John 1:35–51 – Towards the end of the first chapter of John’s Gospel, we see two things: Jesus gathering his first disciples and Jesus confirming his identity. Although each disciple comes to Jesus through various means, they are ultimately called by Jesus who knows them and signals his intent to transform them. His question “What seek ye?”is designed to challenge his disciples to think deeply about who or what they are actually seeking. As the chapter climaxes, all the titles ascribed to him so far are confirmed by Jesus when he claims to be the ladder that Jacob saw in Genesis 28. He is the ladder set up on earth, whose top reaches to heaven, reconciling God and man.
