading: John 1:50-51; Gen. 28:10-22
In this chapter we will look at the last topic in John 1, which is contained in verse 51. In this verse the Lord told the disciples that they would see “heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
Although John 1:51 was spoken by the Lord Jesus, His speaking was in reference to Genesis 28:10-12. These verses in Genesis speak of the dream that Jacob had while fleeing from his brother Esau. Jacob “dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it” (v. 12). Genesis says that the angels of God were ascending and descending on a ladder, but the Gospel of John speaks of the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man. The utterance in these two portions of the Bible is exactly the same except that a ladder is changed to the Son of Man in the Gospel of John. These two portions speak of the same thing. Hence, the ladder in Genesis 28 is the Son of Man in the Gospel of John. The Son of Man is the ladder. It is not easy to understand that the Son of Man is a ladder, nor is it easy to understand that the ladder is the Son of Man. However, by combining these two portions, we can see that the ladder is the Son of Man and that the Son of Man is a ladder in the universe. In this universe there is a man who has become a ladder that reaches to heaven and connects heaven to the earth. In order to understand this matter, we need to read from the beginning of chapter 1.
The Gospel of John is a special book, and it occupies a special position among the four Gospels. The Gospel of John has not only a special topic and a special content; even the utterance is special. In particular, chapter 1 has a strong independent character in comparison to the following chapters.
Chapter 1 begins with eternity past, before time began, and continues until heaven is opened to the earth and the Son of Man is a ladder upon whom the angels of God ascend and descend. Although we have a miniature of this today, its complete fulfillment will be in eternity future. Hence, chapter 1 covers from eternity past to eternity future.
Verse 1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” This Word is the Lord Jesus. At the end of chapter 1 the Word is the Son of Man; that is, the Word is a man. He existed in eternity past as the explanation and expression of God, the Word of God, but in eternity future He will also be the Son of Man.
Everything in eternity past was mysterious. Although the Lord was the Word of God, the Word had not yet come forth. He was God’s explanation, but He had not yet been manifested. Everything in eternity past was hidden and mysterious; there was only the Triune God. Heaven, earth, man, and time did not exist in eternity past; only God existed. But in eternity future there will also be the Son of Man upon whom the angels of God will ascend and descend. Hence, in eternity future there will be heaven and earth. The angels of God will be in heaven, and man will be on earth. Man is the center of the creatures on earth. In eternity future heaven will be opened and will communicate with man on the earth.
There is a great difference between the beginning and end of chapter 1. At the beginning there is the Word, but at the end there is the Son of Man. At the beginning everything is hidden, abstract, and mysterious, but at the end everything is concrete and manifested. At the beginning only the Triune God exists, but at the end there are heaven, earth, angels, and man. Not only so, heaven is opened to the earth, and the angels are ascending and descending on the Son of Man. This is a very mysterious yet clear picture. At the beginning everything is mysterious, but at the end everything is clear.
The section between the beginning and the end of chapter 1 follows the course of time. The course of time is the time between eternity past, which is the beginning, and eternity future. The first thing that happened in the course of time was that God created all things through the Word. Verse 3 says, “All things came into being through Him.” The second thing that happened was that the Word came to be life. Verse 4 says, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” The first thing that took place in the course of time was creation; the second thing that took place was the Word coming to be life and light to man in order to be received. The story in the Old Testament is related to the old creation, but the story in the New Testament is related to the new creation, to the Word coming as life.
When the Lord came to be life, some people rejected Him (v. 11), but others received Him, and “as many as received Him, to them He gave the authority to become children of God” (v. 12). Those who receive Him are regenerated and possess God’s life. The Word came to be man’s life in order for man to receive and gain Him by being born of God to be children of God so that He could raise up a tabernacle among men for God (v. 14). He was raised up as a tabernacle, making it possible for God to be received and touched by man. By receiving God, man receives grace, and by touching God, man touches reality.
The Gospel of John also says that receiving and touching the Lord are for man to enjoy His fullness (v. 16). This fullness is the fullness of God (Col. 1:19). The more we are in Him, the more we will touch the fullness of God and enjoy everything of God. The Lord declares the unapproachable, invisible, and unfathomable God by entering into man so that man can receive, experience, and enjoy all the fullness of God (John 1:18; 1 Tim. 6:16). This declaration is not a matter of teaching doctrine or objective speaking. This is the first half of John 1 it is also the introduction of the entire Gospel of John.
After the introduction we see the religious background and environment of the time. The people were in their religious concepts. Their mind was filled with the Jewish religion concerning the Messiah, Elijah, and the Prophet. John the Baptist, however, testified that the Lord Jesus was not the Leader whom the people were expecting according to their religious concepts. He was the Lamb of God and the dove. The Lamb of God takes away our sin, and the dove is for us to receive the Spirit of God and be joined to God.
