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follows our fellowship time.
If you would, take your Bibles and turn to the Gospel of John. We are still in the Gospel of
John, and just in declaring that, I gotcha. Because I know, I know
from talking to several of you, there were a number of you that
thought that I just decided to skip verse 51. I didn’t. Last week, last Lord’s Day, we
were looking at the declarations that Jesus’ followers had made,
the first responders, those first disciples who responded to the
call of Christ and who essentially responded with a declaration
of their own as to the nature of the Lord Jesus Christ. These
were ordinary men, not the religious elite that were so often dogging
the Lord’s steps. These were ordinary men, fishermen
and the like, working class men. What we found though is even
though their names meant something, one one of their names meant
the mighty one, another one meant the lover of horses, and still
another meant a gift of God. Even though their names meant
something, really it was the declaration that was the most
important part of those words. And as we saw this passage unfold,
we left off in verse 50 leaving off of Jesus’ own declaration. We’ll return there this morning. But if you would, begin back
in verse 35 as we look at this poignant scene of the first responders. Again the next day, John was
standing with two of his disciples and he looked at Jesus as he
walked and said, Behold the Lamb of God. The two disciples heard
him speak and they followed Jesus. And Jesus turned and saw them
following and said to them, what do you seek? They said to him,
Rabbi, which translated means teacher, where are you staying? He said to them, come and you
will see. So they came and saw where he was staying. And they
stayed with him that day for it was about the 10th hour. One
of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew,
Simon Peter’s brother. He found first his own brother
Simon and said to him, we have found the Messiah, which translated
means Christ. He brought him to Jesus. Jesus
looked at him and said, you are Simon, the son of John. You shall
be called Cephas, which is translated Peter. The next day he purposed
to go into Galilee and he found Philip. And Jesus said to him,
follow me. Now Philip was from Bethsaida,
the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said
to him, we have found him of whom Moses in the law and also
the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. Nathanael said to him, can anything
good come out of Nazareth? Philip said to him, come and
see. Jesus saw Nathanael coming to
him and said of him, Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom
there is no deceit. Nathanael said to him, How do
you know me? Jesus said to him, Before Philip
called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you. Nathanael
answered him, Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are the King
of Israel. Jesus answered and said to him,
Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you
believe? You will see greater things than these. He said to
him, truly, truly, I say to you that you will see the heavens
opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the
Son of Man. Three first responders, each
with their own testimony of Christ, the first was that of Andrew,
the Mighty One, who said of Christ that He is the Messiah. We spent
no little time looking at that, that this was the Anointed One.
This, in no unequivocal terms, was the One that the Scriptures
had spoken to, the Messiah Himself, the One that the Jews had long
waited for. There was another testimony,
that of Philip. The testimony of Philip, the lover of horses,
was that Jesus was the promised one. He was the one of whom Moses
in the law and the prophets had spoken. He was the promised one. He was the same as the Messiah.
He was the very one that Israel had set their hopes and their
sights upon and had waited these many years. But there was a third
testimony, that of Nathanael. God has given. The gift of God
said this of Jesus, that He is the Son of God, the King of Israel.
In none of those cases is there any hesitation, any doubt. Not
like those of the religious elite who came to investigate Jesus
and scrutinize Him and test Him. In the case of these men, they knew
instantly who stood before them. It was the long-awaited Messiah.
It was the one whom Moses had spoken about. It was the very
one who was, as John the Baptist had identified, the Son of God. But Jesus has a testimony as
well. Jesus has a testimony. Jesus has a title that He wants
to share, not only with these men, but with all mankind. Jesus
responds to this astounding interaction that he has with Nathanael. Glance
down just by way of review at verse 47. Jesus saw Nathanael
coming to him and said of him, behold an Israelite indeed in
whom there is no deceit. Jesus Christ there says that
he knows not only Nathanael’s heart, he knows every person’s
heart. He knows the number of the hairs
on our head, he knows the sinful inclinations. He knows the good
that we’ve done. He knows the need that we have.
