The Son of Man – In Heaven

Question: Glenn asks, “In John 3:13 it says, ‘No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.’ After the resurrection, was Christ still Man? And is He a Man today, in heaven, interceding for us at the Father’s right hand?”

Answer: You quote an interesting verse. Let’s deal with that first, and then with your questions. There are a few ancient (Alexandrian) manuscripts that omit the last few words. This has led some Bible versions (such as the NIV) to relegate the phrase “who is in heaven,” to a footnote. But it does have good manuscript support, and is likely authentic. If so, it can be understood in one of two ways.

1. Possibly as a statement by Jesus indicating His omnipresence as God the Son. As deity, He is eternally everywhere at once. Though He sat conversing with Nicodemus (vs. 1), He was also present in heaven. That could be the sense of it. But there is a simpler explanation.
2. Red letter editions of the Bible commonly print the words of Christ in red. But though such editions may continue the teaching of Jesus in John Chapter 3 down to vs. 21, there is no real evidence that it did not stop with vs. 12. (John did not use quotation marks!) If the Lord’s comments end earlier, the remainder would be an inspired commentary, given to us by the Apostle John. If that is the case (or even if vs. 13 alone is an interjection by the apostle), then John is simply informing us that, at the time he wrote his Gospel, Jesus had already ascended back into heaven.

Now, as to your specific questions, yes, Christ is still Man today–fully God and fully Man. As such He is seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven (Heb. 1:3), on the Father’s own throne (Rev. 3:21). In Paul’s exhortation in First Timothy 6:13-16 he says of Christ that “[He] alone has immortality” (vs. 16). Mortality and immortality are strictly matters of the human body, not of spirit beings. Paul is saying that, so far, only Christ has immortality–i.e. a never-dying body. All others who were resuscitated (such as Lazarus) died again. But Christ “having been raised from the dead, dies no more” (Rom. 6:9). In that He “has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep [in death]” (I Cor. 15:20).

Paul readily speaks of the Lord Jesus as Man–without any indication he sees this humanity as something past and done. “The grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many” (Rom. 5:15). “Since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead” (I Cor. 15:21). Peter likewise speaks of Christ as “a Man” (Acts 2:22).

As to His present ministry, Paul does not say the Mediator between God and man is a spirit, but rather “the Man Christ Jesus” (I Tim. 2:5). Christ’s resurrection body is a glorified body, as ours will one day be (Phil. 3:20-21; I Jn. 3:2), but it is no less a real human body. And it is in His glorified humanity that He will return for all to see. At His ascension, the angels said to the watching disciples, “This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11; cf. Matt. 24:30).

There is a mind-boggling dimension to the resurrection of Christ and His present human body. It is that this has been part of God’s plan from eternity. The late theologian, Lewis Sperry Chafer comments as follows: “The humanity of Christ–His body, soul, and spirit–instantly became that which had been anticipated throughout all eternity, namely, perfect humanity glorified and exalted to the point that it was not only meet [fit] for heaven, but meet as well to be an integral part of the glorified theanthropic [God-Man] Person” (Systematic Theology, Vol. 5, pp. 244-245). That is, Christ’s glorified humanity is fully harmonious with the revelation of His glorious perfection as the Son of God, as we shall know Him forever in the heavenly kingdom.