John 3:13 is often presented by trinitarians and others as proof that Jesus is God Almighty, since it supposedly shows that Jesus is omnipresent.

John 3:13: No one has ascended into heaven, but he who descended out of heaven, the Son of Man, who is in heaven. -- World English

Taken as it reads in several translations, this would have Jesus in heaven and on earth at the same time. While such does not necessarily prove that Jesus would be omnipresent (present everywhere all at once), it would indicate that he could at least be in two places at once.

The words "ascended" and "descended are the Greek ana-bai no and kata-baino; meaning to ascend, to spring up; and to descend, to come down. The Greek words translated "except" are *Ei me*, meaning but, except, save, excluding. Jesus actually spoke these words about three years before his ascension. Therefore, we have no reason to think that he was referring to his later ascension or that even that Jesus was referring to his own ascension. Nevertheless, Jesus had previously been in heaven before he came to earth, and thus we do have reason to think that Jesus did refer to his heavenly origin. "Jehovah formed me as the beginning of his way, the first of his works of old" (Proverbs 8:22 American Standard Version Margin).

We need to consider the context, for Jesus had just stated: "If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?" (John 3:12) What Jesus is speaking of in the context is his witness concerning heavenly things. He is saying that no human has ever ascended into the spiritual heavens so that he could tell of such things, excluding the Son of Man, not because he had already ascended to where he had been before (Mark 16:19; John 6:62; 13:1; Acts 3:20,21; Ephesians 1:20; Hebrews 4:14; 9:24; 1 Peter 3:22), but because he had descended from the heavens -- from the presence of his Father, the only true God. (John 17:1,3) Thus no man had ever so ascended into the spiritual realm of God's presence where Jesus had been before he came to the earth, and where he returned after being raised from the dead. Jesus alone had previously been in heaven, and had descended from the heavens.
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http://bible.crosswalk.com/Lexicons/Greek/grk.cgi?number=1508

Thus, this scripture actually proves that Jesus was with his Father before earth, not that he was in two places at once. The reference to the one who descended from heaven is concerning Jesus. And then concerning mankind in general, Jesus said: "No one has ascended into heaven."

Adam Clarke states in his commentary concerning John 3:13: "This seems a figurative expression for, No man hath known the mysteries of the kingdom of God; as in De 30:12; Ps 73:17; Pr 30:4; Ro 11:34. And the expression is founded upon this generally received maxim: That to be perfectly acquainted with the concerns of a place, it is necessary for a person to be on the spot. But our Lord probably spoke to correct a false notion among the Jews, viz. that Moses had ascended to heaven, in order to get the law. It is not Moses who is to be heard now, but Jesus: Moses did not ascend to heaven; but the Son of man is come down from heaven to reveal the Divine will."
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http://www.studylight.org/com/acc/view.cgi?book=joh&chapter=003

Trinitarians often like to point to the term "son of man" as representing Jesus' human form, not his divine form. If the term "son of man" here refers to Jesus' human form, then this would have his human form in heaven at the same he is on earth; it would not indicate a divine form in heaven and a human form on earth as some have argued.

However, the oldest Greek MSS (the Sinaitic and the Vatican as well as many other manuscripts) omit the last four words of verse 13 with evident propriety, for although our Lord is now in heaven, he was not in heaven at the time he addressed Nicodemus. Thus many translations render this verse similar to Rotherham: "And no one hath ascended into heaven save he that out of heaven descended, The Son of Man."
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http://www.heraldmag.org/olb/bsl/Library/Referenc/MnscptEv/mscript1.pdf
http://www.bibletruthkeys.com/bible_translated.htm
http://www.auburn.edu/~allenkc/fbf/sonman.html

Additionally, Biblical Numerics indicate that this phrase, "which is in heaven", is spurious. Ivan Panin's translation does not include this phrase, but simply reads: "And no one hath ascended into the heaven, except he that descended out of the heaven, the Son of man." Panin, I am sure, being a trinitarian as well as a believer in the immediate passage of believers into heaven at death, would have tried every way he could to prove this phrase to be true by Biblical Numerics, but evidently concluded it to be an interpolation that could not be substantiated by numerics. You can visit our page on Biblical Numerics online .

In view of the above, we can see that there is nothing in John 3:13 that proves that Jesus is Yahweh, nor is there anything in this verse that proves that Jesus was existing on two planes of existence at once.

Last update of this study: January 6, 2005

Related Links: We do not necessarily agree with each and every statement made.

http://www.heraldmag.org/literature/quest_7.htm
The Ascent of the Son of Man -- When had Jesus ascended into heaven before he spoke these words at the first advent? -- James Parkinson

http://agsconsulting.com/htdbv5/htdb0128.htm
The Mediator of the Atonement - The "Son of Man" -- Studies in the Scriptures, Volume 5, The Atonement Between God and Man

http://www.nazarene-friends.org/articles/Did%20Christ%20Have%20a%20Pre-existence.htm
Did Christ Have a Pre-[human]existence?

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