I was so looking forward to today's reflection. Jacob's Ladder! When I was a kid at Our Lady of Charity elementary school, I wished and wished that I would be assigned his ladder to bring in as an ornament for the Jesse tree. For some reason, I thought that was the coolest ornament. I didn't get it. I was assigned something else- don't remember what, but I was disappointed that I didn't get it. Little did I know at the time that as an adult, I still don't get it. Usually, when I read the passages that accompany the symbol, I understand how it relates to my life. Jacob's ladder story is different. I didn't remember the story at all when I read it. Basically, it talks about Jacob sleeping on a stone as a pillow (ouch) and dreaming about a ladder going from heaven to earth with angels heading up and down it. God was either next to Jacob or on the ladder depending on which account you read. Ummm, how does this relate to us? I'm not very good at interpreting dreams. So, for this entry today, I had to do a bit more research. It appears that I'm in pretty good company. There seems to be a lot of different interpretations. I found Jewish, Christian and Muslim interpretations of Jacob's ladder. Some said the ladder symbolized a link between heaven and earth. Some said the angels were symbolic of prophets. Some said the angels were symbolic of us. But even still, with all these interpretations, I couldn't quite fit Jacob's ladder into my life and my experiences.
Then, I found one thing that finally struck me. Maybe it's not the right interpretation, but I found a bible verse that connected the dots for me a little. First, lets start at the first set of readings. These are the types of Old Testament readings that make my eyes glaze over. This one was the son of that one who had these sons by these wives....etc. etc. etc. It also established the relationship between Jacob and his older twin, Esau. Jacob talked his older twin into surrendering his birth right as first born to his younger twin brother. The thing is, that was foretold when his mother Rebekah went to the Lord after being sterile and said, "If I knew this was going to be this hard, I'd rather die." That's when the Lord told her that she had two little babies swimming around in there. Call it the divine ultrasound. However, the Lord didn't stop there. Instead of determining her due date, He told her about the two little boys that would be her sons. The older one would be stronger, but would serve the younger one.
Then, Jacob and Esau became enemies because Esau felt that Jacob stole his birth right. But that part of the story isn't included in the recommended readings for this symbol. After you read about Esau selling his birth right, the next thing you read is Jacob traveling, getting tired, grabbing a nice comfy rock, falling asleep and dreaming. If you don't read between these passages, the two don't seem to have any link. However, clearly, God had a plan for Jacob and He intended to fulfill it. The lineage to Jesus was well established. Jacob received the blessings of his father, Isaac and his grandfather, Abraham. Back then, that was a really really big deal. Not only did that birth right come with the worldly riches and land, it came with God's personal blessing. God promised to be with Jacob always. That's a mighty blessing that Esau willingly gave up for some lentil stew. No wonder he had regrets. Don't we all when we give up God's blessing for something earthly?
With all that background, I realized that I was being refocused on the purpose of writing this blog about the Jesse tree. The Jesse tree is basically a family tree that leads from Abraham to Jesus. This is the first real reference to that. The first thing that struck me was that some of the family tree were called Arameans. I wonder if they were related to Joseph of Aramithea - the one who gave his grave to Jesus. Other than that, there is a much greater link between Jacob's ladder and Jesus.
In John 1:51, Jesus Himself makes the link. He uses the same words that describe Jacob's ladder to describe Himself. It goes like this:
And He said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."
Jesus is the real ladder that connects heaven and earth. The only way to get to Heaven through Him. There are many scholars who are much smarter than me who gave much more detailed interpretations about Jacob's ladder, but I'm forced by my lack of theological training to take the much simpler approach. This is the first link to Jesus on Jesse's tree. And each step we take with Jesus at our side is another step up that ladder. The Muslims say that the ladder symbolizes the straight path that one must take to get to Heaven. Of course, there are fundamental differences between Christian and Muslim beliefs, but in the end, we Christians believe the same thing. There is a straight path to Heaven and it's through Jesus.
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