Of Ladders and Lies

No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man. (John 3:13)

I see an allusion to the issue of belief which is the main theme of this passage.

Belief involves testimony by a witness who has seen something first hand and relates it to others.

A witness testifies about what they themselves have seen.

A witness, to be credible, must have first-hand knowledge of what they are testifying about.

The real problem occurs when those who are making decisions based on the testimony of witnesses become so skeptical that they refuse to believe what a true witness is claiming to be true. There is where justice begins to break down, for if people refuse to acknowledge and embrace truth from an authentic witness then that person themselves becomes the obstacle for the spread of truth.

We often focus our attention on the validity of witnesses or the integrity of judges from a legal perspective and that is all very important, especially in relation to salvation. But often we overlook the role of those to whom the testimony is being directed, which in our system we would perceive as the jury. If, as members of the jury involving God's trial, we refuse to accept as valid the testimony of those who have first-hand knowledge of the truth about God, then we may find ourselves to be the focal point of an investigation to determine our own integrity. For in the long run, from heaven's perspective everyone involved in this trial must be cross-examined and must be accountable to the principles of integrity and truth.

God is not measuring us by how we relate to things we are unaware of or do not understand about truth. But we are very responsible for the choices we make when we do perceive truth, especially the real truth about God's character and the way He feels and relates to us. This is the core issue of our accountability before God and all the universe. The way that we choose to respond to the testimonies of those who have encountered God and particularly the testimony of Jesus who is the very revelation of the real truth about God, our choices in this regard determine our eternal destiny.

This is the aspect of the great trial going on where we find ourselves in a sort of mini-trial. Most Christians have mistakenly assumed that we are the main focus of the great trial taking place in the judgment, that we are the primary ones on trial before God. But a proper understanding of Scripture reveals that the real issue at stake is the reputation of God Himself and that He has chosen to allow all of us to form our opinions about what He is really like based on the evidence provided to us. In a very real way we are all selected to be part of the jury in the trial in which God is the defendant. And the most important part of that evidence is the testimony of Jesus about who God really is.

What we chose to do with His testimony then determines what direction our own role in this great trial will take. Those who accept the true testimony of Jesus and allow Him to cleanse and expunge all of the lies about Him that fill our heart and minds will become filled with His Spirit, with His perspective of life and will be transformed into His image. They will then in turn become witnesses themselves bearing truthful, first-hand testimonies about their own encounters with this God who claims to be good, gracious, merciful, kind, forgiving, loving and full of abundant life.

Those who cling to their own opinions about what God is like based on their perceptions of Him filtered through their own painful experiences in life and tainted by the lies of Satan embedded in their hearts, these will bear false witness against God in the things they say about Him and the way they live based on what they believe about Him deep in their hearts. They will resist all the claims that don't seem to confirm their preconceived ideas about God and will insist that God has a dark side that will lash out at times in anger, that God will resort to force to get His way when He gets cornered, that God will run out of patience with sinners and will use threats and torture to accomplish His goals whenever necessary.

Jesus' discussion with Nicodemus quickly moves to revolving around this core issue of belief in a testimony. Nicodemus is confronted with the need to challenge his own assumptions about God, to have his own unbelief exposed and to decide what to do with a true, straight testimony about God's love coming directly from the Son of God Himself.

The text quoted at the beginning of this post seems rather strange and vague until one begins to examine its connections in other places in the Bible. Then it begins to become evident that it is speaking directly to this issue of our own belief, our choices of how we are going to handle encounters with testimonies of truth about God. This text is a direct reference to Deuteronomy 30:11,12 and also an allusion to Jacob's dream of a ladder spanning the distance between heaven and earth. (Gen. 28:12)

For this commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach. It is not in heaven, that you should say, 'Who will go up to heaven for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?' Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, 'Who will cross the sea for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?' But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may observe it. See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and adversity. (Deuteronomy 30:11-15)

This passage comes on the heels of a long list of blessings and curses that God laid out so that people could see the benefits and dangers inherent as a result of how they would choose to relate to Him, their source of life. When properly understood and perceived, these blessings and curses will be seen as the natural consequences of whether we choose to believe and embrace the life-giving offers of God to bless and transform us into His image again or whether we will cling to the lies about Him that are so familiar to us.

Unfortunately, religion cannot be depended on to relay to us the real truth about God as it claims to do. Religion has become one of the dominant sources of misconceptions about God in this world, that perpetuates the lies of Satan charging God with attributes that actually describe Satan's character in instead of the truth about God. Satan has ever sought to distort our opinions and feelings about God's opinions and feelings about us in order to keep us from trusting Him fully and being reunited with His heart of infinite love for us.

