NO MAN HATH ASCENDED TO HEAVEN.
BRO. SMITH: Will you please answer, through the REVIEW, the following questions, on the 13th verse of the 3d chapter of John. “And no man hath ascended up to Heaven, but he that came down from Heaven, even the Son of Man which is in Heaven.”
1. Had no one ascended up to Heaven previous to this time, save the Son of Man?
2. How could the Son of Man be in Heaven, and at the same time upon the earth, speaking with his disciples?
C. B., of Ill. ANSWER. This declaration must be made to harmonize with the fact that two men have ascended to Heaven, namely, Enoch and Elijah; and an effort is usually made to do this on the principle that all general rules may have their exceptions. But such reasoning cannot apply in this case. The declaration is such, that a single exception destroys it at once. If it read, “Men do not ascend to Heaven;” that is, men, as a general thing do not, this might still be true, though there should be a limited number of exceptions. But when it reads that no man has ascended, that declaration is nullified if one man has ascended in the sense there intended. The expression cannot therefore mean simply an ascent into Heaven such as Enoch and Elijah experienced. What then, is the meaning of the expression? This must be determined by the context. Jesus is there discoursing of heavenly things. To Nicodemus, they were things of great mystery. He could not understand them. Jesus says, “If I have told you of earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?” Why? Because these things have not been subjects of observation to mortals, that they could become qualified to teach others in reference to them. He continues, “And no man hath ascended up to Heaven.” For what purpose? Evidently to return and bring instruction to his fellows respecting the things of Heaven. And indeed no man has done this. “But He that came down from Heaven;” that is, the Son of Man. He alone could speak of heavenly things from personal acquaintance with them. “Even the Son of Man which is in Heaven.” This expression is designed to still further set forth his qualification to speak in regard to heavenly things. In what respect was he in Heaven? Not literally, and personally; for he was at that time here with the disciples. But so far as the heavenly things about which they were conversing, were concerned, it was the same as though he were still in Heaven. In knowledge of heavenly things, in a perfect understanding of the will of God, he was there; that is, he knew these things as well as though he were literally there. On this text Dr. Bloomfield has a note from which we make the following pertinent extract: “Καὶ οὐδεὶς ἀναβέβηκεν—οὐρανόν.] Literally to ascend to Heaven, could not apply to our Saviour; for his ascension had not yet taken place; figuratively, it means the investigation of hidden things; and for such investigation Christ, who came down from Heaven, was peculiarly qualified. The phrase ἀναβ. εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν (as Schoettgen and others notice) is used agreeably to the language commonly employed of one who announced any revelation,—that he had ascended to Heaven and fetched his knowledge from thence. The ὢν is, I conceive, of the Present Indefinite; and ὁ ὢν ἐν οὐρ. means, “whose proper dwelling-place is in Heaven.” The sense, then, is: “And no one has ever ascended to Heaven, to bring down this information from Heaven, nor can any one except the Son of Man, (i. e., the Messiah) reveal the counsels of God for the salvation of man, i. e., “No one knoweth the counsels of God but I who came down from God.”