Angels ascending and descending

 John 1v50-51   Hereafter you shall see greater things

Perhaps the speed at which Nathaniel moved from scepticism to total belief, prompted Jesus to offer perspective, just in case he thought he had “arrived”.   If your faith in me is because I know you, there is much more to learn.  There is a tendency with many of us toward "mushroom growth".  We get hold of one part of truth and we know it all.  We swing from one thing to another, like Peter who declared convincingly that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God, then a little later refused to accept Jesus must suffer death-Matthew 16v16-17 with v22-23.  He spoke quickly, and correctly, as a revelation from God the Father, and shortly after his words were of Satan!  Not quite the same here but Jesus gently focuses on greater things to come.  So He quotes from the O/T narrative in Genesis 28, in which Jacob was fleeing from his brother Esau and was fearful of the future.  God appeared to him in a dream, promising covenant blessings and Divine preservation for the future.  He did this in a vision of a ladder that bridged the distance between heaven and earth, and declared that heaven was open to earth for those who trusted God.  Jesus took this up and applied it to Himself, and said this promise applied to all who followed Him. 

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.”

Jesus was claiming that He was God, that He was the Messiah, that He was the stairway between heaven and earth, that angels come and go at His bidding, that they are at His beck and call at all times, that such activity and communication can be the experience of all who believe.

Because of sin there is a breakdown in communication from heaven to earth, and that is restored in Jesus for those who trust Him.  Nathaniel was "under the fig tree" when Jesus saw him from afar; The fig tree was the spot where dedicated Israelites sat to meditate and memorise scripture.  It may be the place he was reading was Genesis 28, and so Jesus alluded to it.  If so that means He not knew where He was, but where he was reading!  In Jesus heaven and earth is brought together and the disciples including Nathaniel would be witness to heavenly activity in the life of Jesus, which will ultimately be the normal in the great kingdom of God on earth, when heaven comes down to rule.  Nathaniel, along with us who are reading the narrative, will witness heaven on earth, and all the resources of heaven at our disposal.

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