He knows us intimately. And he knew Nathanael. And Nathanael
was shocked by this. Nathanael in verse 48 says, how
do you know me? Have we met? From time to time,
we probably have all experienced that, where we meet someone who
knows more about us, it’s kind of an uncomfortable thing. And
I think that’s where Nathaniel’s coming from with his question.
Have we met? How do you know me? This is awfully
intimate knowledge, even though it’s a compliment. An Israelite
indeed, in whom there is no guile, no deceit. That’s all fine and
good, but how, where did you read about this? Because we haven’t
met. Jesus answers him, before Philip called you, when you were
under the fig tree I saw you. Now that we were reminded was
an astounding thing to Nathanael. Nathanael knew exactly what he
meant. It wasn’t that Jesus saw him from afar. It’s not that
Jesus looked over the landscape and just happened to have good
enough vision to see Nathanael sitting under a tree. He knew
what Nathanael was doing even though he could not physically
see him. He knew what he was thinking. He knew whether he
was praying. He knew whether he was worried
or confident. And that is even more astounding
to Nathanael. At first, Nathanael is quite
surprised on a social level that Jesus would have some kind of
knowledge about him. But now and almost instantly
he knows that he is God. And Nathanael answers him in
verse 49, Rabbi, you are the son of God. That didn’t come
as news to Jesus. This was Nathanael’s testimony. This is Nathanael’s acknowledgement
of who Jesus is. You are the Son of God. You are
the King of Israel. Nathanael says, I know exactly
who you are. I know exactly that you are just as has been declared. You are the Messiah. You are
the one that we’ve been waiting for. You are the Son of God. You are
the King of Israel. What Jesus’ response to that is the testimony that yet remains
in this section, not that of a first responder, but that of
Christ Himself. There’s one testimony yet remaining,
and it’s the most important testimony of all. All of those other testimonies
were absolutely true. Jesus was the Messiah. Jesus
was the one whom Moses had spoken about in the prophets. Jesus
was the Son of God. Jesus was the King of Israel.
But he’s that and more. And it’s his testimony, the testimony
of Jesus himself. What would he declare about himself? That’s where we find ourselves
this morning. We pick it up, beginning in verse 50, where
Jesus says, Because I said to you that I saw you under the
fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than
these. There’s a general promise there.
There’s a general promise, and at the end of Nathaniel’s life,
just think with me. At the end of Nathaniel’s life,
Nathaniel could very easily look back and say, yay and amen, I
did see greater things than those initial perspectives that Christ
brought. those things that I could not
figure out how he knew about me. I saw much greater things
than that. I saw miracles. I saw Jesus walk
on the water. Nathaniel could testify. I saw
Jesus raise countless people who were crippled at birth. I saw countless healings. I saw
even the dead raised. I saw feeding of Masses of people,
5,000 on several occasions. I saw miracles after miracles
after miracles. I saw conversions. I saw common
people turn and follow Christ. And I saw these epic battles
with the Jewish leaders. There’s no doubt that even if
you took what just lies on the surface of the New Testament,
As the Gospels unfold, there’s no doubt that Nathanael could
look back and say, this promise was answered in all of these
great things that I saw. I did see greater things than
just this vision that Christ had of me sitting under a tree,
greater things. Nathanael could have looked back,
he could have recounted all of those things under that general
heading, great things. but Jesus issues a very particular
promise very particular in addition to this general promise you will
see greater things in these Jesus goes on in verse 51 to say truly
truly I say to you and you get the sense that maybe Nathaniel
wasn’t quite getting it or oh yeah yeah I’m sure you’ll do
some really good things Jesus says no truly listen to
me Nathaniel truly truly I say to you the word here translated
as truly, we use it all the time. It’s amen. That’s how we translate
it or frequently use the word. And at its most basic level,
it just means firm or worthy of credit. Yes to that, amen. It was and still is a strongly
or solemnly way of affirming something. It is giving someone’s
attestation to a comment. to a declaration. And doubling
the Amen, as is done here, truly, truly serves only to strengthen
the affirmation even more. And it’s an interesting feature
of the Gospels that this formula, this truly, truly formula, which
sounds familiar to our ears but it occurs only in John’s Gospel.
