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INJ
Genesis 28:10-17
Who Climbs Jacob's Ladder?
Divine Service
19th Sunday after the Feast of the Holy Trinity | October 15, 2006
Dear Saints,
God gives promises. That just the way He does it. From the very beginning in the Garden of Eden until now and even until the Lord Jesus returns to this earth to judge the quick and the dead, He deals with us through promises.
He gave His promise to Adam and Eve, that there would be a Child born who would crush the wicked head of the devil. He gave Noah the promise that He would not again destroy all the living with a flood. He gave Abraham a promise, in fact, lots of them, that he would be the father of many nations, that Abraham would posses the promised land, and that his Seed would be a blessing to the entire world. This Seed is the most blessed promise, it the the promised Messiah, that Jesus would be one of Abraham's offspring.
The promises of Abraham are given to his son Isaac, and then, through a rather complicated set of circumstances, to Isaac's second son Jacob. That's who we heard about in the reading from Genesis this morning. He has the promises of being a great nation, the father of many, of possessing the land, and of having as his offspring the Messiah.
But look at where we find him in the beginning of the text: 10 Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran. Jacob is running for his life. He has been sent from the promised land to Haran where his uncle and his family lived to find a wife, and he dare not turn back, for Jacob had bought Esau's birthright and then receive his blessing from their father Isaac, and Esau is raging mad. So Jacob is leaving the land promised to him. He has no possessions, no comfort (he's sleeping on a rock), no wife or children. Everything in Jacob's life stands is stark contrasts and even opposition to the promises of God.
And this, dear saints, is for us to note, fir this is the way the Lord Jesus governs His church and us, His Christians. Jesus gives us His promises, His word and pledge, but then there is a delay in the delivery of the gift.
In fact, the devil and the world so rage against the promises of God that we often have exactly the opposite of the promise. And so we are left to wait for things invisible, believe what we do not see, and hope for things that do not appear.
For example, Jesus promised “All who believe in Me shall not perish, but have everlasting life.” And yet we see and hear and taste and feel death all around us and even in us. Our friends die, our loved ones die, we ourselves are dying. We have the promise from Jesus of everlasting life, and we have it in the midst of the darkness of the shadow of death.
We have the promise of the forgiveness of all of our sins, and yet we look around and we see and hear that sin surrounds us and is even in us. But into the midst of our sin we hear His promise, “I forgive you all your sins.”
We have the promise of Jesus of perfect bliss, and yet we are surrounded by pain and suffering and tears and want on every side. We have the promise of Jesus, and yet it seems that the devil is our constant companion.
Abraham was promised that through Isaac the Seed would come, and then he was told to sacrifice him. David was crowned king of Israel, and yet went around in hiding for ten years with no throne and no people. And the Lord Jesus “Himself entered glory only by first suffering hell. When He is about to reign, He is crucified. When He is to be glorified, He is spit on. For He must suffer first, and then at length be glorified.” [Luther, Genesis Commentary, AE 5:202]
This is how it is with us in the kingdom of heaven, we are waiting, hoping, longing and trusting. We walk by faith, not by sight. All is taken from us, and all that is left is the promise, the Word of God. We cling to it, we trust Him, and in His Word and His promises we find all that we need.
This is how it was with Jacob, everything that was promised was taken away, the land and children and his family. And so the Lord Jesus comes to comfort him.
11 So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. 12 Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
It is necessary here to stop and ask, “What does this mean? What is the Lord telling Jacob by giving Him this dream of a ladder from earth to heaven with angels ascending and descending? What is this ladder and who is climbing it?” There is the old spiritual that goes, “We are climbing Jacob's ladder,” but is there any comfort in that? If this ladder stands as the way for us to get into heaven, if it is for us to climb, then we will surely fall off and never reach the top.
But this is the way it is with all the religions that man invents, climbing and clamoring into heaven by our own works and efforts and experiences and prayers. But this is not what the Lord is teaching Jacob.
We will let Jesus interpret the text for us. After He calls Nathanael to be His disciple Jesus says, “You will see greater things than these... Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.” [John 1:50-51] Jesus is Jacob's ladder, He is the One who descends from heaven to earth, the One who comes down to us, who sinks Himself into our sin and suffering and death. It is not we who are climbing up to heaven, heaven comes down to us in the person and work of the Lord Jesus.
He is the One promised to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, the Son of David, the Messiah, your Jesus who has done all the work and completely accomplished your salvation.
This Jesus is the comfort that the Lord brings to Jacob, as the dream continues: 13 And behold, the LORD stood above it and said: “I am the LORD God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. 14 Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. 15 Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.”
Jacob is comforted by the Lord, but note this, the Lord does not comfort Jacob by giving him those things that He promised, by giving him the land and children, no, these are still to come. Jacob is comforted by another word from God, the promise is repeated to him. He is reassured, his doubts are taken away. “I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken.”
So it is with us, that week after week the Lord Jesus repeats His promise to us. Dear saints, I know that this life of suffering and death is difficult. Some of you have tremendous and strong faith, and constantly cling to God's promises, and you know only rarely the sting of doubt and the sorrow of death. This faith is a tremendous gift from God, but even the strongest faith must face the assaults of the devil and his kingdom, the most pious fathers and saints in the Scriptures all felt the weight of troubles and the fear of death.
Some of you have weak faith, faith that is fighting to understand, faith that is struggling to cling to the promises of God, faith that battles against despair, that is threatened by all the sickness and suffering and the fears and uncertainties of this life. For you, for all of us, Jesus continues to say, “I love you. I died for you. I forgive you. This body of Mine, it was broken for you, for your forgiveness. This blood of mine, it was shed for you, for your forgiveness. My promises for you are sure and certain and absolute and unmoving. No one can take away My yes for you, My smile toward you.” “I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken.”
His promises comfort and console our wandering hearts. They give us the courage to face death. They bring us peace.
16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.” 17 And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!”
The Lord is always with His Word and promises, and with this dream of Jesus and the reassurance of His promises Jacob is comforted and strengthened in his faith. This same comfort is meant for you today. We believe in Jesus, who we do not see. But we have His baptism, His supper, His consolation through His Word and the Absolution. We do not yet see all the things that Jesus have won and given and promised us, but we know that He cannot lie or deceive us. And so we trust His promises, and in them we find our comfort, our life and our salvation. May God grant it to be so with us. Amen.
Pax.
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Pastor Bryan Wolfmueller
Hope Lutheran Church | Aurora, CO