 |  |
Two similar references to the ascension are found in chapter 16::
"And now I go My way to Him that sent Me: and none of you asketh Me, Whither
goest Thou?" (John 16: 5).
"A little while, and ye shall not see Me, because I go to the Father" (John 16: 16).
In the next chapter (John 17:), where the finishing of the work which He had come to
do is prominent, the Lord's return to "where He was before" is again referred to:
"And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to Thee"
(John 17: 11).
"And now I come to Thee" (John 17: 13).
In chapter 20:, on the glorious resurrection morning, this message of the ascension is
the one that the Lord chooses as His first greeting to His grieving disciples:
"Jesus saith unto her, Touch Me not; for I am not yet ascended to My Father; but go
to My brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto My Father, and your Father; and to My
God, and your God" (John 20: 17).
We are not attempting to deal with these passages at the moment, or to consider their
contexts. We are merely tabulating them to show how intimately this fact of the ascent
and descent of Christ is interwoven into the theme of John's Gospel.
Coming back to John 3:, we find the structure of verses 13 and 14 to be as follows:
i | 3: 13. The Son of Man. Ascended.
j | 13. He came down from heaven.
i | 14. The Son of Man. Lifted up.
Verses 14 and 15 read as follows:
"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man
be lifted up; that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life"
(John 3: 14, 15).
In chapter 5: the Lord says of Moses:
"There is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust. For had ye believed
Moses, ye would have believed Me: for he wrote of Me. But if ye believe not his
writings, how shall ye believe My words?" (John 5: 45-47).
It is reported that a Modernist Bishop, visiting a public school, was asked by the
Headmaster what he should do about the teaching of John 3: 16.
"I take it", said the Headmaster, "that you desire me to teach the truth of John 3: 16".
"Yes, yes", replied the Bishop. "By all means."
"Yet", said the Headmaster, "I am also teaching these boys Logic".
"Well", replied the Bishop, "What of that?"