“Jesus responded to him, ‘Do you believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this.’ Then he said, ‘I tell you the truth, you will all see heaven open and the angels of God going up and down on the Son of Man, the one who is the stairway between heaven and earth.’ ” (John 1:50-51, NLT).

Many if not most of the words spoken by Jesus and recorded in the Gospels either reference Old Testament scriptures or allude to Old Testament events. That is the case in this story of the calling of Nathanael to become one of Jesus’ twelve disciples.

Jesus referred to Nathanael as a man of complete integrity–that is, an Israelite in whom there is no deception or deceit. By describing Nathanael in such a way, Jesus contrasted him with Jacob, the scheming, deceitful patriarch whom God renamed Israel.

When Jesus said He saw Nathanael under the fig tree, maybe praying or studying the Scriptures, Jesus revealed an intimate and supernatural knowledge of Nathanael.

Then Jesus made His comparison of Nathanael with Jacob both personal and unequivocal. Like Jacob, Nathanael would see God at work!

In Genesis 28:10-22 Jacob had a dream in which God revealed His angelic host going up and down a stairway or ladder from the earth up to heaven. God stood at the top of the stairway and proclaimed to Jacob that His presence would be with Jacob and protect and provide for him and his descendants. So, Jacob named the place where he had the dream Bethel, meaning house of God or the place where God lives.

Jesus proclaimed to Nathanael that He Himself was the ultimate fulfillment of this promise to Jacob. Jesus was the true ladder or stairway to heaven, the new Bethel. God opened a door for Jacob that brought him and his people into a new and personal relationship with God and Jesus was doing the same for Nathanael.

Nathanael recognized the divine in Jesus and took a remarkable step of faith and believed in Jesus as God’s Son and Lord and King over Israel and consequently over his life.

In the same way that Jesus knew Nathanael and called him to be His disciple, Jesus knows you personally. And, He is also calling you to be His disciple.

Jesus is the stairway to God that Jacob observed at Bethel. The place where you meet Jesus is the place where you bein your climb up the stairway to eternal life with God.

I am the true bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will not die as your ancestors did (even though they ate the manna) but will live forever. (John 6:53, NLT)