Only The Apostle John recorded Jesus as saying that. When John
quotes him in this way, it’s quite often that it’s a point
or an observation that the synoptic writers didn’t include at all
in their Gospels. That explains part of it. But
John was taken, he was fascinated with this device of Jesus really
raising the bar on the statement that he was preparing to make. In that sense, it’s a new truth
that Jesus is preparing to declare. These truly, truly declarations
occur not only in John’s Gospel, they occur 25 times in John’s
Gospel. It’s striking. And Jesus Himself
is the only one recorded in the Gospel as using this formula.
And in every case, it precedes the statement that He makes.
This is the first of many. And if you think about it, there
is no one more fitted to make such solemn declarations as the
Lord Jesus Christ. One commentator said it this
way, he never rested his sayings on the authority of other masters.
You know, Jewish teachers, when they would teach, they would
often say, well, so and so says. I remember when I was in seminary,
that was the regular feature of your discussion. When you
finally named one name, that was supposed to end the argument. The rabbis would do that, the
teachers would do that, the scribes would do that. But Jesus, He
didn’t rest His authority on anyone other than Himself. And when He spoke, He spoke as
if He bore the secrets of life itself. And so here when Jesus
begins this statement by saying, truly, truly, it is a solemn,
powerful truth that he is preparing to declare. To declare with the
utmost emphasis and the most attentive ear. Jesus says, look at verse 51. Truly, truly, I say to you, you
will see the heavens open and the angels of God ascending and
descending on the Son of Man.” Now the question. The question we’re faced with
this morning is, what is Jesus talking about? What is He pointing
to? What is this event or this series
of events that Nathaniel could, at the end of his life, look
back on and say, that’s when this promise was answered. He could look back and point
to all kinds of miracles, all kinds of events, all kinds of
episodes in Jesus’ life that were greater than what Jesus
had pointed out in seeing him under a tree. But what could
he point back to that could even begin to compare with this statement? When did the heavens open? When
did Nathanael and others witness God’s angels ascending and descending? And that is our concern this
morning. What is Jesus pointing to? Let’s consider Christ’s promise
to Nathanael and others. What would he and others witness
with regards to the Son of Man? And I say, and others, because
he says, truly, truly, I say to you, Nathaniel, you, plural,
you and many others, and it’s undefined as to how many, you
will see the heavens opened. You will see the angels of God
ascending and descending on the Son of Man. It’s a remarkable
spectacle. spectacle, first of all, that
he points to, remarkable. Jesus unfolds this message in
threefold form, and the first element of it is a remarkable
spectacle. You will see the heavens opened.
The sad thing is, I had hardly cracked the book several weeks
ago before I realized that there are many people that spoke of
this in spiritual terms. that you will see doesn’t mean
that you’ll literally see it with physical eyes, but you will
perceive it or that it will become evident to you in time. This
word translated here, you will see, is always used of the vision
of seeing with bodily eyes. Even if it is a spiritual reality,
it is something that we behold physically. John 11, 40. Jesus said to her, did I not
say that if you believe you will see the glory of God? He was
talking literally there. John 16, 16, a little while you
will no longer see me. Jesus Christ had been with them
for nearly three years and they had seen him, they beheld him
with their eyes. But he says in a little while,
yet again in a little while you will see me. Over and over again,
this word is used in that regard. And as I’ve already pointed out,
it wasn’t addressed to Nathanael individually. Not anymore. He
says to Nathanael, you, plural, will see this. You will behold
this great event. Whatever it is, we’ll get there. You will see the heavens opened.
I mean, what do we even begin to do with that? The heavens
opened. In our day and age, we’ve seen
images, pictures in recent weeks of Saturn and its moons, and
we’ve seen pictures of Pluto up close. We even half expected
to see somebody standing on the planet waving to us. It didn’t
happen. Incredible pictures. And beyond that, space, darkness,
more stars, more… We’re just at the end of our
own galaxy. We’re still stuck in our own
solar system and somehow Jesus says you’re gonna see heavens
opened? What does that even mean? How
do you even begin to describe that? There are several occasions in
scripture where it was said that the heavens were opened. You
know, one of them was when Jesus was baptized. Matthew records
it. After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the
water and behold, the heavens were opened. Now Matthew didn’t
take the time to say, what it looked like was this, it looked
like a large slice out of the sky, very bright light, dark
on one side and just a miraculous, spectacular, nothing! The heavens
were opened and you know what? Jesus cannot possibly be referring
this incident to Nathanael because it had already taken place. It
had already taken place. Nathanael didn’t see it. happened on another occasion.
