John 1:50

‘Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you, I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You shall see greater things than these.” And he says to him, “In very truth I say to you, you will see the Heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man”.'

Jesus reply is, ‘Does your faith rest on the fact that I saw you under the fig tree?' (‘and knew what you were thinking' is implied). Then he tells him that more wonderful things are yet in store for him, beyond what he could even have conceived. ‘You will see Heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man'.

Jesus probably did not mean this to be taken literally. It is rather a reference back to Jacob's dream at Bethel (Genesis 28:12) which had indicted that he was the chosen of God and under God's protection. Perhaps this had been included in Nathaniel's earlier thoughts under the fig tree, as he pondered Jacob's experience and connected it with his guile (Genesis 27:35), and as therefore in contrast with the man without guile pictured in Psalms 32:2. Now he is learning that a greater than Jacob is here Who can read all his thoughts.

Jacob had received his vision when he had left home and was about to enter a strange and foreign land. It had been a confirmation that God was with him and was watching over him wherever he went, and that world events were under heavenly control. The message Jesus is conveying is that He too is leaving home, aware of the period of hardship that lies ahead, and that He too will know the presence of His Father watching over Him, and will have special heavenly connections. It will be a period that will stress the closeness of His relationship with the Father, and will result in a new period of fulfilment of the promises of God, and He is indicating that Nathaniel will have a part in that future, and will come to recognise Jesus' unique relationship with the Father, and share in its blessing.

Notice again Jesus' reference to Himself as the Son of Man. This is the title under which he constantly reveals Himself. Others have declared Him ‘the Lamb of God', ‘the Son of God', the King of Israel', ‘the Messiah', the ‘Drencher with the Holy Spirit', but He wishes to link Himself closely with mankind as the Son of Man. However, what Jesus says here suggests that He already thought in terms of the ‘son of man' in Daniel 7:13 who approaches the throne of God in order to receive kingship and glory. It was a suitable term by which to indicate His Messiahship, whilst at the same time avoiding the suggestion that He had in mind an earthly conflict.

This depiction of Jesus as using the term ‘son of man' rather than any other is in line with the other Gospels, and a further confirmation that the writer does not seek to alter the tradition. He does, however, certainly select those sayings which reflect the Son of Man's heavenly glory. He wants it to convey the idea both of genuine Messiahship and of heavenly connections and authority. In order to see this we will look at the passages where the Son of Man is mentioned:

· 3:13 ‘And no one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended out of heaven, even the Son of man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up, so that whoever believes may in Him have eternal life.' Here Jesus sees the Son of Man in terms of a figure who ascends to Heaven, as the Son of Man did in Daniel 7:13. But Jesus adds here the thought that this indicated that he had first descended from Heaven. The thought may be His own, or it may be that He saw the descent of the Son of Man from Heaven as is in accordance with Jewish tradition (the idea of a glorious son of man appears in Jewish apocalyptic literature). Thus His connection with Heaven is being made clear. Yet He is also as the Son of Man to be lifted up (on the cross) in order that those who believe in Him may have eternal life. We see here both His humiliation and His glory, and His mission to give eternal life to those who believe in Him.

· 5:26 ‘For as the Father has life in Himself, even so gave He to the Son also to have life in Himself, and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is a son of man.' Note here the equating of ‘the Son' with the Son of Man. Here it is as the Son of Man that He is given authority to exercise judgment, a clear indication that He will have taken His position on His heavenly throne (Daniel 7:14).

· 6:27 ‘Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which abides to eternal life, which the Son of man will give to you, for Him the Father, even God, has sealed.' Here the Son of Man is seen as a figure sealed by God for the purpose of giving eternal life to those who work the works of God, which includes believing in Him Whom He has sent (John 6:29). He is God's chosen One, and once again He is connected with the giving of eternal life.

· 6:53 ‘Jesus therefore said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have not life in yourselves.' Here life is to be found by, having crucified Him (eaten His flesh and drunk His blood in accordance with Jewish idiom), coming to and believing (see John 6:35) in the Son of Man as the One Who has died for them (see on chapter 6). Thereby they will ‘have life in themselves'. Here the Son of Man is clearly a substantial figure, for it is by partaking of Him that people will find life.

· 6:62 ‘What then if you should behold the Son of man ascending where he was before?' This ties in with John 3:13 and confirms both His pre-existence in Heaven and the certainty of His return there.

· 8:28 ‘Jesus therefore said, When you have lifted up the Son of man, then will you know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself, but as the Father taught me, I speak these things.' Here the Son of Man must be ‘lifted up' as in John 3:14. The reference is clearly to the cross where the people of the world will kill Him as in John 6:53. It may also include the thought of His resurrection.

· 9:35 ‘Jesus heard that they had cast him (the blind man who had been healed) out, and finding him, he said, Do you believe on the Son of God (or ‘the Son of Man')?' The text here is not certain so we have included it as a reference to the Son of Man. The point here is that the Son of Man is important enough to be ‘believed in', and Jesus then immediately indicates that He is the Son of Man.

· 12:23-24 ‘And Jesus answers them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, Except a grain of wheat fall into the earth and die, it abides by itself alone, but if it die, it bears much fruit.' Here the glorification of the Son of Man is connected with falling into the ground and dying. In Daniel 7 the son of man also comes out of suffering in order to be glorified.

· 12:34 ‘The crowd therefore answered him, We have heard out of the Law that the Christ abides for ever: and how do you say, The Son of man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of man?' Here the crowds have picked up on the fact that the Son of Man must be lifted up, and it makes them want to know Who Jesus is talking about.

· 13:31 ‘When therefore he (Judas) was gone out, Jesus says, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him, and God will glorify him in himself, and immediately will he glorify him.' As with the ‘lifting up' so the glorification of the Son of Man includes both His being glorified on the cross and His being glorified at His ascension, the latter in line with Daniel 7:14.

It is clear from these verses that Jesus depicts the Son of Man as a heavenly figure who descends from Heaven to earth, is lifted up on the cross so as to become a giver of eternal life to those who believe in Him, and is raised again and ascends into Heaven from where He will judge the world, having received the glory due to Him. These ideas are built on, but go far beyond, the picture drawn in Daniel 7:13. In this designation Jesus is seen as both Messiah and Son of God.

Someone may still ask, how does what is spoken of in John 1:19 onwards fit in with the later calling of the disciples as described in the other Gospels? The answer is that this was an initial connection made with these disciples who were, however, in the main still disciples of John. As we have seen it is only to Philip, who had not been following John, that He says ‘follow me' at this point. Others who are disciples of John will be called to follow later, but Jesus ever has in mind a desire not to push John to one side (see John 4:1). Once they have left John and returned home to their businesses, and John is in prison, it will be a different matter. Once more we are impressed with the accuracy of John's writing.