(verse 13) “And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the which is in heaven.”

With this statement asserts his omnipresence and preexistence to establish He alone is qualified to tell Nicodemus heavenly things. In one sense, the language of Jesus' statement is a paradox. In another, it is quite clear. Jesus is in heaven and on earth at the same time. The solution to this paradox is incarnate LORD; is omnipresence. He is everywhere present at the same time. Furthermore, since heaven is not subject to the natural laws of time and space, it follows neither is the Son of man. He pre-exists. Jesus affirmed his preexistence when he told the Jews, “Before Abraham was,“ John 8:52.

1. “And no man hath ascended up to heaven” This clause is sometimes cited as evidence of a prior private ascension of Jesus. However, this seems unlikely since it is unsupported elsewhere in scripture. The more likely meaning is to establish heaven as the eternal habitat of the Son of man. It is His rightful abode according to His eternal nature. Therefore, ascending back to heaven signifies returning to His own abode. By stating “no man” Jesus indicates there is no other like the Son of man. Therefore none but he is qualified to tell heavenly things.

2. “but he that came down from heaven” This clause establishes heaven as the dwelling place of the Son of man. It also provides context to Jesus' claim that the Son of man alone is qualified to tell heavenly things. The Son of man “came down from heaven” and now is on earth. By saying this, Jesus implies He came from heaven which qualifies him to speak of heavenly things to Nicodemus.

3. "even the Son of man which is in heaven” This clause strengthens Jesus' claim he alone is qualified to tell of heavenly things. Who better to tell Nicodemus of heaven than one who is in heaven and at the same time is sitting on earth in the presence of the Jewish ruler. Being God incarnate, who is the Son of man, gave Jesus the unique quality of knowing the things of God as God and the things of man as a man.

Jesus identified the Son of man as he who ascended up to heaven, came down from heaven, and is in heaven. He uses the term “Son of man” to refer to himself more than eighty times in the four . In comparison, the term “Son of God” is found twenty-eight times; but Jesus uses it only six times.

His preference for “Son of man” suggests Jesus wanted to emphasize his humanity. Assuredly, He wanted us to understand His pain of physical suffering and death at Calvary as a human experience; that as the Son of man he was the perfect sin offering to God and tasted death for all the elect family of God. Perhaps He also wanted those who grasped the wisdom of His teachings, and appreciate the significance of His miracles to understand that His human example of submissive obedience is our standard; so, in fellowship with his sufferings we might “press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

The eternal Sonship of Christ is inferred from Jesus affirming that the Son of man descended from Heaven and is in heaven. Jesus is the Son of man according to nature and the Son of God according to His Divine Being, as John previously states in the introduction of this account. (See John 1:14, 18) The language is unambiguous. By saying the Son of man was in heaven before he descended to earth and while on earth He is also in heaven, Jesus identified the Divine quality of eternal existence based on his omnipresence and preexistence.

As God's eternal Son, who is the Son of man, Jesus is uniquely qualified to instruct man (kind) about heavenly things. Who could better teach the Apostles, who teach others; and to inspire writers to record his deeds and doctrines. Jesus' omnipresence and preexistence transcends space and time. Since heavenly things exist apart from time and space, Jesus alone wholly knows and fully experiences all things heavenly. And since man exists wholly within the constraints of time and space, as the Son of man Jesus is uniquely qualified to relate heavenly things to man (kind).