Listen to Acts chapter 7. Stephen is preaching, remember?
You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and
ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit and are doing just
as your fathers did Which one of the prophets did your fathers
not persecute? They killed those who had previously
announced the coming of the righteous one, whose betrayers and murderers
you have now become. You who have received the law
as ordained by angels and did not keep it. See, he’s not worried
about winning friends and influencing. What he’s concerned about is
preaching the gospel in its fullness and winning converts to Christ.
Watch this. Now when they heard this, When they heard this, they were
cut to the quick, and began gnashing their teeth at him. But being
full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven, and he
saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of
God. And he said, behold, here’s his description, I see the heavens
opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. Now
he gives us more information than Matthew did, but what do
you do with that? The heavens are opened, A slice
in the clear blue sky peeled back like a blanket? I don’t
know. But you know what? Jesus, here in John 151, he can’t
be referring to that because it’s only recorded that Stephen
saw it. Stephen’s just giving us his account, and Nathanael
may well have heard that account. But that’s not what Jesus is
talking about, not here. You know what? Likewise, with
Peter’s vision. Peter had a similar vision. in
Acts 10. Remember the whole discussion
about the Gentiles and ministry to the Gentiles and it just records
this. He saw the sky opened up and
an object like a great sheet coming down. That’s not a lot
of detail is it? Some kind of an incredible vision,
some kind of an astounding thing that must have just gripped Peter
at the core of his being. Sky opened. And this sheet comes
down and essentially changes Peter’s dietary and his ministry
perspectives. You know, the Apostle John, he
would later see a perspective. He’s not alluding to that. He’s
not alluding to that either. It wasn’t Peter’s vision, it
wasn’t Stephen’s vision, and it’s not even the Apostle John’s
vision. The Apostle John had an astounding vision of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Remember following the great
white, pardon me, not the great white throne, but the marriage
of the Lamb. John 19 11, I saw heaven open
and behold a white horse and he who sat on it is called faithful
and true. In righteousness he judges and
wages war. He sees the Lord Jesus Christ,
but he’s stammering for words to even begin to describe it.
The heavens are just opened. And we’re not told whether it’s
a door, or a curtain, or a slice, or some glorious and incredible
theophany that these people view. We’re not told. I’m just telling
you, I’m even embellishing it when I call it a remarkable spectacle. How else do you describe it?
You will see the heavens opened. To what then does Jesus refer? Heaven opened? We have a hint. We have a hint
in the form of the verb. Because this isn’t just a brief
crack in the sky, perhaps like at his baptism. Perhaps even
at Stephen’s vision, a brief, temporary crack in the sky. Because the form of the verb
here says, you will see the heavens opened and remaining opened. We’ll come back to that. There’s
another astounding feature of Christ’s announcement. Not only
a remarkable spectacle, but an incredible event. Look at this.