Satan hates love and particularly hates the Son of God. It was the Son of God that Satan wanted to displace when he was Lucifer in heaven and the thwarting of his plans to take over the government of heaven only intensified his bitterness and animosity toward Jesus. When Jesus came to earth to more fully reveal the truth about God to humans Satan did everything possible to bring Him pain, suffering and discouragement. He was determined to keep the truth about God hidden from the hearts of fallen humans and he was enraged that Jesus was spoiling the fruit of thousands of years of his deceptions and traditions that darkened the picture of God in our hearts.

Since Jesus returned to heaven Satan has worked even more diligently to distort Jesus' testimony about God and to cause us to prefer unbelief and doubt about Him over acceptance of Jesus' straight testimonies about His Father. He hijacked the church that Jesus set up on this earth and filled it with millions of lies about God illustrated through horrendous acts of brutality. It painted a picture of a God who is mean, vengeful, arbitrary and selfish. This became the norm for religion and its dark influence is still permeating every denomination that claims to have left its domain. The lies about God that fill religion are still in our minds, still infect many of our teachings and subtly influence our opinions and doctrines without our realizing it.

The real issue today just as it was in Jesus' day is still the core issue of belief or unbelief. It is not enough for God to reveal in various ways the real truth about how He feels about us. If we choose to cling to mistaken or distorted ideas about Him we will only take His testimonies and twist them to fit our preconceived opinions instead of allowing the light to expose our own deceptions.

Take a look at Jacob's encounter alluded to in Jesus' words. Jacob was a refugee running in terror that his brother would kill him if he could find him. He was full of shame, guilt, fear and all sorts of emotions that left him feeling abandoned and forsaken by God. He was discouraged and hid in a bunch of rocks to get some sleep while he traveled to his uncle's house for safety.

As he slept in this state of discouragement God gave him a dream of a glorious ladder that reached all the way from earth to heaven. This was meant to present Jacob with the amazing reality of God's desire to keep His covenant with Jacob that had been passed down from his fathers. God came to assure Jacob that He was going to care for him, protect him and bless him. But what was Jacob's response to this announcement?

Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take, and will give me food to eat and garments to wear, and I return to my father's house in safety, then the LORD will be my God. (Genesis 28:20-21)

Now doesn't that beat all? God just got done assuring Jacob that He was going to take care of him without strings attached and Jacob turns around and sets up conditions for God to meet before Jacob would believe in His promise. He wants God to prove Himself before Jacob is willing to trust Him as his God. Now doesn't that sound an awful lot like unbelief?

This ladder in Jacob's dream actually represents Jesus Himself who connects earth with heaven. The angels of God are seen using this connection to communicate avidly between these two places and Jesus refers to this here in this discussion with Nicodemus. But I think that included in this reference was a reminder that we should not follow Jacob's example of unbelief in our response to the connection that Jesus wants to be for us with our Father in heaven. We should not burden our hearts down by setting preconditions for God before we are willing to entrust our lives to Him.

Note that Jacob was confronted to come to a fuller trust of God before he returned all the way to his father's house. I believe that this was necessary because God did not want Jacob to base his faith on the terms Jacob set up but on the covenant promises that God had outlined. When Jacob had his famous wrestling match with God it was really all about wrestling with the lies in his heart about God reflected in this vow that he had made years before.

Evidently Nicodemus was facing a similar challenge. He needed to face his own spirit of unbelief, his own doubts about God that were being stirred up by seeing how Jesus acted and spoke. Jesus was confronting him with crucial truths about reality and about God's attitudes toward us that need to be embraced if any of us are to ever see or enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Who's the Teacher?

Jesus answered and said to him, "Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things?" (John 3:10)

As I look at this it reminds me of verse two when Nicodemus first addressed Jesus as a Rabbi or teacher. He begins his conversation with Jesus giving Jesus credit for doing a good job as a young teacher and affirming Him as one who must be inspired by God. The reason he gives for this conclusion is the evidence of the signs that Jesus has done. Because of these signs Nicodemus concludes that God must be with Jesus.

"Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him." (John 3:2)

However, Jesus trusts Nicodemus enough to be very tough on him as a teacher. He believes that Nicodemus can handle some very straight talk that very few are privileged to receive from Jesus because of their lack of honesty. As a result, Jesus skips by all the potential dialogue and exposes immediately the things in Nicodemus that are preventing him from entering into a deeper experience with God. One of those things is his own pride and self-perception as an honored teacher in Israel. Another is his need for an attitude of genuine belief and faith in Jesus and His true identity and character.

