How Does the Son of Man “Descend from Heaven”?
How Does the Son of Man “Descend from Heaven”?
The descending from heaven language in John 3:13; 3:31; 6:33-58; 8:23; and 16:28 is viewed, by those who believe that Jesus had literally pre-existed, as indicating that he had lived in heaven before his conception in Mary. However, the language used by Jesus in the Gospel of John is often not literal, but provably figurative language. In John 16:25 Jesus says, “I have told you these things in language with a veiled meaning, but a time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in obscure figurative language. I will tell you plainly about the Father.”
“He Who Descended from Heaven”
John 3:13 is the first of these “descending” passages. Here Jesus says to Nicodemus:
“…no one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven [i.e., has his origin in God] the Son of man (ESV) [‘which is in heaven’ KJV].”
However, it is only a superficial or cursory reading of this verse that seems to suggest Jesus’ self–consciousness of any literal pre-existence. A more thoughtful and contextual reading reveals that Jesus doesn’t actually say what it is commonly supposed that he says. Indeed, it is not a literal descent according to the context:
Jesus spoke figuratively to Nicodemus about being “born again” or “from above,” but was misunderstood by him as referring to being literally born again. This, therefore, strongly adds to other indications that Jesus’ words in verse 13 are also figurative.
The phrase “has ascended” implies that the Son of man is, at that moment, in heaven. This cannot be literally so, since Jesus is with Nicodemus on earth.
Also, Jesus had not, at that time, literally ascended as he told Mary (John 20:17). A similar situation of humans being described as being in heaven and yet actually standing on earth is described in Ephesians 2:6 where believers at the time of writing are figuratively “seated with him [Jesus] in heavenly places” although they are actually here on earth.
Furthermore, the term “Son of man” means someone wholly human and not the incarnation of a spirit being. So, it was hardly the case that such a human literally came from heaven.
THE CROSS-REFERENCES TO JOHN 3:13 in the NASB are:
Deuteronomy 30:12 and Proverbs 30:3, 4 which give similar figurative usage of ascending/descending language:
“It is not in the heavens, that you should say, “Who will go up to the heavens to get it [this commandment] for us and tell us of it, that we may do it…14 No, it is something very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to do it...” (Deut. 30:12, 14 NAB).
“…nor have I the knowledge of the Holy One…4 Who has gone up to heaven and come down again…?”
(Prov. 30:3, 4).
In these two texts no one imagined that any ordinary human could literally ascend to heaven. Accordingly, they speak of a figurative ascension to bring “the knowledge of the Holy One” down. So, the Word Biblical Commentary makes the following points with reference to Proverbs 30:3, 4:
This is the first of five rhetorical questions similar to those asked of Job in 38-41. The obvious answer to the first four questions is: God ... But the fifth question is totally different from the previous ones. It concerns identity, and begins with “what” and not “who” ... But it is not clear why the name of the son is included with the question ... Agur is asked ironically to name a human being able to do these things.
THE MEANING OF JOHN 3:13
The Adam Clarke Commentary says regarding John 3:13: “This seems a figurative expression for ‘No one hath known the mysteries of the kingdom of God.’” So, in John 3 Jesus observes that Nicodemus fails to understand “earthly things” and then says to him: “how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?” Jesus then elaborates by showing that he acts between heaven and earth for bringing down the “heavenly things.” These “heavenly things” are “the mysteries of the kingdom of God” which are communicated to Jesus. He, therefore, figuratively ascends to be in heaven in communication with his Father and then figuratively descends to provide this knowledge for others. So, this passage does not prove or indicate that Jesus had a life in heaven prior to his conception in Mary or that he descended into Mary’s womb.
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“He That Comes from Above”
“He That Comes from Above”
Similar to the above, Jesus speaks in John 3:31 and 8:23 of coming “from heaven” when he says:
“He who comes from above is above all...He who comes from heaven is above all” (3:31).
“You are from below. I am from above” (8:23).