He said to him, truly, truly, I say to you, you will see the
heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending
on the Son of Man. Now some people thought, they jumped very quickly and
said, oh, this is an easy one. This is an easy exegetical dilemma
to solve. All we have to do is read our
New Testament, read our Bibles, read the Gospels. Because these
appearances all occurred with regards to Christ and His earthly
ministry. Luke chapter 2 was one of the
ones they pointed to. Suddenly there appeared with
the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and
saying, here is Jesus’ birth and already we see, except Nathanael
didn’t see it. Nathanael didn’t see those angels. Those angels were for the shepherds,
remember? Luke 9 records another incident. that angels attended to the Lord
Jesus Christ while he was praying. The appearance of his face became
different. His clothing became white and gleaming. And behold,
two men were walking with him. They were Moses and Elijah, who
appearing in glory were speaking of his departure, which he was
about to accomplish at Jerusalem.” Nathaniel didn’t witness that
one either. Luke 22 records another incident
where an angel from heaven appeared to him, strengthening him. That
was for Christ alone. So this reference, this idea
that these angels were everywhere in Jesus’ ministry wasn’t known
to many people, most times only to Christ himself. After the temptation, at his ascension, Jesus Christ
was attended with angels, but not in a public fashion, not
where others could see it, not with bodily eyes. Some said it
was that John was speaking here spiritually, recording Christ
and that Christ was speaking spiritually of the opening of
the heavens. That we can see with spiritual
eyes the angels all about us. I won’t spend a lot of time on
that argument. I don’t for a minute believe
here that Jesus is saying that this is some kind of figurative
language. I think that when Jesus speaks
of a heaven being opened, he’s speaking literally. Literal angels,
a literal event, a literal being, the son of man, upon whom these
angels descend in some kind of ministry or service to him, not
the least of which will be glorification. This is an astounding scene.
to which Jesus points, and it cannot be simply dismissed away
as an analogy or something that we’ll only see in some spiritual
fashion. Well, almost as soon as you heard
that language, you thought of a passage, didn’t you? As soon
as you begin to hear that language, the heavens open, the angels
ascending and descending, there are strong overtones of Genesis
28 here, aren’t there? Please turn, if you would, to
Genesis chapter 28. Genesis chapter 28. Now, please know that I always
want to be very careful about this kind of thing. flippantly
assuming that one passage or assuming flippantly that one
passage parallels another. And especially a New Testament
passage paralleling an Old Testament passage. Because you remember
that was the habit of the church for centuries by way of this
allegorical interpretation where they would just flip and let
one completely explain another passage entirely. Preachers would
jump in and out of the New Testament, out of texts, interpreting, making
application, stretched way beyond any reasonable measure. And that
kind of practice is absolutely to be avoided. We can clearly
see some parallels in this passage between John 151 and Genesis
28. And I find these parallels to be absolutely intentional.
I think Jesus was alluding to Genesis 28. Jesus here does at
least make an allusion to this Old Testament passage. We pick
up the story in verse 10. Genesis 28, verse 10. You know
the story. In fact, I think Frank reviewed
it in Sunday School last Lord’s Day. Then Jacob departed from
Beersheba and went toward Haran. He came to a certain place and
spent the night there because the sun had set. And he took
one of the stones of the place and put it under his head and
lay down in that place. He had a dream and behold, a
ladder was set up on the earth with its top reaching to heaven. And behold, the angels of God
were ascending and descending on it. And behold, the Lord stood
above it and said, I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham
and the God of Isaac, the land on which you lie, I will give
it to you and to your descendants. We’ll stop there. Because for
our purposes, the point is already made. That’s what Jesus was alluding
to. That’s the section that Jesus
alludes to. And I’ll tell you that we still have to be cautious
here. We have one commentator that
I read said that Jesus is the rock on which Jacob laid his
head. No, he’s not the rock on which
Jacob laid his head. It’s a temptation here to overplay
what Jesus even intended here. And there are many who tried
to tie in and fully explain the slightest detail. It’s remarkable
that this connection between John 151 and Genesis 28 verse
13, verse 12 rather, it went entirely unseen for the first
400 years of the church. Now that’s understandable. They
didn’t have a computer. They couldn’t do verbal parallels. They didn’t
have the Bible translated into multiple languages. They didn’t
have all kinds of tools, especially on computer. But one respected
commentator has done a great service to the church in chronicling
the commentary on both Genesis 28 and John 151, and he goes
back to the very earliest day. I get to enjoy this stuff week
in and week out, and from time to time I share some of it with
you. Today’s the day, one of the days. No, here’s the point. Not one commentator before Augustine
in the 400s made any connection between Genesis 28, 13 and John
1, 51. Here’s Philo, second century commentator between
heaven and earth. There is the air, the abode of
incorporeal souls, immortal citizens, The purest of the beings who
pass to and fro are angels who report the Father’s orders to
his children and their needs to him. Well, hopefully, 2,000
years of preaching has made some improvements on his efforts.