As soon as John the Baptist testified, some disciples began to follow the Lord. Although they were rather confused, at least five followed the Lord. When they came before Him, they encountered an extraordinary situation that could not be understood or expressed according to their religious background, thought, and concepts. They felt that He was different from an ordinary man because through the Lord they could touch and receive God. According to their religious thought, however, they said, “We have found the Messiah” (v. 41). They also spoke of the Lord as “Him of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, wrote” and as “the King of Israel” (vv. 45, 49). They said these things according to their Old Testament religious concepts. Of those who followed Him, only Nathanael said, “You are the Son of God” (v. 49). In the Old Testament there are prophecies concerning the Messiah, the Prophet, and Elijah, but there is no word concerning the coming of the Son of God. Incredibly, Nathanael said, “You are the Son of God.” I believe that he probably heard this word from John the Baptist, who said, “He who sent me to baptize in water, He said to me, He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and abiding upon Him, this is He who baptizes in the Holy Spirit. And I have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God” (vv. 33-34). If Nathanael heard this word, it would have left a deep impression on him. Thus, when he saw the Lord, he said, “You are the Son of God.” Even though this word was full of revelation, Nathanael still added a religious “tail” to it, because he went on to say that the Lord was the King of Israel. This shows the depth of the disciples’ religious concepts.
In the Gospel of John the Lord Jesus did not want to be called the King of Israel. In chapter 6 the Jews wanted to make Him a king by force, but the Lord Jesus withdrew (v. 15). It was when He was nailed on the cross that the Roman governor Pilate wrote the charge against Him: “THE KING OF THE JEWS” (19:19; Mark 15:26). The Gospel of John does not say that the Lord Jesus came to the earth to be the King of Israel. On the contrary, it shows repeatedly that He is the Son of God and also the Son of Man. The Lord said, “He who believes into the Son has eternal life,” and “The Son can do nothing from Himself except what He sees the Father doing, for whatever that One does, these things the Son also does in like manner” (3:36; 5:19). Thus, the Gospel of John concerns the Son. The Lord Jesus said repeatedly that He is the Son. On one hand, He is the Son of God, and on the other hand, He is the Son of Man. Nathanael was clear, and yet he was confused. He said that the Lord Jesus was the Son of God, but he also said that the Lord Jesus was the King of Israel. This drew out a special response from the Lord, who said, “Is it because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree that you believe? You shall see greater things than these...Truly, truly, I say to you, You shall see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man” (1:50-51). Nathanael said that the Lord was the Son of God and the King of Israel, but the Lord said that He came to the earth to be the Son of Man and that Nathanael would see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on Him as the Son of Man.
Nathanael referred to the Lord as the Son of God, but the Lord Jesus referred to Himself as the Son of Man. These two titles reveal two aspects of the Lord Jesus for satisfying the need of man and the need of God. We need the Son of God, and God needs the Son of Man. From our perspective, we need God; from God’s perspective, He needs man. God needs to enter into man in order to be the Son of Man, but man needs to enter into God in order to be a son of God. The Gospel of John says that, on one hand, the Lord Jesus came, and on the other hand, He went (3:17; 14:3). The Lord Jesus came to bring God into man, and He went to bring man into God. He brought God into man because God needs man, and He brought man into God because man needs God. Man is God’s need, and God is man’s need. Therefore, God wants to be joined to man and to bring man into Himself so that He and man can become one.
In the four Gospels, even though the Lord Jesus told people to believe that He is the Son of God (John 3:16; 9:35), He always stood in the position of the Son of Man (1:51; 5:27). This is marvelous. When He was tempted in the wilderness, the devil said, “If You are the Son of God, speak that these stones may become loaves of bread” (Matt. 4:3), but He answered, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out through the mouth of God” (v. 4). When He went to Zaccheus’s house, He said, “The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which is lost” (Luke 19:10). When He was judged, the high priest charged, “Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God” (Matt. 26:63). He answered, “You have said rightly. Nevertheless I say to you, From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven” (v. 64). Although He wants man to believe in Him as the Son of God, He stands firmly in, holds fast to, and does not leave His position as the Son of Man, because as God, He needs man, and as men, we need God. As God, He needs to enter into man, and as man, we need to enter into God. We need the Son of God, but God needs man.
According to the Gospel of John, God entered into man to be the Son of Man and man enters into God to be a son of God. While the Lord Jesus was on the earth for thirty-three and a half years, He did not live as the Son of God but as the Son of Man. If He had lived as the Son of God, He would have never become tired, slept, eaten, drunk, or wept. He would have been above all, and He would not have been able to relate to the things in the human life. However, according to the four Gospels, He was not merely the Son of God; He was also the Son of Man. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke speak concerning many aspects of the Lord as a man. Even the Gospel of John, which is concerning the Lord as the God-Savior, says emphatically that the Lord Jesus hungered, thirsted, wept, and washed others’ feet (4:6-8; 11:35; 13:5). Hence, in the four Gospels He was manifested as the Son of Man.
