October 25

The Way to Heaven

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. — John 14:6 BSB

A way always leads somewhere: Jesus is the way from earth to heaven and also the way from heaven to earth. Through Him, we come to God, and through Him, God comes to us. He is the true and only ladder, with its foot resting on the earth and its top reaching up to the very glory of God. In His humanity, Jesus descended to the lowest depths of human need and sorrow. Had He been only God and not also man, He could not have done this. The incarnation is like a ladder being let down, reaching even into the deepest valleys. There is now no place of shame or guilt in the world from which there is not a ladder of light, with its steps leading upward to God and heaven.

While Christ’s humanity brings the ladder down to the places of deepest need on earth, His divinity takes the ladder upward into the very heart of God’s glory. On one page of the New Testament, we see Jesus on the cross, dying in shame and darkness between two criminals. Then we turn another page, and we see the same Jesus, wearing the marks of His wounds, standing in the brightness of heaven, crowned in glory. Behold the ladder from earth to heaven!

A ladder is a way for feet to climb: Christ is the way, the only way, for sinners to ascend out of their sins into the purity and blessedness of heaven. One thing to remember is that there is only one way. Christ is the only Mediator. We can only come to the Father through Him. Grace comes to us only through Him. So, there is no choice of ways—if we do not go by this one way, we can never reach our eternal home. And we must remember that a way is meant to be walked. We must put our feet on this ladder and climb, step by step, until we reach the topmost step, which is heaven.