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Selected Verse: John 3:13 - King James
| Verse |
Translation |
Text |
| Joh 3:13 |
King James |
And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. |
Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse
| A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882] |
| no man hath ascended, &c.--There is something paradoxical in this language--"No one has gone up but He that came down, even He who is at once both up and down." Doubtless it was intended to startle and constrain His auditor to think that there must be mysterious elements in His Person. The old Socinians, to subvert the doctrine of the pre-existence of Christ, seized upon this passage as teaching that the man Jesus was secretly caught up to heaven to receive His instructions, and then "came down from heaven" to deliver them. But the sense manifestly is this: "The perfect knowledge of God is not obtained by any man's going up from earth to heaven to receive it--no man hath so ascended--but He whose proper habitation, in His essential and eternal nature, is heaven, hath, by taking human flesh, descended as the Son of man to disclose the Father, whom He knows by immediate gaze alike in the flesh as before He assumed it, being essentially and unchangeably 'in the bosom of the Father'" (Joh 1:18). |
| Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
And no man hath ascended into heavens - No man, therefore, is qualified to speak of heavenly things, Joh 3:12. To speak of those things requires intimate acquaintance with them - demands that we have seen them; and as no one has ascended into heaven and returned, so no one is qualified to speak of them but He who came down from heaven. This does not mean that no one had Gone to heaven or had been saved, for Enoch and Elijah had been borne there (Gen 5:24; compare Heb 11:5; Kg2 2:11); and Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and others were there: but it means that no one had ascended and "returned," so as to be qualified to speak of the things there.
But he that came down ... - The Lord Jesus. He is represented as coming down, because, being equal with God, he took upon himself our nature, Joh 1:14; Phi 2:6-7. He is represented as "sent" by the Father, Joh 3:17, Joh 3:34; Gal 4:4; Jo1 4:9-10.
The Son of man - Called thus from his being "a man;" from his interest in man; and as expressive of his regard for man. It is a favorite title which the Lord Jesus gives to himself.
Which is in Heaven - This is a very remarkable expression. Jesus, the Son of man, was then bodily on earth conversing with Nicodemus; yet he declares that he is "at the same time" in heaven. This can be understood only as referring to the fact that he had two natures that his "divine nature" was in heaven, and his "human nature" on earth. Our Saviour is frequently spoken of in this manner. Compare Joh 6:62; Joh 17:5; Co2 8:9. Since Jesus was "in" heaven - as his proper abode was there - he was fitted to speak of heavenly things, and to declare the will of God to man And we may learn:
1. that the truth about the deep things of God is not to be learned from "men." No one has ascended to heaven and returned to tell us what is there; and no infidel, no mere man, no prophet, is qualified of himself to speak of them.
2. that all the light which we are to expect on those subjects is to be sought in the Scriptures. It is only Jesus and his inspired apostles and evangelists that can speak of those things.
3. It is not wonderful that some things in the Scriptures are mysterious. They are about things which we have not seen, and we must receive them on the "testimony" of one who has seen them.
4. The Lord Jesus is divine. He was in heaven while on earth. He had, therefore, a nature far above the human, and is equal with the Father, Joh 1:1. |
| The Scofield Bible Commentary, by Cyrus Ingerson Scofield, [1917] |
Son of man
(See Scofield) - (Mat 8:20). |
| Vincent's Word Studies, by Marvin R. Vincent [1886] |
And (καὶ)
Note the simple connective particle, with nothing to indicate the logical sequence of the thought.
Hath ascended
Equivalent to hath been in. Jesus says that no one has been in heaven except the Son of man who came down out of heaven; because no man could be in heaven without having ascended thither.
Which is in heaven
Many authorities omit. |
| Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65] |
| For no one - For here you must rely on my single testimony, whereas there you have a cloud of witnesses: Hath gone up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven. Who is in heaven - Therefore he is omnipresent; else he could not be in heaven and on earth at once. This is a plain instance of what is usually termed the communication of properties between the Divine and human nature; whereby what is proper to the Divine nature is spoken concerning the human, and what is proper to the human is, as here, spoken of the Divine. |
| Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
No man hath ascended - This seems a figurative expression for, No man hath known the mysteries of the kingdom of God; as in Deu 30:12; Psa 73:17; Pro 30:4; Rom 11:34. And the expression is founded upon this generally received maxim: That to be perfectly acquainted with the concerns of a place, it is necessary for a person to be on the spot. But our Lord probably spoke to correct a false notion among the Jews, viz. that Moses had ascended to heaven, in order to get the law. It is not Moses who is to be heard now, but Jesus: Moses did not ascend to heaven; but the Son of man is come down from heaven to reveal the Divine will.
That came down - The incarnation of Christ is represented under the notion of his coming down from heaven, to dwell upon earth.
Which is in heaven - Lest a wrong meaning should be taken from the foregoing expression, and it should be imagined that, in order to manifest himself upon earth he must necessarily leave heaven; our blessed Lord qualifies it by adding, the Son of man who is in heaven; pointing out, by this, the ubiquity or omnipresence of his nature: a character essentially belonging to God; for no being can possibly exist in more places than one at a time, but He who fills the heavens and the earth. |
18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
9 For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.
5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
62 What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?
9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.
10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
34 For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
11 And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.
24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
12 If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?
20 And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.
34 For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?
4 Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his name, and what is his son's name, if thou canst tell?
17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end.
12 It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?