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No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.
John 3:13 · New King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB No one has ascended into heaven, but he who descended out of heaven, the Son of Man, who is in heaven.
  • KJV And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.
  • BSB No one has ascended into heaven except the One who descended from heaven—the Son of Man.
  • NASB No one has ascended into heaven, except He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man.
  • NLT No one has ever gone to heaven and returned. But the Son of Man has come down from heaven.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Only the Son of Man, who came down from heaven, has access to heavenly truth. Jesus alone can reveal God because he comes from God.

Overview

Jesus claims a unique heavenly origin: no one has ascended to bring back divine knowledge, but he has descended from heaven. The title 'Son of Man' (from Daniel 7) joins his humanity to his divine authority. This establishes his sole qualification to disclose 'heavenly things' and points to his identity as the Word made flesh.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 22

  • Prov 30:4Who has ascended up into heaven, and descended? Who has gathered the wind in his fists? Who has bound the waters in his garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son’s name, if you know?
  • Acts 2:34For David didn’t ascend into the heavens, but he says himself, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit by my right hand,
  • John 6:38For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.
  • John 1:18No one has seen God at any time. The one and only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him.
  • John 13:3Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he came from God, and was going to God,
  • 1 Cor 15:47The first man is of the earth, made of dust. The second man is the Lord from heaven.
  • Eph 4:9–10Now this, “He ascended”, what is it but that he also first descended into the lower parts of the earth?
  • John 6:62Then what if you would see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?
  • Rom 10:6But the righteousness which is of faith says this, “Don’t say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down);
  • John 3:31He who comes from above is above all. He who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all.
  • John 6:46Not that anyone has seen the Father, except he who is from God. He has seen the Father.
  • John 17:5Now, Father, glorify me with your own self with the glory which I had with you before the world existed.
  • John 6:42They said, “Isn’t this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How then does he say, ‘I have come down out of heaven?’”
  • Mark 16:19–20So then the Lord, after he had spoken to them, was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.
  • John 8:42Therefore Jesus said to them, “If God were your father, you would love me, for I came out and have come from God. For I haven’t come of myself, but he sent me.
  • Deut 30:12It is not in heaven, that you should say, “Who will go up for us to heaven, and bring it to us, and proclaim it to us, that we may do it?”
  • John 16:28–30I came from the Father, and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world, and go to the Father.”
  • John 6:51I am the living bread which came down out of heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. Yes, the bread which I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
  • John 6:33For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.”
  • Acts 20:28Take heed, therefore, to yourselves, and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the assembly of the Lord and God which he purchased with his own blood.
  • Matt 28:20teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
  • Eph 1:23which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — John videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on John 3:13YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on JohnMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.

How John 3:13 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.