17 Jul '16 13:03>4 edits
Originally posted by checkbaiter
" Then what if you saw the Son of Man ascending to where He was before ?" (John 6:63)
This verse is referring to the resurrection of Christ.
It is more logical to interpret that it refers to some ascension of Christ into heaven.
He did not say " What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to [ WHERE HE IS NOW.]".
As He speaks here He is alive and upon the earth. "Where He was before" is more likely speaking of Him being in Heaven. Had He said "ascending back to where He is NOW" that would more logically refer to resurrection perhaps back to stand upon the earth.
In the immediately previous verse Jesus is telling Nicodemus about things which are in heaven. And the reason He can speak authoritatively to Nicodemus is because Jesus has been there.
"If I told you of things on earth and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you of the things in heaven?
And no one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended out of heaven, the Son of Man, who is in heaven." (John 3:12,13)
The basis upon which Jesus can teach Nicodemus heavenly things that Nicodemus finds hard to believe, is because Jesus has been in heaven. He has not only been on the earth to speak of things on earth. He has also been in heaven and can teach about heavenly things.
This fact is clear from studying the context.
Because the translators have chosen to translate anabainō as “ascend,” people believe it refers to Christ’s ascension from earth as recorded in Acts 1:9, but Acts 1:9 does not use this word. Anabainō simply means “to go up.”
I did not insist that the ascension mentioned in John 3:13 has to be the ascension in Acts 1:9. So this is a argument direct to someone else.
I did not.
" And no one has ascended into heaven ..."
This is clearly speaking in the past tense. And if I do not know what Jesus is talking about because it is not recorded in the Gospels, that does not make it that it never occurred.
Thus, the Bible clearly reveals that our Lord is God as well as man, the true God and the true man, the perfect God and the perfect man. He is nothing less than God and nothing less than man, having complete divinity and complete humanity. He is God with the divine nature; He is also man with a human nature. The Gospel of John continually shows these two aspects of Him. He is God who knows everything and sees everything (1:47-48), who is omnipresent, and who descended out of heaven yet is still in heaven (3:13). He is a man who can get weary and thirsty (4:6-7). He can also weep (11:35). Both God and man are complete and perfect in Him. This is really mysterious. It is no wonder that His name is called “Wonderful” (Isa. 9:6).
From Concerning the Person of Christ by Witness Lee
http://www.ministrybooks.org/SearchMinBooksDsp.cfm?id=209CDFD5C6