On one occasion the Lord’s divinity could not be concealed, and He was manifested as the Son of God (Matt. 17:2). This can be likened to a cup that is filled with water, which can easily spill over the brim of the cup. When we read the Gospels, we sense that this was the case. Even though the Lord Jesus was outwardly found in fashion as a man (Phil. 2:8), His inward reality as the Son of God was manifested in Him as a man. The four Gospels show that He was God in man; He was the Son of Man.
God does not want us to be angels in heaven. Consequently, we need to ask whether He wants us to be sons of man or sons of God. If we understand God’s salvation and know His way of life, we will see that He wants us, as sons of man, to live as sons of God by the life of God. This can be seen in Galatians 2:20, which says, “It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith of the Son of God.” We are sons of man, but God wants us to express the life of the Son of God, just as the Son of Man expressed the life of God on the earth. He was the Son of God, but He lived as the Son of Man.
The Lord Jesus was the Son of God, but He lived as the Son of Man. This brought God into man. We, the sons of man, should express God as sons of God. This is to bring man into God. The life that the Lord lived on the earth was a testimony of God living in man. We are indeed sons of man, but God wants us to live as sons of God. Such a life testifies that man is in God and that man lives in God. The Lord Jesus is God living in man, and we should be human beings living in God. This is what it means to be a Christian. This is the mingling of God with man.
The Lord Jesus did not come to be the Messiah, Elijah, the Prophet, or a Rabbi. He came to be a Lamb with a dove in order to bring God into man and to bring man into God, that is, He came as God to live the life of man so that man could live the life of God. In this way God and man are mingled as one. The result of this mingling is that heaven is opened, and heaven and earth can communicate with each other. This result is signified by the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.
If we only had the Lord’s word in John 1:51, we would be able to understand that the Son of Man has made communication between heaven and earth possible and even that what is in heaven can be joined to what is on earth. However, if we compare John 1:51 with Genesis 28, we will see that something even greater and deeper is implied by this communication. According to Genesis, the communication between heaven and earth occurs at Bethel, the house of God.
God became a man in order to live the human life. This was God building Himself into man. Man enters into God in order to live the divine life. This is God building man into Himself. Thus, two parties, God and man, are mingled as one and built up as the house of God. This is the significance of Jacob pouring oil on the stone at Bethel. The ladder in Genesis is the Son of Man in the Gospel of John. This ladder is set up on earth and reaches into heaven so that there can be communication between heaven and earth. God can enter into man and man can enter into God because the Lord was incarnated to be the Son of Man.
The Lord Jesus is indeed a ladder. The purpose of a ladder is to go from a low place to a higher place. Formerly, heaven was heaven and earth was earth. In other words, God could not communicate with man by being joined to man. In his dream Jacob saw a ladder reaching from earth to heaven. This ladder was the means of communication between earth and heaven. He also saw angels ascending and descending on the ladder. According to this picture, what is in heaven is coming down, and what is on earth is going up. In other words, something from God is coming down to man, and something from man is going up to God. According to John 1, the Son of Man is the ladder. He is God becoming a man; the Son of God becoming the Son of Man; and as the Son of Man, He is the ladder that joins heaven and earth. Thus, God can reach man, and man can reach God. On the Son of Man there is not only coming but also going.
In John 14:6 the Lord Jesus said, “I am the way and the reality and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.” The Lord is not only life but also the way. No one can come to the Father except through Him. Apart from the Lord, man cannot enter into God, nor is it possible for God to enter into man. The Lord Jesus is the way. God can reach man through Him, and man can reach God through Him. God can communicate with man through Him, and man can communicate with God through Him.
When God is in communication with man and man with God, God and man are built up. When God enters into man, man is built together with God. When man enters into God, God is built together with man. When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he did not mention the ladder; rather, he said, “This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven” (Gen. 28:17). Then he took the stone that he had used as a pillow and set it up as a pillar, poured oil on top of it, and called the name of that place Bethel, which means “house of God” (vv. 18-19). He called the name of that place Bethel, the house of God, and he also said that the stone upon which he had poured oil was the house of God (v. 22). The word for house can also be translated as “temple.”
The stone signifies man, and oil signifies God the Spirit. The oil being poured upon the stone signifies God reaching man. This is incarnation, the Word becoming flesh (John 1:14). The Word is God, and God is Spirit (v. 1; 4:24). The stone upon which the oil was poured signifies a man in whom God dwells. This means that there is communication between God and man and that God is being built into man, and man is being built into God. The result of this communication is the producing of a building, the temple. God and man are built up together to become Bethel, the house of God.
