John 1:51

1:51 He continued, ¹  “I tell all of you the solemn truth ²  – you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” ³ 

John 3:31

3:31 The one who comes from above is superior to all. ⁴  The one who is from the earth belongs to the earth and speaks about earthly things. ⁵  The one who comes from heaven ⁶  is superior to all. ⁷ 

John 6:42

6:42 and they said, “Isn’t this Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”

John 6:58

6:58 This ⁸  is the bread that came down from heaven; it is not like the bread your ancestors ⁹  ate, but then later died. ¹⁰  The one who eats ¹¹  this bread will live forever.”

John 17:1

Jesus Prays for the Father to Glorify Him

17:1 When Jesus had finished saying these things, he looked upward ¹²  to heaven ¹³  and said, “Father, the time ¹⁴  has come. Glorify your Son, so that your ¹⁵  Son may glorify you –

¹ tn Grk “and he said to him.”

² tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

³ sn The title Son of Man appears 13 times in John’s Gospel. It is associated especially with the themes of crucifixion (3:14; 8:28), revelation (6:27; 6:53), and eschatological authority (5:27; 9:35). The title as used in John’s Gospel has for its background the son of man figure who appears in Dan 7:13-14 and is granted universal regal authority. Thus for the author, the emphasis in this title is not on Jesus’ humanity, but on his heavenly origin and divine authority.

⁴ tn Or “is above all.”

⁵ tn Grk “speaks from the earth.”

⁶ sn The one who comes from heaven refers to Christ. As in John 1:1, the Word’s preexistence is indicated here.

⁷ tc Ì⁷⁵ א* D ˹ 565 as well as several versions and fathers lack the phrase “is superior to all” (ἐπάνω πάντων ἐστίν, epanw pantwn estin). This effectively joins the last sentence of v. 31 with v. 32: “The one who comes from heaven testifies about what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony.” On the other side, the phrase may have been deleted because of perceived redundancy, since it duplicates what is said earlier in the verse. The witnesses that include ἐπάνω πάντων ἐστίν in both places are weighty and widespread (Ì^36vid,66 א² A B L W^s Θ Ψ 083 086 ˹³ 33 Ï lat sy^s,p,h bo). On balance, the longer reading should probably be considered authentic.

⁷ tn Or “This one.”

⁸ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

⁹ tn Grk “This is the bread that came down from heaven, not just like your ancestors ate and died.” The cryptic Greek expression has been filled out in the translation for clarity.

¹⁰ tn Or “who chews.” On the alternation between ἐσθίω (esqiw, “eat,” v. 53) and τρώγω (trwgw, “eats,” vv. 54, 56, 58; “consumes,” v. 57) see the note on “eats” in v. 54.

¹⁰ tn Grk “he raised his eyes” (an idiom).

¹¹ tn Or “to the sky.” The Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated “sky” or “heaven” depending on the context.

¹² tn Grk “the hour.”

¹³ tc The better witnesses (א B C* W 0109 0301) have “the Son” (ὁ υἱός, Jo Juios) here, while the majority (C³ L Ψ Ë¹³ 33 Ï) read “your Son also” (καὶ ὁ υἱὸς σου, kai Jo Juio" sou), or “your Son” (ὁ υἱὸς σου; A D Θ 0250 1 579 pc lat sy); the second corrector of C has καὶ ὁ υἱός (“the Son also”). The longer readings appear to be predictable scribal expansions and as such should be considered secondary.