John 3:13-15 (WEL) “No one has gone up to heaven except he who came down from heaven, the Son of Man who is in heaven. 14 “As Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, even so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 “So that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
V13 “No one has gone up to heaven except he who came down from heaven, the Son of Man who is in heaven.
What about Enoch (Genesis 5:24) and Elijah (2 Kings 2:11)? Some believe they did go to the third heaven (atmosphere is first heaven and the rest of the universe is the second heaven) where God has His throne. Jesus, I believe, speaks of the third heaven. Based on Jesus’s statement, it must be thought that God took Enoch to Paradise, the comfort compartment of Sheol/Hades. Elijah went into the universe and then to Paradise also. The only human who was in the third heaven is Jesus Christ. Some others had visions of the third heaven but did not physically go there.
Another issue here is the statement “Son of Man who is in heaven.” Jesus is on the Earth. Does this suggest omnipresence or a mistranslation? I understand it to be literal and teaches omnipresence of Jesus.
Most modern translations omit the phrase “who is in heaven,” relying on the gnostic-tainted critical texts.
- Dr. Wilbur Pickering notes: “About 1% of the Greek manuscripts, of inferior quality, omit “who is in Heaven” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). Presumably, those copyists couldn’t figure out how Jesus could be on Earth and in Heaven at the same time, so they altered the text. But let’s stop and think about what this verse says—Jehovah the Son came down out of Heaven all right, but when did He go up? If “the Angel of Jehovah” in the O.T. was Jehovah the Son, as I believe, then He had been back and forth many times. In John 5:19, Jesus said that He could only do what He saw the Father do—so when and how could Jesus see the Father? Even though Jehovah the Son was in the human body of Jesus Christ, evidently, there was some sense in which He was also in Heaven; He existed there. Well, that’s what 1:18 says, “who exists in the bosom of the Father.”
- Utley adds: “This verse is intended to confirm Jesus’ revelation of the Father as true, complete, firsthand, and unique (cf. John 1:1-14). This is another example of the vertical dualism in John: heaven versus Earth, physical versus spiritual, Nicodemus’ origin versus Jesus’ origin (cf. John 1:51; John 6:33; John 6:38; John 6:41; John 6:50-51; John 6:58; John 6:62). This verse asserts (1) the deity; (2) the pre-existence; and (3) the incarnation of the eternal Second Person of the Trinity.”
V14 “As Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, even so the Son of Man must be lifted up.
The principle of the bronze serpent (Numbers 21:4-9) was one must believe plus trust, which was shown by going to that serpent as instructed. It was lifted up because 1) it was commanded and 2) more people could see it in order to be healed. In the same way, Jesus must be lifted up because it was commanded (prophesied) and for all to see it. He is the Savior to whom we look for salvation. We must believe it to be true and act on it, showing we believe what we say.
Today, no one sees Jesus on the Cross because when Jesus died, he was buried, then rose from death, and ascended into the third heaven. But we can look to Him by faith and place our trust in Him for salvation.
V15 “So that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
To have eternal life, we must believe. Regeneration does not precede faith. Those who believe such fail to understand that all the benefits of salvation proceed from faith. They believe all benefits are enacted by regeneration, then, and only then, is faith given as a gift to believe. That doctrine is heresy. We are born again (regeneration) by faith because of our faith. We are not born again because God just commanded it. See Genesis 15:6, John 3:16, Acts 16:30–31, Ephesians 2:8–9, Romans 4:5, Romans 10:9–10, and Acts 2:38.
Those who are delivered are the ones who have believed (Exodus 32:32, Daniel 12:1, Luke 10:20).
We learn:
- Jesus is omnipresent.
- Faith in Jesus alone grants one the privilege of having our names written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
Questions:
- Do you believe Jesus is God the Son?
- What is your reaction to knowing your name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life?