A Newsletter of weekly meditations on Biblical Theology and curated resources from The Carson Center

June 10, 2026

“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!” Genesis 28:12 ESV

“And 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.’” John 1:51 ESV

Read Genesis 28; Matthew 27; Esther 4; Acts 27

Think about the experience of climbing a ladder to install Christmas lights, wash upstairs windows, or retrieve a stray frisbee in a tall tree. You might enlist a friend or spouse to secure the ladder while you suppress your inner acrophobia to accomplish your goal. Some people may find it thrilling to be suspended over the earth on a ladder, but most are relieved to have both feet back on the ground.

Genesis 28 records a famous biblical story of a ladder. Jacob is on the run after tricking his father and stealing Esau’s birthright, and he stops to rest with a rock for a pillow. Jacob has a remarkable revelatory dream. He sees a “ladder” (ESV) or “stairway” (NIV) reaching to heaven with angels moving up and down on it. Then Yahweh reveals himself as the God of Abraham and Isaac, lavishly promising land, blessing, and presence with Jacob (28:12–15). The patriarch realizes that Yahweh is there, and he calls that place “the house of God,” the very “gate of heaven” (28:16–17).

Jesus alludes to this famous story when he meets Nathanael in John 1:43–51. First, the Lord calls him “an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” (1:47), implicitly contrasting Nathanael with Jacob (also named “Israel”) who repeatedly “deceives” Esau (Gen 27:35–36). This disciple is no trickster like Jacob, whose name means “he cheats”; rather, he is like the blessed man of Psalm 32:2, “in whose spirit there is no deceit.”

Further, Christ declares that the disciples “will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man” (1:51). Notice that the angels do not move up and down on a ladder but on a person—the Son of Man, Jesus’s favorite title for himself drawn from Daniel 7:13.

Here is the point: Jesus is where Heaven and earth meet. He makes the unseen God of heaven seen and known on earth (John 1:18). The Lord Jesus is the greater “house of God,” the new temple, God-with-us. Jacob saw a great vision, but the disciples saw the Word-made-flesh. – Brian Tabb

Reflect: Consider Jesus’s words to Nathanael: “You will see greater things than these.” How did Christ reveal his glory and goodness more fully to his disciples? What does it look like for us to come and see Jesus by faith? See John 20:29 and 1 Peter 1:8.

“The Life Story of Jesus in Romans” by Brian Rosner

Critical biblical scholarship has sometimes driven a wedge between Jesus and Paul. Some claim, for example, that Paul’s version of the gospel is different from the Gospel’s presentation of Jesus.

A closer look at the gospel in Romans, though, confirms that Paul’s message of justification by grace on the basis of Christ’s work on the cross does not leave behind the life story of Jesus Christ. The work of Christ in Romans includes references to key points in Jesus’s life as they are presented in the Gospels. As it turns out, this life story is critical to understanding our own life stories as believers in Jesus.

A recent area of research on Paul’s letters focuses on the role of narrative in his theology. Whether we call this new discipline narrative dynamics or narrative theology of Paul’s letters, there is no doubt that stories underlie much of Paul’s teaching. Scholars regularly note the story of creation and humanity’s fall, the promises to Abraham, and the history of Israel as central to Paul’s teaching. Romans also insists that the gospel of God, “promised [by God] beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures” (1:2), is the life story of Jesus Christ.

The book of Romans presents a remarkably comprehensive survey of Jesus’s career, from being sent by God to work on earth to his ongoing work in heaven.