Angels Ascending and Descending on Christ (John 1:51) by Rev. Angus Stewart
I. What It Does Not Mean
II. What It Does Mean
Herman Ridderbos: "The pronouncement in John 1:51 does not mention the ladder. It is, rather, the Son of man himself who links heaven and earth, while the angels who ascend and descend on him (as on the ladder in Jacob's vision) represent the heavenly powers at his disposal. But whereas elsewhere angels are attributes of the heavenly existence of the Son of man (cf. Matt. 13:41, 49; 24:30-31; 25:31ff.), the special character of their action here is that they maintain the link with heaven for the Son of man on earth (cf. Matt. 26:53; Mark 1:13; Luke 22:43). The author specifically has in mind here—as is evident also from the 'greater things' promised to Nathanael—the divine glory manifest in his descent as that of the incarnate Word (1:14; 2:11; 11:40; 17:14). From now on the disciples will be witnesses of that glory and will become conscious, as they join and follow him, of being under the 'opened' heaven. Accordingly, the statement is not related, as some interpreters would have it, to one specific event in the life of Jesus (e.g., the transfiguration) but much more to the continuing—and from now on intermittently visible—glory present in Jesus' self-revelation in words and works and in his constant communion with the Father (cf. 8:29; 12:28ff)" (The Gospel of John: A Theological Commentary, p. 94).