What emerges here is the unspoken question creating tension here about who is the teacher and who is the student. Nicodemus likely must have come to Jesus with a mind to offer Him a mentorship position within the Jewish educational order to assist Jesus' entry into higher levels of acceptance in their intellectual circles. But Jesus confronts Nicodemus with the assertion that Nicodemus himself is sadly lacking in the true knowledge needed to understand real spirituality. He may be well-versed in religion and scriptural facts, but when it comes to the things that really matter and that prepare one for entering into the real kingdom of God, Nicodemus finds himself feeling like a first-grader.

In the back of Jesus' mind He could have been remembering this verse from Psalms.

I have more insight than all my teachers, for Your testimonies are my meditation. (Psalms 119:99)

Jesus has just confronted Nicodemus with a review, an entrance exam if you please, to find out where he places in the educational system of heaven. Nicodemus finds himself confused, baffled and nearly clueless by each question or statement and Jesus shares that Nicodemus is the one who needs mentoring here, not Himself. After a series of complete failures to perceive the right answers, Jesus gives Nicodemus the reason why he feels so clueless; it is because the focus of all his studies has been largely in the wrong direction.

"Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen, and you do not accept our testimony. If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?" (John 3:11-12)

Jesus is pointing out here that true knowledge needs to be rooted in heart-sight, not just factual knowledge of the Scriptures. The wisdom needed for heaven's kind of education involves seeing things with different eyes than we are used to using. It also involves the necessity of believing the right things about God with both the head and the heart before one can progress to the next level in their education.

Like any educational system, heaven's curriculum involves building on previous lessons as a prerequisite for advancing to more complex subjects. Jesus exposes the fact that Nicodemus is not nearly so advanced as he assumed he was and that he needed to enter the school of Christ at the beginning level if he truly desired to advance in the knowledge that is really important.

I sense in these words that one of the very necessary ingredients for effectively staying in Jesus' school is maintaining an attitude of humility and teachability. Whenever a person thinks they are wise and that they have all the truth, that is most often a sure sign that they are unaware of the real nature of heaven's educational system. They are stuck in the world's grading system, the world's value system and are blinded by the men's paradigms about what is important and what is not. It matters not that they may have advanced degrees from Christian institutions or have spent years studying the Bible meticulously. Heaven's methods of education are so different than the ones we have developed that too often a highly educated person by our standards is more difficult for God to train than those who have not been so trained.

Don't get me wrong. I am not saying that formal education is all bad. But I have observed that the knowledge about factual truth and the way it is packaged in nearly every school on this planet fosters a spirit in the students that makes it more and more difficult for God to educate them in His ways. It takes conscious effort on the part of a person learning under men's tutorship to remain open and humble to the way God wants to instruct them. It is so easy for one to become self-deceived while advancing in earthly knowledge, thinking that they are becoming religious experts while all the while their spirit is preventing them from being tutored under the mentorship of Jesus.

I believe one of the main reasons for this is because men's educational systems focus primarily on facts, theories, formulas and external emphasis. Religious education can sometimes even potentially be more deceptive because it conveys the feeling that one is getting educated in the things of God while all the while actually remaining disconnected from the true Teacher who desires to instruct their hearts through methods that are very different from their other teachers.

Father, I know that I have spent years learning facts about truth but have become aware that I know very little about You personally. My mind has been pumped full of information about religion while my heart has been starving for real interaction with the Source of all love and life and true wisdom. You have been so gracious and patient with me for many years and I praise You and thank You for that. You introduced Yourself to me more clearly some years ago and offered to mentor me in Your school. Ever since then my life has been changing in ways I might not have expected.

Please continue to put a right spirit in me so that I can perceive Your lessons and learn the right things from them. Continue to transform my heart and mind to perceive reality from Your viewpoint which is always very different than what feels natural. As I continue to fill my mind with true facts about Your Word, continue to awaken my heart to learn the truth about Your feelings, attitudes and disposition. Increase my ability to perceive Your face and to become mesmerized with Your glory. Give me the wisdom that is often missing from all my earthly teachers and give me a spirit of genuine humility to make me a clear channel of Your truth for others to be drawn to You.

Cause me to keep You as the focus of my learning experiences. Train me to be an associate teacher with You so that others can learn the things that are truly important for salvation. I thank You for offering me opportunities to pass along to others what You are doing in my education. Use me in any way that may bring others closer to Your heart.