3:11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
In this passage, we learn two things about Jesus: 1. Who he is; and 2. What he is about to do.
Jesus makes a bold claim about where he comes from: “No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.” When we travel, many of us get homesick. Why is that? Because we are deeply associated with our point of origin. As the saying goes, “home is where the heart is.” Home, however, is more than a sentimental heart attachment. Where you are from, also, determines who you are.
Typically, though not always, home is where a person grew up. It is the place their family raised them. Likely, it was also the place where they were educated. More often, it is the place where their most intimate relationships have formed. Regardless of where your home is, it is the place where personal identity is significantly developed. Your home is where your worldview is most influenced.
When Jesus says that his home is in heaven, he is not only identifying himself with that place, he is also identifying himself with the one who resides there - God. Heaven is the dwelling place of God. Creaturely beings, whether heavenly or earthly, can only reside there with his permission. So when Jesus makes the statement, “No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man,” he is boldly claiming that he belongs there. The implication is that it is his dwelling place. In effect, he is claiming to be God.
Jesus also foreshadows what he about to do. In verse fourteen, he makes a reference to Numbers 21:6-9:
Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.
The Israelites sinned. But God was merciful. He used the bronze serpent to save his people from the fiery serpents. In this way, their sins were atoned for through the bronze serpent being raised up. Jesus would similarly be raised up; only he would be raised up on a cross. And instead of a serpent for a serpent, this was a life for a life. Much like how the serpent was used to save the Israelites, Jesus saves us from our sins.
Why would he do that? He answers this in Mark 3:15, “that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”
God of heaven on earth is truly a remarkable thing. More than that, this same God was also willing to die for us and our sins. Not only that, he invites us into God’s dwelling place so that we can have eternal life with him. This is not only remarkable, but amazingly gracious indeed!
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