I like analogies in the Bible and all they can make you think about. Like Jesus is the bread of life. The living water. Light. The true vine. The good shepherd. The ship. The rock. But one analogy had escaped me ’til recently and I’ve been thinking on it. A ladder. Jesus is the ladder.
I don’t have many experiences with ladders. I don’t work construction or remodel, but I do have one memorable story.
My first day of being Adventurer Leader, little Raise Ruiz got stuck. In a tree. A tree with thorns. She’d seen little Ben Krein scamper up and jump out, and never to be outdone, up she went, out of reach, before I could stop her! You see, her little first-grade foot got wedged in a fork in the tree and it Would Not Budge. As little kids gathered around me, I stared up at Raisa, begging her to try harder to move her foot. Panic began setting in…in me! Lil Raisa was happy as ever! Would I actually have to call 911 on my first day as leader? How embarrassing! But then I remembered the really big ladder in the Adventurer room. We’d painted that summer, and it was still there. I hustled up, lugged the long ladder down, and set it up under the tree. I climbed up and began forcibly, upwardly, smacking that little foot until finally Raisa was free. Crisis thwarted. Humiliation avoided!
Jacob had a ladder experience, too. That night with a rock as a pillow and all alone. After he deceived and lied to his father and betrayed his brother, he dreamed of a ladder reaching from heaven to earth. Angels ascended and descended on it. And above it stood God.
Many years later, Jesus would call a guy named Nathanael. At first Nathanael wasn’t sold on Jesus, and after some exchanges, Jesus would tell him, “Very truly I tell you, you will see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
Maybe Jesus is the ladder. He provides the way, the only way, from earth to heaven. From us to God. He comes down and brings us up. He loves us still. No matter. No matter we deceive and lie. No matter we are imperfect. No matter we have disbelief. He remains the ladder. A constant connection. A saving stairway.
And don’t be silly. We’re not going to climb it on our own. We aren’t going to just try harder or be better and make it. Not with our puny strength! Like little Raisa’s unbudging foot, we are stuck. Hopelessly. Call 911!
I’m thankful the Ladder is there. It is! He is! Right in front of every single one of us. And he’s helping us up, rung by rung, step-by-step. He’s smacking our feet if we need it! All the way. Jesus is the Ladder. I like it!