This goes with the sermon “Making Him Known”, but didn’t make the final cut.

Jesus told Nathanael: 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.” (1:51). Like Jacob (Israel), Nathanael would eventually come to the same conclusion: “Surely the Lord was in this place, and I did not know it." But why THIS reference? How do angels play into Jesus’ ministry? The reality was that angels WERE there, in so many key moments!

Regarding Jesus’ birth, how was it announced? By angels!

After Jesus’ temptation, who ministered to Him? Angels!

At Jesus’ tomb, who was there? Angels again!

And when Jesus ascended back to the Father in Heaven, who was there to remind the disciples that He would come again? If you guessed an angel, you are a winner!

This helps make sense of why Jesus used that reference with Nathanael, the guileless Israelite!