Again, those with a belief in literal pre-existence take this to mean that Jesus was literally in heaven prior to his conception in Mary. Yet this reasoning fails to take into account the Jewish ways of thinking at the time. As with the phrase “the Kingdom of heaven” as meaning “the Kingdom of God” (Matt. 19:23-24) so, too, the Jews would often use the word “heaven” as a periphrastic reference to God. And so, in speaking of himself as coming “down from heaven” Jesus simply means that he has come from God. But, doesn’t this still mean that he was literally directly with God? Indeed not, because many prophets came from God but none came from heaven literally. Please see Chapter 37 which shows that Jeremiah and John the Baptizer were sent from God and as meaning that they were commissioned by God. Similarly, Jesus said: “As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world” (John 17:18 NAB). So, Jesus was sent from God in the same way that he sent forth his disciples, and no one would imagine that they were sent from any particular location. Therefore being “from heaven” is simply a reference to Jesus as one who was commissioned by God. Also, because Jesus is “from above” he is in the higher spiritual position compared to these Jews who do not think God’s thoughts. It is the same as in John 3:3, 7 where Jesus encourages Nicodemus to be “born from above” Rotherham, and NAB.
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“Bread from Heaven”
John 6:33-58 (DLNT)
“Bread from Heaven”
John 6:33-58 (DLNT)
Here Jesus said:
33 “For the bread of God is the One coming down from heaven”
38 and 42 “I have come down from heaven”
41 and 58 “I am the bread having come down from heaven”
51 I am the living bread having come down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And indeed the bread which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh”
As with John 3:13 it is the human Jesus (“my flesh”) who “comes down from heaven” and yet a flesh body did not literally descend from heaven because Jesus came into existence in Mary (Luke 1:35 and see Matthew 1:1, 18 in Marshall’s Interlinear.
THE CONTEXT:
Nominal disciples were shocked at Jesus’ metaphor of eating “his flesh and blood.” More shocking to the Jews were his words that implied that he was greater than Moses and was uniquely associated with God. Concerning God’s miraculously feeding of their ancestors with the manna at verse 31 Jesus says: “He gave them bread from heaven to eat.” Yet the manna was not literally sent from God’s throne in heaven. At Exodus 16:4 Yahweh speaks figuratively that: “I will cause bread to rain down from heaven for you,” but what happens in reality is that: “When the dew had evaporated, there on the surface of the desert was a fine flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground” (Ex. 16:14 CJB). Similarly, Jesus’ “coming down from heaven” means his being God’s provision for everlasting (permanent) life, in contrast to the bread that came through Moses (John 6:32) the eating of which did not give them permanent life (verse 49). There is a past and present aspect to this. Here Jesus is also stating that he is now the only channel through which life may be gained—he supersedes Moses.
THINGS WHICH ‘COME DOWN FROM HEAVEN’ METAPHORICALLY
Similar statements of things that figuratively “come down from heaven” are: ‘“…test me please in this,’ says Yahweh of hosts, ‘if I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour forth for you an overflowing blessing”’ (Mal. 3:10). However, no one would logically understand this to mean that God opens literal windows in heaven and literally pours blessings onto people from heaven. In fact: ___
“Every good gift, every perfect gift, comes from above. These gifts come down from the Father, the creator of the heavenly lights, in whose character there is no change at all” (Jas. 1:17 CEB).
Also “the wisdom from above is first pure, then...” (Jas. 3:17). Furthermore, Jesus asks: “...was the baptism of John from heaven, or from humans?” (Luke 20:4 DLNT). The Common English Bible correctly interprets this as: “Was John’s baptism of heavenly or of human origin?” So, of course, there were no baptisms literally in heaven that could come down to earth, but rather John’s commissioning to do a work of baptizing came from God. Indeed, all ‘descending’ language in the Gospel of John can be seen as expressed in Jewish figurative terms and so referring to the commissioning of Jesus by God for Jesus to act as God’s agent.
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Jesus’ “Coming into the World”
Jesus’ “Coming into the World”
Furthermore, the phrase: “have come into the world” does not mean travelling from outside of the world. G.E. Ladd notes that:
The earth is frequently referred to as the dwelling place of humanity in language that is paralleled in Jewish idiom: coming into the world (John 6.14; 9.39; 11.27; 18.37), being in the world (9.5a), departing out of the world (13.1; 16.28b). While some of these [Johannine] sayings acquire theological significance because of the context in which they are used, the idiom itself is familiar Jewish terminology. To come into the world means merely to be born; to be in the world is to exist; and to depart from the world is to die [H. Sasse, TDNT 3:888; see also 1Jn. 4.1, 17; 2Jn7; Heb 10.5; 1Tim 1.15]. A Theology of the NT, p. 261.
So, the references to Jesus as having come into the world mean exactly the same as for any other human, i.e., at the time of one’s birth.
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