Origen agrees with Philo, but goes on to say, visions of angels
are seen only by those who have a special grace. Okay, Tertullian
comes along, in the late 200s and says, just as some men have
behaved badly in times of persecution and others well, so in Jacob’s
dream some mount to higher places, others down to lower. And you
see what they’re doing with this, right? They’re just totally spiritualizing
it. They’re just totally saying that,
you know, these angels refer to human behavior, good or bad. Irenaeus, another early church
father, comes along and says that Jacob’s ladder signifies
the cross. Now you can see that connection,
can’t you? Both are made of wood. Justin comes along, Justin Martyr,
and says that he sees, he’s the one that sees Christ here, not
in the ladder, but in the stone which Jacob used for a pillow. Jerome. finally came along, a
very capable translator, the first one to really compile the
Bible as we know it. He said that Jacob’s ladder represents
the Christian life, the Lord standing above, holding out his
hands to help those who are going up and casting down the careless.
He still makes no reference to John 151. Augustine was the first
to do that. Augustine said this, The angels
ascending and descending typify the preachers of the gospel. The latter is Christ who said,
I am the way. Well, I told you to be cautious
in cautioning students of scripture on that particular extreme one
said that the attempts which have been made to trace a detailed
correspondence between what is said about Jacob’s vision at
Bethel and the vision promised to Nathanael are quite unsuccessful. That’s true. It is impossible
to take Jacob as the type of Christ or the son of man or to
take angels ascending and descending as typical of the communion between
God and Christ, the Father and the Son. It’s impossible. And
so, as I said, it is very easy to trip the line here and to
go too far with our so-called interpretation of these two passages
in trying to relate them one to another. But what we can begin
to conclude is that Jesus does in fact allude to Genesis 28. There is almost universal consensus
among scholars and commentators in that regard. There are those
verbal parallels. Both passages speak about the
heavens. Both of them speak about the
angels of God ascending and descending. Jesus clearly seems to refer
to Jacob’s vision But there are not only gaps when we try to
equate the two, there are some very obvious differences. The
heavens are not said to be opened in the Genesis account. And in
John’s account, Jesus never mentions Jacob by name, and there is no
latter. One commentator effectively speaks
for nearly all when he says, Speaking of Jesus’ words in John
51, he simply said that Jesus’ words are taken from the story
of Jacob’s vision. That’s it. He just grabs this
language and imports it in. There is no overwhelming significance
here, but there is one strong proof that is added to this discussion. In addition to the verbal parallels,
heaven, angels, ascending, descending, Jesus had just referred to Nathan
as an Israelite in whom there is no guile. Of course, Nathanael
and others would immediately recall the title of the incident
recorded in Genesis 32. Jacob wrestling with the angel
ultimately renamed Israel. And because of that, they saw
even more this tie between Genesis 28-12 and John 1.51, here’s how
one said it. This Israelite, indeed, Nathanael,
is the reality of which the latter in ancient Israel, Jacob, saw
as the symbol. So, essentially what they begin
to say is that there is a one-to-one parallel between Genesis 28.12
and John 1.51. I think all we can safely conclude
is that Jesus alludes back to that passage, to Jacob’s dream
about the ladder, angels and all, but for what purpose? What
do we make of this connection? One comment begins to direct
us to a correct understanding. In both passages, there is the
thought of communication between heaven and earth. In this passage,
the place of the ladder is taken by the Son of Man. Jesus himself
is the link between heaven and earth. He’s not the ladder, but
he functions like the ladder. Another said it this way, the
Son of Man is here represented as the link between heaven and
earth, the bond of union between God and man. He is the one by
means of his sacrifice, reconciling God to man. See, Jesus is as
the ladder. He’s not the ladder. He’s not
made of wood. He is the means. He is the avenue
of communication. And in that sense, I would put it this way. The
ladder from heaven to earth is the truth that the word was made
