78. See Heaven Open
John1:51 Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.
Although this promise is given specifically to Nathanael, from the whole of Scripture we can apply this promise to all believers who follow Christ, like Nathanael did. We shall, indeed, see heaven open. When Jesus was baptized the heavens opened and God (the Holy Spirit) came upon Him from heaven. So also when we were baptized the same thing happened to us: the heavens were opened, the HS came upon us, and the Father declared Himself well pleased with us.
Throughout the lifetime of a Christian, several times it will seem to us that the “heavens are opened.” This may happen when we hear and rehear the Gospel, when some insight from the Word of God makes a light bulb go on, when we see or experience a miraculous or natural act of God, when the Lord touches our hearts in some spiritual way, when something happens that we can only explain as coming from God, or in many other ways that heaven can open to each of us. More often, however, and very often, heaven opens every time we hear the Gospel, are baptized, or receive forgiveness in Holy Communion. Most of the time we do not feel anything special, but something real happens whether we see or feel it or not. God says it does; therefore, it does. Heaven is opened.
Whenever heaven is opened for us we will see the same thing: Jesus! In Nathanael’s case it looks like the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man. This image means that Jesus the man is the meeting place between God and me. He is the mediator connecting us to God the Father. There is no other way to God. There are awful many things we do not understand or see clearly, but we see Jesus, “who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven.”