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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comVincent Word Studies - John 1:51 - 1:51
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
Verily, verily (ἀμὴν, ἀμὴν)
The word is transcribed into our Amen. John never, like the other Evangelists, uses the single verily, and, like the single word in the Synoptists, it is used only by Christ.
Hereafter (ἀπ' ἄρτι)
The best texts omit. The words literally mean, from henceforth; and therefore, as Canon Westcott aptly remarks, “if genuine, would describe the communion between earth and heaven as established from the time when the Lord entered upon His public ministry.”
Heaven (τὸν οὐρανὸν)
Rev., giving the article, the heaven.
Open (ἀνεῳγότα)
The perfect participle. Hence Rev., rightly, opened. The participle signifies standing open, and is used in the story of Stephen's martyrdom, Act 7:56. Compare Isa 64:1. The image presented to the true Israelite is drawn from the history of his ancestor Jacob (Gen 28:12).
Angels
With the exception of Joh 12:29 and Joh 20:12, John does not use the word “angel” elsewhere in the Gospel or in the Epistles, and does not refer to their being or ministry. Trench (“Studies in the Gospels”) cites a beautiful passage of Plato as suggestive of our Lord's words. Plato is speaking of Love. “He is a great spirit, and like all spirits he is intermediate between the divine and the mortal. He interprets between gods and men, conveying to the gods the prayers and sacrifices of men, and to men the commands and replies of the gods; he is the mediator who spans the chasm which divides them, and in him all is bound together, and through him the acts of the prophet and the priest, their sacrifices and mysteries and charms, and all prophecy and incantation find their way. For God mingles not with man, but through Love all the intercourse and speech of God with man, whether awake or asleep, is carried on” (“Symposium,” 203).
Son of man
See on Luk 6:22. Notice the titles successively applied to our Lord in this chapter: the greater Successor of the Baptist, the Lamb of God, the Son of God, the Messiah, the King of Israel. These were all given by others. The title Son of man He applies to Himself.
In John's Gospel, as in the Synoptists, this phrase is used only by Christ in speaking of Himself; and elsewhere only in Act 7:56, where the name is applied to Him by Stephen. It occurs less frequently in John than in the Synoptists, being found in Matthew thirty times, in Mark thirteen, and in John twelve.
Jesus' use of the term here is explained in two ways.
I. That He borrows the title from the Old Testament to designate Himself either: (a) as a prophet, as in Eze 2:1-3; Eze 3:1, etc.; or (b) as the Messiah, as prefigured in Dan 7:13. This prophecy of Daniel had obtained such wide currency that the Messiah was called Anani, or the man of the clouds.
(a.) This is untenable, because in Ezekiel, as everywhere in the Old Testament, the phrase Son of man, or Sons of men, is used to describe man under his human limitations, as weak, fallible, and incompetent by himself to be a divine agent.
(b.) The allusion to Daniel's prophecy is admitted; but Jesus does not mean to say, “I am the Messiah who is prefigured by Daniel.” A political meaning attached in popular conception to the term Messiah; and it is noticeable throughout John's Gospel that Jesus carefully avoids using that term before the people, but expresses the thing itself by circumlocution, in order to avoid the complication which the popular understanding would have introduced into his work. See Joh 8:24, Joh 8:25; Joh 10:24, Joh 10:25.
Moreover, the phrase Son of man was not generally applied to the Messiah. On the contrary, Joh 5:27 and Joh 12:34 show that it was set off against that term. Compare Mat 16:13, Mat 16:15. Son of God is the Messianic title, which, with one exception, appears in confessions (Joh 1:34, Joh 1:49; Joh 11:27; Joh 20:31).
In Daniel the reference is exclusively to the final stage of human affairs. The point is the final establishment of the divine kingdom. Moreover, Daniel does not say “the Son of man,” but “one like a Son of man.” Compare Rev 1:13; Rev 14:14, where also the article is omitted.
II. The second, and correct explanation is that the phrase Son of man is the expression of Christ's self-consciousness as being related to humanity as a whole: denoting His real participation in human nature, and designating Himself as the representative man. It thus corresponds with the passage in Daniel, where the earthly kingdoms are represented by beasts, but the divine kingdom by a Son of man. Hence, too, the word ἄνθρωπος is purposely used (see on a man, Joh 1:30, and compare Joh 8:40).
While the human element was thus emphasized in the phrase, the consciousness of Jesus, as thus expressed, did not exclude His divine nature and claims, but rather regarded these through the medium of His humanity. He showed Himself divine in being thus profoundly human. Hence two aspects of the phrase appear in John, as in the Synoptists. The one regards His earthly life and work, and involves His being despised; His accommodation to the conditions of human life; the partial veiling of His divine nature; the loving character of His mission; His liability to misinterpretation; and His outlook upon a consummation of agony. On the other hand, He is possessed of supreme authority; He is about His Father's work; He reveals glimpses of His divine nature through His humanity; His presence and mission entail serious responsibility upon those to whom He appeals; and He foresees a consummation of glory no less than of agony. See Mat 8:20; Mat 11:19; Mat 12:8, Mat 12:32; Mat 13:37; Mat 16:13; Mat 20:18; Mat 26:64; Mar 8:31, Mar 8:38; Mar 14:21; Luk 9:26, Luk 9:58; Luk 12:8; Luk 17:22; Luk 19:10; Luk 22:69.
The other aspect is related to the future. He has visions of another life of glory and dominion; though present in the flesh, His coming is still future, and will be followed by a judgment which is committed to Him, and by the final glory of His redeemed in His heavenly kingdom. See Mat 10:23; Mat 13:40 sqq.; Mat 16:27 sqq.; Mat 19:28; Mat 24:27, Mat 24:37, Mat 24:44; Mat 25:31 sqq.; Mar 13:26; Luk 6:22; Luk 17:24, Luk 17:30; Luk 18:8; Luk 21:27.