Descending and Ascending (John 3:13-15)

It is not clear if these verses are a continuation of the conversion between Nicodemus and Jesus or if they are comments written on the conversion by the apostle John. Personally, I would opt for them being part of the conversation. In the previous verse, Jesus has intimated that Nicodemus, because he had failed to understand earthly things mentioned by Jesus, would have difficulty understanding heavenly things.

Jesus goes on to speak about his ascension to heaven, obviously a heavenly matter. Yet he also goes on to speak of being ‘lifted up’, which is another way of describing an exaltation, but is the ‘lifting up’ connected to him going to heaven? The link between his lifting up and the lifting up of a pole on which a bronze serpent had been placed should have intrigued Nicodemus because, being the teacher of Israel, he would know about the incident of the bronze serpent. But Nicodemus seems on this occasion to have remained silent.

The name of Jesus

We know that the Bible uses many names to describe Jesus. Yet we can be surprised to discover that the one he used most often about himself is the title ‘Son of Man’. Some scholars say he used this title in an enigmatic sort of way because he did not want to reveal his identity. Another way of interpreting this title is to say that it describes his humanity, and we can see how the inclusion of ‘man’ could suggest this. 

The best way to find an answer to the meaning of the name, however, is to ask if the Bible uses it elsewhere, and we know that it is used in Daniel 7:13-14 to describe one who ascends to the presence of God and receives great power from him. In other words, it is a title that points to the ascension of Jesus. This means that any time the title is used by Jesus or about Jesus we should say to ourselves that it is connected in some way to what will happen when he experiences the ascension.

Where did he come from?

The prediction of the Son of Man in Daniel’s prophecy does not say where he will come from. If Jesus has said to Nicodemus, ‘Tell me, where does the One mentioned by Daniel come from?’, Nicodemus, the teacher of Israel, would have had to say, ‘I do not know. Someone will have to tell me.’ So Jesus, in his kindness and in his role as a prophet or teacher, informs Nicodemus where the Son of Man came from. He came from heaven.

One reason why Jesus would have given this information would be for Nicodemus to ask more questions. Nicodemus does not seem to have done so at this time. Maybe he was embarrassed to do so, to admit that there were some things about the Bible that he did not understand. Yet we can think of questions that he could have asked and indeed should have asked. What are they? 

Well, we could ask, ‘Does this mean that one of the Old Testament heroes, such as Moses or David, is going to come down to earth and fulfil this role?’ The answer we would be given to that question is that none of them could fulfil this role because it would be too great for them. Or we could ask, ‘Does this mean that one of the powerful angels will come down from heaven and perform this role? Again, the answer would be that none of them are able to come down from heaven and do this set of actions.

If it is not a hero and if it is not an angel, who else can come down from heaven? Nicodemus could have thought to himself, ‘The only other option is God, but I can see from the prediction in Daniel that it is God who gives the kingdoms to the Son of Man. So it cannot be God, can it?’ As we see, Nicodemus did not ask the questions, but we can ask. We see the answer in verse 16 of John 3. God would not send an Old Testament hero from heaven, nor would he send an angel from heaven, but he would send his unique Son. That is an amazing detail that could have been given to Nicodemus, but it is definitely given to us.

The question as to who came from heaven leads to another one, which is, ‘Where did Jesus come from in heaven? What place did he have there before he descended to earth?’ Astonishingly, the Bible tells us that the place occupied by the Son of God was the throne of God, that he was equal with the Father and the Holy Spirit, and that he was worshipped as divine by all the creaturely residents of heaven. In other words, the Son of Man before he came to earth occupied the highest place that can be found in heaven.

Why did he come?

Jesus gives the answer to this question in his reference to the bronze snake raised on the pole, which we read about in Numbers 21:4-9. We know that the point of the snake on the pole was to provide a cure for Israelites who had suffered a lethal bite from serpents because they had expressed rebellion against God. Moses asked God to show mercy to them, and the Lord promised that anyone who looked at the brazen serpent lifted on a pole would be healed. It was a cure.

Jesus had come to provide a cure for sinners who were facing death, who unless they could see him, they would not have the cure. The reason why they would die was because they were sinners, they had rebelled against God, and as had been indicated in the Garden of Eden by God at the beginning, the consequence of sin would be death. Yet Jesus has come to provide a cure. The Son of Man had come to seek and save the lost, and the way that he would provide it would be by bringing to the dying a permanent cure.

How would Jesus do this?

Jesus says that he, the Son of Man, would be lifted up in a manner similar to how the brazen serpent was. Imagine what Nicodemus would have discovered on this occasion if he had said to Jesus, ‘I don’t understand what you mean. Please, explain your words to me about being lifted up.’ We know what Jesus meant. 

The words ‘lifted up’ imply an ascension, and Jesus has known more than one kind of ascension. We find the answer to which ascension when we ask another question, ‘Where and when did he provide the cure?’ The answer to this question is that he obtained the cure when he was elevated on the cross of Calvary. There he performed the most amazing of activities, which at one level brought him so low, but which on the level of achievement was exceptionally high, indeed so high that no other activity, or even all other activities combined together, can come near to it in terms of success. He obtained the cure for our disease when he paid the penalty for our sin, when he suffered in our place, and it was an expression of his great love for sinners that he was willing to do so.

What is the outcome?

The cure that Jesus provides results in eternal life for those who believe in Jesus. Eternal life is more than endless existence. It means something that is experienced within our souls. The life of God comes into the hearts of sinners and they sense something of his peace and joy.

The question is, how do they get the cure? If we want help from a doctor we go and tell him our problem and he provides a remedy. We receive eternal life by faith in Jesus – ‘whoever believes in him may have eternal life.’ Faith means thinking about and depending on the Jesus who was lifted up similar to how the brazen serpent was lifted up before the Israelites. The place where he was lifted up was the cross of Calvary. Faith does not involve a literal journey to the cross, because that is impossible to do. Instead, faith reads about the story of the cross in the Bible and looks at Jesus hanging on it and paying the penalty for sin, and applies personally what took place there. 

But although Jesus died, he did not remain dead. He has been lifted up in another sense as well, lifted up to the throne of God after his resurrection and ascension to heaven. Faith in Jesus involves considering him not only as the One who was crucified, but also considers him as the One who has been crowned as a reward, with the crown being the reward for his suffering. He has been given all power in order for the benefits of what he did for sinners to be their means of being cured.

A question that people sometimes ask is whether or not Jesus will receive them when they ask him for his forgiveness and cure. The answer is that he will. In fact, he never casts out any that come to him for mercy. We must remember that not only is the Christ that was crucified, that not only is he the Christ that was crowned, but that he is also the Christ who is compassionate towards sinners, who is willing for them to depend upon him in order to receive eternal life.