THE KING’S BUSINESS
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God ascending and descending upon the son of man.” The preponderance of textual proof is in favor of omitting the “hereafter.” If it is inserted, it should read “from henceforth” rather than “hereafter.” Jesus was pleased that Nathanael believed in His Deity upon the sufficient evidence of His Deity already given. He saw how ready his heart was to believe the truth, and He told him that he was to have still greater evidences of His Deity. The greater evidences were all the works that he was to see and all the words that he was to hear, culminating in the resurrection and ascension of Jesus. He very shortly was to be a witness of the miracle at Cana, when, by a creative act, the Son of God was to turn the water into wine and thus to “manifest His glory.” The double “Verily, verily” (or “Amen, Amen”) is found here for the first time. It occurs 25 times in John’s Gospel; it is never used by any one but Christ and always at the opening of a sentence. It marks the peculiar solemnity and certainty of the word? to be uttered. It is found nowhere in the New Testament except in the Gospel of John, though the simple “Amen” is found in the synoptic Gospels. These early disciples were to “see the heaven opened.” This phrase sets forth the thought of free intercourse between God and man. The heavens had been opened at the baptism of our Cord (Matt. 3: 16) and God had spoken with audible voice, but Nathanael was not there. God spoke again at the transfiguration (Matt. 17 :l-5) but Nathanael was not there, though John and James and Peter were. The immediate reference here is undoubtedly to Jacob’s vision of the ladder at Bethel '(Gen. 28:10-12) and the thought expressed by our Saviour is that He Himself was the one set forth in type by the
ladder that Jacob saw, the true medium of communication between heaven and earth. It was upon Him that the angels of God ascended and descended. It is significant that the angels are spoken of as “ascending and descending,” and not as “descending and ascending.” The angels are already here, though we do not see them, and perhaps it is suggested that they first bear our prayer up to God before they bring down His answer to us. It was only in a dream that Jacob had seen the angels ascending and descending; but what was a dream to Jacob was a fact for the Son of Man and for us through Him. This conversation may have taken place near Bethel, in which case the reference to Jacob’s history would be suggested by the place. Nathanael may actually and literally have seen angels ascending and descending in connection with our Lord’s resurrection and ascension. At all events the angels were present on both of these occasions. While Nathanael had spoken of Jesus as “the Son of God,” He Himself speaks of Himself as the “Son of Man.” This name is never applied to Him by any of the Apostles, or other New Testament writers or speakers, with the single exception of Stephen’s vision of Him in Acts 7 :56 where there was a special reason why it should be used. But Jesus constantly used the title of Himself. It is deeply significant. In it Jesus emphasizes His humanity, but it sets forth the thought that He was not merely a man but the representative Man, the typical Man, the second Adam. It involved as used by our Lord a claim to Messiahship. There may have been especial occasion for using it now in order to supply to Nathanael what was lacking in his conception as he had spoken of Jesus as “The Son of God.” By the use of this title here, our Lord completes
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