And they said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”
Parallel translations
- WEB They 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?’”
- KJV And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven?
- BSB They were asking, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How then can He say, ‘I have come down from heaven?’”
- NASB And they were saying, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does He now say, ‘I have come down out of heaven’?”
- NLT They said, “Isn’t this Jesus, the son of Joseph? We know his father and mother. How can he say, ‘I came 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
They object that they know Jesus's parents, so how can He claim to come from heaven. Familiarity with His earthly background blinds them to His divine origin.
Overview
Assuming Jesus is merely Joseph's son, they reject His heavenly claim on the basis of natural reasoning. Their objection unknowingly touches the mystery of the incarnation, that the eternal Son truly became a man. John highlights how unbelief judges by appearances and misses the deeper truth of who Jesus is.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Luke 4:22All testified about him, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth, and they said, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”
- Matt 13:55–56Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother called Mary, and his brothers, James, Joses, Simon, and Judas?
- Mark 6:3Isn’t this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judah, and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” They were offended at him.
- John 7:27–28However we know where this man comes from, but when the Christ comes, no one will know where he comes from.”
- 1 Cor 15:47The first man is of the earth, made of dust. The second man is the Lord from heaven.
- Gal 4:4But when the fullness of the time came, God sent out his Son, born to a woman, born under the law,
- John 6:38For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.
- John 6:62Then what if you would see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?
- Rom 1:3–4concerning his Son, who was born of the offspring of David according to the flesh,
- Rom 9:5of whom are the fathers, and from whom is Christ as concerning the flesh, who is over all, God, blessed forever. Amen.
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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 6:42 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
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