What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before?
Parallel translations
- WEB Then what if you would see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?
- KJV What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?
- BSB Then what will happen if you see the Son of Man ascend to where He was before?
- NKJV What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before?
- NLT Then what will you think if you see the Son of Man ascend to heaven again?
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
Jesus asks what they will think when they see the Son of Man ascend to where He was before. He points to His heavenly origin and coming exaltation as further grounds for faith.
Overview
If His claim to have come down from heaven offends them, His ascension back to glory would confront them even more. The reference to ascending affirms His preexistence and anticipates His return to the Father. Properly understood, the ascension confirms rather than undermines His claims, calling for faith in the heavenly Son of Man.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- John 3:13No one has ascended into heaven, but he who descended out of heaven, the Son of Man, who is in heaven.
- Mark 16:19So then the Lord, after he had spoken to them, was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.
- Eph 4:8–10Therefore he says, “When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.”
- Luke 24:51While he blessed them, he withdrew from them, and was carried up into heaven.
- 1 Pet 3:22who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, angels and authorities and powers being made subject to him.
- Acts 1:9When he had said these things, as they were looking, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight.
- John 17:4–5I glorified you on the earth. I have accomplished the work which you have given me to do.
- John 16:28I came from the Father, and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world, and go to the Father.”
- John 17:11I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them through your name which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are.
- John 6:27Don’t work for the food which perishes, but for the food which remains to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For God the Father has sealed him.”
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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 6:62 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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