flesh. That’s the tie in between earth
and heaven. The word was made flesh and we’ll
see that even more graphically here in a moment. One pastor
said it this way, this announcement describes the result of the incarnation
of Christ bringing together heaven and earth, a true mediation between
God and man. It was a remarkable spectacle
that Jesus foretold, an incredible event. But thirdly, an extraordinary
person. The remarkable spectacle was
the heavens being opened. The incredible event was this
image of the angels ascending and descending. But the extraordinary
person is the one Jesus declares here at the end. The angels of
God ascending and descending on the Son of Man. And note this
unique little title that Jesus assigns to himself, a title that
no one ever assigns to him, yet the title that he most often
uses of himself, the Son of Man. Think of it. Just in this one
chapter, Jesus has been called the Word, verse 1. He was called
God, also in verse 1. He was referred to as the Life,
in verse 4. The Light, also verse 4. The
True Light, verse 9. The Only Begotten of the Father,
verse 14. Jesus Christ, verse 17. The Only
Begotten God, verse 18. The Lord, verse 23. The Lamb
of God, verse 29. The Son of God, verse 34. Rabbi, verse 38. Messiah, verse 41. Christ, verse
41. The King of Israel, verse 49. And Jesus said that none of those
were adequate for this moment, for His declaration. He refers
to Himself, He self-declares as the Son of Man. That particular
phrase is, as I said, it’s Jesus’ favorite way of referring to
Himself. It is a self-designation. It is a self-proclamation. It’s
not only the way Jesus sees Himself, it’s the way that He wants to
be seen, wants to be understood. It is the Lord Jesus Christ in
His fullness. And in the Gospels, all four
of the Gospels, only Jesus is recorded as using this phrase.
30 times in Matthew’s Gospel. 13 in Mark, 25 in Luke, 12 here
in the Gospel of John. And outside of the Gospels, only
Stephen. Only Stephen refers it to Jesus
in Acts 7. There have been attempts to reach
back into the Old Testament and to pull something out of the
Old Testament that says, you see, this is the Son of Man that
was spoken of in the Old Testament. It’s not there. In the Old Testament,
the Psalms, it was used frequently, this idea of the Son of Man to
speak of the ideal man. Well, that isn’t applicable to
Jesus if you look at the passages. It’s used in Ezekiel, 80 times
in Ezekiel. Son of man, son of man. But what
it’s talking about there is this dependent, limited, transitory
individual. Used to describe man in his limitations. He’s weak, he’s fallible, he’s
incompetent. That’s not Jesus. It’s used not
only in the Psalms and in Ezekiel, it’s used in the book of Daniel.
And this is the one, oh man, everybody seizes hold of this
one. And this is the closest. And I think there’s at least
part of this that does refer to God and in His Son. But in
Daniel 7, 13, and 14, it points to the final era of human affairs. to this establishment of a divine
kingdom. And Daniel refers to one as or
like the Son of Man, not the Son of Man himself. I would say that there’s a secondary
reference there to Christ, but it’s not the same point. There
certainly is not enough to go on, not enough to build upon
from Daniel 7. So there’s a perceived problem
to associate with Jesus’ employment of this term. It was not a name
under which the Messiah was known. They weren’t looking for one
called the Son of Man. So this is going to be a problem,
Jesus, when we go to market this deal. That’s what his apostles must
have been thinking. As we have seen, the nation of
Israel would have welcomed a king. They would have loved that. They
would have rallied around one identifying himself as a king.
They would have embraced one called the Anointed One, the
Christ. But the Son of Man? That is someone for whom they
were not looking. The whole idea of the Son of Man was a new one
and it was used here for the first time by Jesus. So why would Jesus use this title?
one offered an excellent explanation. By this title, the son of man
is meant one who is essentially man, who took man’s nature upon
him, who represents man before God, showing the possibilities
of mankind. But that would have been problematic
to the Jews, especially to the religious elite, because they
wanted a conquering king, not one like themselves. Another pastor said, the idea
of a weak and suffering Messiah was unwelcome to the Jews. Therefore,
a name which emphasized weakness would not be a favorable one.
