They tithed their mint and rue and dill. They saw each little pinch of powdered herb as a step up the ladder.
The Pharisees were climbing their way to heaven, and no renegade street preacher was going to say otherwise.
They were offended when He insulted their good works, and they pressed him hard, provoking Him so that they could catch Him in something He might say.
We all have our ladders.
We’d like to climb the ladder to a better paying position, a promotion, or reputation. We wish everyone would say of us that we are witty, funny, or the first they’d invite to the party. We even climb ladders in virtual spaces to show off the best vacation, slimmest figure, best grilled brisket.
They’re all ladders to nowhere. Especially when we attempt to climb our way to heaven, we’re met with fruitless results. We fall. It’s like the children’s game Chutes and Ladders, for every ladder, there is a slippery slope to slide down, an opportunity to fail.
Every ladder we attempt to climb has a limit. Even the tallest ladders on the sides of high rises or wind turbines must stop somewhere. They culminate in the top, and the climber has no more rungs to grasp- only air.
Whether up or down, our ladders lead nowhere.
Jesus knew this.
When the patriarch Jacob dreamed of a ladder “set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven,” he realized his inability to climb it.
“Surely, the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it!” he exclaims. “This is the gate of heaven!”
Jesus explained this Old Testament happening to His disciples when He called them to follow 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.”
In Jesus’s understanding, He is the ladder that no one needs to climb. He brought heaven down to us. No need for climbing.
He later told His disciples, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber.”
All our climbing is robbing Jesus of what is rightfully His.
Holiness comes from Jesus, not from our own efforts to keep all the “do’s and don’ts.”
He made a way for us to have eternal life in heaven and brought it down as a gift. Instead of accepting the gift, we, like those rotten pharisees, keep trying to climb our way in- like thieves breaking into heaven to take what handfuls we can for ourselves.
Set your ladders aside. You will not need them. Instead, trust Jesus to bring heaven down to you.
Sarah Dixon Young 