From Pastor Hennig

Grace, peace, and mercy be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

[11]"Jacob left Beersheba and went toward Haran. And he came to a certain place and stayed there that night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep. [12] And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it! [13] And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, "I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. [14] Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth 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 promised you." [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."

[18] So early in the morning Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. [19] He called the name of that place Bethel, but the name of the city was Luz at the first. [20] Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, [21] so that I come again to my father's house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God, [22] and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God's house. And of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you." Genesis 28:10-22 (ESV)

How many times have we heard this story of "Jacob’s Ladder" and marveled at the protection of God for Jacob. Remember also Jacob was "running for his life" from his brother as he and his Mother had just tricked Dad into giving him the blessing due to Esau. What was it that Jacob remarked the next morning? "Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it." 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." Not only was God with Jacob, but He promised to return him to this land and the land would be given to his offspring. How awesome is God to do these things.

Yet there is far more to this story. Jacob sees in his dream Heaven open up before him and Jesus in His glory, with angels ascending and descending from the throne of the Lord. In John 1, Jesus Himself refers to this event and states that it is He, Himself ascending and descending from the Throne of God to tend to His people on Earth. At Jesus baptism we also saw the heavens open and the glory of God made known in His Son.

We notice here it was not Jacob who went up to Heaven, but that Heaven came to him. In Jesus baptism it was not John and the people who went up to Heaven, but Christ who came down to Earth. In the midst of our lives when we face the problems and situations we are in, even when we create the problems as Jacob did, what a comfort to know that we have a God and Father who sent His Son down from Heaven to us even when we did not deserve it. How comforting to know He has promised a good land, His Kingdom to us for all eternity. We are not climbing Jacobs’s ladder, we can not and we don’t have to, Christ came to us and brings us to the Father through His death and resurrection.

When it seems as though "night is all around you" and the troubles and trials of life are heavy upon you, lay your head down confidently knowing you are in the house of the Lord, you are promised a home in and The Lord is watching over you and has come to you in Word and Sacrament to make you His own.

In The Name of Christ

Pastor Jim Hennig

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