The very reason which induced them to avoid the title induced
our Lord to take it. It expressed His Messiahship
definitely enough for His purpose, but it also expressed it in that
veiled and suggestive way that characterized the entirety of
His being. In other words, the very reason
that Jesus selected this title was because it spoke of His humanity. It spoke of His deity as well.
At the same time, it spoke of Him as the link between heaven
and earth, as God’s representative to mankind. It captured not only
the idea of His humiliation taking on human flesh, but that He was
the representative of humanity. So for Jesus to designate, to
call himself the Son of Man is for him to identify with the
entire human race in the most significant way. His kingdom
would not be one of human might, but one rather that emphasized
and played upon human weakness. That Jesus became as we are. All humanity was gathered up
in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of Man. And just as Adam
was our representative in the garden, so also Paul speaks of
Jesus Christ being the second Adam. Our representative before
God. Romans 5.14 says, Death reigned
from Adam to Moses, even those whose sinning was not like the
transgression of Adam. who was a type of the one who
was to come. He speaks of Christ. He says
that there is coming one like Adam. He’s the son of man. He’s the son of man. And it relates
Christ not to an individual family. He could have taken on a last
name. It relates Christ not to a single family, not even to
an entire nation. He could have taken on a title
that said he was the Jewish king. Not even the nation of Israel,
but to the family of mankind in general, to all people. said one, his manhood was real.
He was the representative of the whole race. He is in perfect
sympathy with every man of every age and every nation. All that
truly belongs to humanity, all therefore that truly belongs
to every individual in the whole race belongs also to him. He was in every way like us,
except sin. These passages all pointed to
Christ. These passages where the son
of man was found spoke of Christ in his humility, they spoke of
Christ in his coming glory, and they were profound. It was a title that only Christ
could have assigned to himself. And now we back up and we look
at this astounding announcement. this astounding announcement
that Jesus makes of himself, his self-designation. It was
a remarkable spectacle. When did it happen? It was an
incredible event. When did it happen? It was an
extraordinary person. When were the heavens opened?
When did we ever see the heavens opened, you and I? When did we
ever see the heavens opened and angels ascending and descending
on the Son of Man? You know what some people still
insisted on taking that figuratively? Suggesting that it’s already
been fulfilled when Jesus was on the earth. Some took it literally,
but they said that it was literal, but it was fulfilled when he
was on the earth. There were occasions where the angels ministered
to him. I’m telling you, it is absolutely to be taken literally,
but it has not yet been fulfilled. When? When? When Jesus Christ returns. When
Jesus Christ returns, the second coming in His fullness, in glory,
then all will see. We will see. We will see the
skies torn open, opened forever. And we will see heaven open,
and not only heaven open, but the angels attending the Lord
Jesus Christ. Matthew records it this way.
Jesus’ words in Matthew 24, the sign of the Son of Man will appear
in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn.
They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky
with power and great glory. One pastor said, when he comes
the second time to take his great power and reign, the words of
this text shall be literally fulfilled. His believing people
shall see heaven open, a constant communication kept up between
heaven and earth, the tabernacle of God with men and angels visibly
ministering to the King of Israel and King of all the earth. It was an astounding message
that Christ delivered. that one day, not just Nathanael,
not just Nathanael and his friends would see, but when Jesus said,
truly I say to you, Nathanael, that you will see, all of Christ’s
people will one day witness that incredible event. Jesus Christ
returned to earth. And the one question that I would
leave you with this morning Are you ready for that event?
The gospel has been preached. There is one way to be ready
for that astounding event, and that is to place your faith in
Christ alone, only in Him for salvation. And in that day, as
we step back and the skies open up and Christ comes forth, what
a welcome day that will be for the saints of God. humble ourselves
before him. Our merciful King. We thank you and praise you for
these words, and we thank you for the promise that is ours. The promise that is there for
every member of Christ Church to one day embrace Christ in
fullness. Lord, we think of that ancient
hymn that said, O Lord, haste the day when the faith shall
be sight. When the clouds be rolled back as a scroll, the
trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend. Even so, it is
well with my soul. We pray these things in Jesus’
name. Amen. As we close, if you would
take your hymnal and turn to 499 Rock of Ages. And we’ll close by singing the
first verse.