Then He declared, “Truly, truly, I tell you, you will all see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”He said to him, “Most certainly, I tell you all, hereafter you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye shall see the heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.
8 sermons cite this verse
… greater things than these and he said most assuredly i say to you hereafter you shall see heaven open and the angels of god ascending and descending on the son of man heaven open open heavens, angels ascending and descending on the Son of Man. is it too late to be thinking you're you've been traveling and you're all okay like this all right so if you have jet lag i'm so sorry see in verse 14 it says the word of god became flesh and dwelt among us and now just think with me now jesus is the word of god made flesh and he dwelt The word there is dwelt or tabernacled. Jesus was the tabernacle of God among men. And now he says to Nathanael, you'll see angels ascend and descend upon the Son of Man. Jesus was the prototype he was the dwelling place of the spirit of God had no sin walked in grace the eternal son of God but he chose to live with human limitation so it makes this such a huge paradox impossible to comprehend fully God, fully man. …
… hereafter you shall see heaven open angels of God ascending and descending upon the son of man and I saw a ladder on the earth reach to heaven and angels were ascending and descending you'll see greater things than these. You will see angels ascending and descending on the Son of Man. Why is that significant? A few verses earlier, actually in verse 14 of chapter one, the scripture says, Jesus is the word of God made flesh. One of the ways it's described is, is Jesus, the word of God made flesh. Jesus is the house of God or God tabernacled among us in Christ. so what is Jesus is the initial model or illustration of what God intends to do in the New Testament church So Jesus is the tabernacle of God, the dwelling place of God on earth. he introduces himself, I'm the light of the world. But before he left, he said to you and to me, he says, you're the light of the world. It's not that we take his place. …
… who he is. When I was in my 30s, I did a series called Savage Jesus. I guess I'm getting soft in my old age. Now I'm preaching about seeking Jesus. Now, when we say seeking Jesus, as you find John chapter 1, verse 43 through 51 in your Bible, understand that when we say seeking Jesus, we're seeking someone, not something. Here's the difference. The other day, Holly lost her ring, and I could see she was getting frustrated. I said, move aside. The professional is on the job. I paid for it. I guarantee you I'll find it. I'll stick my hand through your nostril to find it if I have to. The ring was expensive. I said, I bet you I'll find it in three seconds. It wasn't three seconds, but it was only about two minutes. I was seeking her ring. I found her ring. I handed her a ring, and we were done. Because when you're seeking a thing and you find it, you're done. …
… John 1, he says, Very truly, I tell you, you will see the heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man. No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven, the Son of Man. And then Jesus said to them, the Son of Man, speaking of himself, is Lord of the Sabbath. When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. He's reaching back and connecting himself to what was prophesied long ago. But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. No one can forgive sins on earth but God alone. and he's saying, I know, the Son of Man is here. And to prove that to you, he said to the paralyzed man, get up, take your mat, and go home. Jesus is flexing, he's proving, he's showing, he's showing his hand here as to who he is. …
… I saw you under the fig tree. Do you believe? You're going to see greater things than these. And then he said to him, truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the son of man. What does that sound like? Sounds like Jacob's ladder. It's exactly what would have come to Nathaniel's mind when he heard that. Jesus is saying to this descendant of Jacob of Israel, I am the ladder to God. I am the one who has come to make it possible for creation to be with God in heaven. This is the gospel. Jesus has come from heaven to earth to die on the cross for sinners, to pay the price for our rebellion, are wandering away from God into the wilderness of this world. And through his death on the cross, Jesus has made the way for us to come back to Eden, for us to come back to delight in God. The curtain of the temple, the presence of God, torn into, the way is open for sinners everywhere to come into the presence of God through Jesus. …
… was for me to see you he says you will see greater things than these and Jesus says to him 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. God, that's what we want to see in this room. We want to see angels ascending and descending here at the house. Our house, the homes of those who are watching, we want to see angels ascending and descending. Let this be a gateway for heaven. let this be an open heaven that we stand under remove the roof of our depression remove the roof of our anxiety remove the roof of our pride and our ego and instead let us see an open heaven God may we see you face to face in this moment not just us seeing you but God may you see us may you send a word that reveals to us that you know who we are you know what we're going through and you have plans for us. …
… Greater things than these. And he said, most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man. heaven open open heavens, angels ascending and descending on the Son of Man. is it too late to be thinking you're you've been traveling and you're all okay so if you have jet lag i'm so sorry See, in verse 14, it says, the word of God became flesh and dwelt among us. Okay, now just think with me now. Jesus is the word of God made flesh and he dwelt. The word there is dwelt or tabernacled. Jesus was the tabernacle of God among men. And now he says to Nathaniel, you'll see angels ascend and descend upon the Son of Man. Jesus was the prototype. he was the dwelling place of the spirit of god had no sin walked in grace the eternal son of god but he chose to live with human limitation so it makes this such a huge paradox impossible to comprehend fully God, fully man. …
… And in Jesus' own testimony at the very end of the chapter, Jesus says, I say to you hereafter, you shall see the heavens open and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man. So in this very, very short literary span, we hear Jesus called the Word, the Lamb of God, the Son of God, Rabbi, Messiah, King of Israel, and Son of Man. But all of these titles following the prologue are introduced to us by John with that title Lamb of God. I wish I had time to go into all of the academic controversies that surround this particular aspect of John's gospel. You know, one of the things that people are bothered with is they say, wait a minute, nowhere in the Old Testament do we find the lamb used as one who's involved in the expiation of sin. In the sin offerings of the Old Testament, bulls and goats were used in the sacrifice. The scapegoat was driven out into the wilderness, but lambs were not used. So where does this idea come from that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away sin? And so the critics of the New Testament will come to this text and they will say, well, obviously this is something that John makes up in his own mind and puts into the mouth of John the Baptist because there's no Old Testament precedent for it. Others say, well, wait a minute, we do have lamb metaphors found in the Old Testament, most notably in Isaiah 53, …