John 3:12-13 12If I have spoke to you about earthly things and you do not believe, how if I should speak to you about heavenly thingswill you believe? 13And no one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.
Jesus continues his comparison between the fleshly/earthly and the spiritual/heavenly. Verse 12 is an example of an a fortiori argument: from the lesser to the greater. If what on earth is true, how much more will be what is in heaven be true! The earthly things refer back to the wind that can be heard and felt in verse 8. Jesus challenges Nicodemus to look at the evidence of God’s movement right in front of him. The evidence of Jesus’ life and ministry, especially through the “signs,” should convince him of the need for faith in Jesus. Nicodemus was blessed to be an eyewitness to Jesus’ ministry. We as readers must rely on the testimony of eyewitnesses as recorded in John’s Gospel.
The heavenly things refer to the work of the Spirit. The Spirit cannot be seen, just as heaven cannot be seen or experienced in our physical existence. Yet, it is a true place of God’s dwelling. God’s kingdom of heaven was breaking into the earthly sphere right in front of Nicedemus’ eyes through the ministry of Jesus. The earthly bore witness to the heavenly, but it takes faith to see the connection. Jesus was essentially inviting Nicodemus to believe in him.
Verse 13 confirms this conclusion with Jesus’ reference to the Son of Man. He makes no explicit connection to himself, but it is obvious that he is speaking about himself. This verse is connected to the previous verse (with the use of kai) and shows how Jesus knows the truth of verse 12. The first part of verse 13 needs to be read in its context in order not to be taken as a universal truth. Taken literally, it would mean that no one has ever gone to heaven, which is not true based on the record of the Old Testament. The keywords are ascended and descended, which refer to the incarnation of the Son of Man. Jesus may be using this self-designation here specifically to emphasize his incarnation as the divine-human revelation from God. He is the only one who has come from God with the full representation of God. The mention of the ascension of the Son could refer to Jesus’ ascension to heaven after his resurrection. The resurrected One is also the exalted One. This ascension qualifies him to be the only way to the Father.
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