In 1970, guitarist Jimmy Page created music that would eventually turn the rock music industry on its head. It began uncharacteristically soft, then crescendoed into a hard rock finish. (Have you guessed it yet?)
The following year, Robert Plant crafted thought-provoking lyrics for the song, just ambiguous enough to span generations. His words drew a stark contrast between material and spiritual things, and even at 23, he understood that life is a journey. It didn’t take long for Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” to reach Number 1 and become an anthem for hard rock fans.
In the gospel of John, we find Jesus speaking of another “Stairway to Heaven.” After John the Baptist declared Jesus the Lamb of God, an incredible chain of events unfolded. Two of John the Baptist’s disciples, John and Andrew, became intrigued and followed Jesus to learn more. Andrew brought his brother Simon (Peter) to meet Jesus. Then Jesus went to Galilee, found Philip, and Philip went to find Nathaniel. That’s when Jesus said some things we might find hard to understand.
As Philip and Nathaniel approached Jesus, He said of Nathaniel, “Now here is a genuine son of Israel—a man of complete integrity.”
“How do you know about me?” Nathanael asked.
Jesus replied, “I could see you under the fig tree before Philip found you.”
Then Nathanael exclaimed, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God—the King of Israel!”
Jesus asked him, “Do you believe this just because I told you I had seen you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this.” Then he said, “I tell you the truth, you will all see heaven open and the angels of God going up and down on the Son of Man, the one who is the stairway between heaven and earth.” (John 1:47-51)
What did Jesus mean by “I saw you under the fig tree”? And why did this immediately convince Nathaniel that Jesus was truly who Philip said He was? Did Jacob eat some bad herbs that made him dream of a staircase of angels?
To find those answers, we first need to understand what “under the fig tree” meant. For us, it would be like saying, “He’s not the sharpest knife in the drawer” to mean someone is not very smart. In that time and place, “under the fig tree” meant someone was meditating on Scripture.
It’s not far-fetched to believe that Nathaniel was reading the Torah and meditating on Genesis 28. There, we find Jacob fleeing from his angry brother Esau and on a quest to find a wife among his extended family in Haran. On the way, he makes camp, finds a stone for a pillow, and falls asleep.
“As he slept, he dreamed of a stairway that reached from the earth up to heaven. And he saw the angels of God going up and down the stairway. At the top of the stairway stood the Lord, and he said, “I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham, and the God of your father, Isaac. The ground you are lying on belongs to you. I am giving it to you and your descendants. Your descendants will be as numerous as the dust of the earth! They will spread out in all directions—to the west and the east, to the north and the south. And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants. What’s more, I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go. One day I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have finished giving you everything I have promised you.” Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, ‘Surely the Lord is in this place, and I wasn’t even aware of it!’” (Genesis 28:12-16)
Jacob didn’t know about Jesus. It would be another 1800 years or so before He appeared in the flesh. However, Jacob understood that God had just met with him in his dream. He knew there would one day be a Son of Man, a Messiah, to connect humans to God. His would be a family of trailblazers, and God would be faithful to keep the promises He’d made to Jacob’s grandfather, Abraham.
What other reason would Jesus have for mentioning a stairway full of angels to Nathaniel than to show that He knew exactly what Nathaniel had been meditating on? That kind of encounter would make me echo Nathaniel’s exclamation, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God – the King of Israel!” It would surely convince me that the man who could read my thoughts was the ONE AND ONLY stairway to Heaven.
Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven is not a Christian song by any means, yet there IS always a stark contrast between the material things of this earth and the sublime things of Heaven that everyone seems to notice. Jesus descended so we could get to know Him. One day, sooner than we realize, we will ascend to the Father because Jesus leads us step by step. I’m more than happy to hold His hand along the way. What about you?
I’ll leave you today with one line of Plant’s that strikes a chord with me:
“Yes, there are two paths you can go by,
but in the long run,
there’s still time to change the road you’re on”
Let’s stay connected to Jesus, the Stairway to Heaven, and let Him be our anthem!