The Gospel of John speaks of the Lamb with the dove (1:29, 32), not of religious concepts related to the Messiah, the Prophet, or a Rabbi. The Lord Jesus came as the Lamb of God with a dove in order to take away the sin of the world so that man may receive God. His purpose is to bring God into man and to build God into man so that man can enter into God and be built into God. Thus, God and man can be built together to become a temple. In this temple heaven can communicate with earth, and God is joined with man. Through this communication God and man become a mysterious building called Bethel. This is manifested in the Son of God coming to be the Son of Man.
The apostles also expressed this thought when they wrote the Epistles. First Peter 2:5 says that the believers are living stones that are being built up together as a spiritual house. We are stones upon which oil has been poured; we are a group of people upon whom the Spirit of God has been poured. When we are built up, we will become God’s dwelling place. First Timothy 3:15 says that the church is the house of God. The church is His dwelling place, Bethel, which is built with living stones. In Bethel heaven is open to the earth, and the earth reaches heaven. It is here that God becomes man to live the human life, and man enters into God to live the divine life. This is where the Son of God became the Son of Man, and the sons of man become the sons of God. This is also where God is being built into man, and man is being built into God. This joining, mingling, and building will continue until God and man are fully blent into one, and heaven and earth are indistinguishable. This is Jacob’s dream.
The Lord Jesus came to the earth as the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world, and He also gives us the Holy Spirit (John 1:29, 32-33; 3:34). The Lord came not merely to save us from the lake of fire but to bring us into communication with God. Thus, God can live the divine life in us, and we can live the human life in Him; He can build Himself into us and build us into Himself. Hence, heaven can come down to earth, and the earth can reach heaven. Those who experience this can testify and say, “We can live a heavenly life on earth and be a heavenly person on earth. Although we live on earth, God can be expressed through us.” Such an experience exceeds any religious thought and concept. To merely forsake evil and practice good deeds is far inferior to this revelation.
The Son of Man is our way in the universe. Through Him heaven can reach the earth, and earth can reach heaven. Through Him God can be built into us, and we can be built into God. Then we become persons who not only communicate with God and are joined to Him but are also built together with Him. We become not only stones upon which oil has been poured but also Bethel, the house of God. This is what the Lord Jesus desires to accomplish in His coming as a Lamb with a dove.
Orthodox Christianity lacks the light concerning the Son of Man coming as a Lamb with a dove. The revelation in the Gospel of John is not related to a shallow religious concept. In eternity past the unlimited God, who dwells in unapproachable light and whom man cannot touch or comprehend, was the Word. In time He came forth as the Word, first in His creation of all things and then by coming as a man. He came forth because He desires to enter into man to be man’s life so that man would receive Him and be born of God with the divine life. Those who receive Him can touch and enjoy God, and they can enter into the fullness of God. Furthermore, God can be fully expressed through them.
In order to fulfill this desire, God came as the Lamb to take away man’s sin and remove the barrier of sin between God and man. He also came as the dove, the Spirit, so that man can enter into God. He is the mysterious Son of Man in heaven and on earth (3:13). When He was on earth, outwardly the Son of Man was a man, but inwardly He was God. This God-man is a ladder in the universe. Through Him God can enter into man, and man can enter into God. He brings God into man and builds God into man, and He also brings man into God and builds man into God. Thus, God and man can be joined and built together in Him.
The Son of Man is not only the way in the universe; He is also a building, God’s dwelling place (2:19, 21). This is Bethel, God’s house. In Him God has rest, and man has a home. He is the gate to heaven on earth. He is awesome! In Him God is expressed, and man can touch God. This should be the situation of the church and of every Christian.
Regrettably, Christianity has deviated and lost these genuine things. Christianity can be likened to a person who has precious gems in his hand but who falls while walking, drops the gems, and is covered with dust and dirt. For two thousand years Christianity has taken one fall after another, and as a result, it has become filthy and has lost all the treasures in the Bible. Everything genuine has been lost, and only dust remains. We do not need to fall anymore. We need to shake off the filth that contaminates us. We need to be delivered from every religious concept. We do not have concepts concerning the Messiah, Elijah, the Prophet, or a Rabbi. Our unique revelation is of the Lamb of God with the dove as the way. He is the mysterious Son of Man who brings God into man and man into God so that heaven can communicate with the earth, and God and man can be joined and built up to become Bethel, the house of God.
This will be the situation in eternity future in the New Jerusalem. Before that day comes, however, the church has a foretaste of the powers of the age to come and can taste the situation of eternity (Heb. 6:5). If our eyes are opened and we receive the vision of what God desires to do in the universe, we will have Bethel among us; that is, we will have communication between heaven and earth, and we will be joined to God. We will have the Son of Man as the ladder through whom God and man can be joined, mingled, and built together to be the house of God.
