Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 6:62
[What] and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?
62. What and if, &c.] Literally, If therefore ye should behold the Son of man ascending where He was before? The sentence breaks off ( aposiopesis) leaving something to be understood: but what is to be understood? The answer to this depends on the meaning assigned to ‘behold the Son of man ascending.’ The most literal and obvious interpretation is of an actual beholding of the Ascension: and in that case we supply; ‘Would ye still take offence then?’ Against this interpretation it is urged (1) That S. John does not record the Ascension. But it is assumed, if not here and Joh 3:13, yet certainly Joh 20:17 as a fact; and in all three cases it is in the words of our Lord that the reference occurs. S. John throughout assumes that the main events of Christ’s life and the fundamental elements of Christianity are well known to his readers. (2) That none but the Twelve witnessed the Ascension, while this is addressed to a multitude of doubting disciples. But some of the Twelve were present: and Christ speaks hypothetically; ‘ if ye should behold,’ not ‘ when ye shall behold.’ (3) That in this case we should expect ‘but’ instead of ‘therefore.’ Possibly, but not necessarily. The alternative interpretation is to make the ‘ascending’ refer to the whole drama which led to Christ’s return to glory, especially the Passion (comp. Joh 7:33, Joh 13:3, Joh 14:12; Joh 14:28, Joh 16:5; Joh 16:28, Joh 17:11; Joh 17:13): and in that case we supply; ‘Will not the sight of a suffering Messiah offend you still more?’
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
What and if … – Jesus does not say that those who were then present would see him ascend, but he implies that he would ascend. They had taken offence because he said he came down from heaven. Instead of explaining that away, he proceeds to state another doctrine quite as offensive to them – that he would reascend to heaven. The apostles only were present at his ascension, Act 1:9. As Jesus was to ascend to heaven, it was clear that he could not have intended literally that they should eat his flesh.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 62. If ye shall see the Son of man ascend] Ye need not be stumbled at what I say concerning eating my flesh and drinking my blood, for ye shall soon have the fullest proof that this is figuratively spoken, for I shall ascend with the same body with which I shall arise from the dead; therefore my flesh and blood, far from being eaten by men, shall not even be found among them.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Our Saviour by these words may seem rather to increase than to abate their offence. That which stumbled them was, his calling himself the bread of life; his affirming that he came down from heaven; that he gave life to the world; that the way to obtain this life was eating his flesh and drinking his blood. How doth what he now tells them any way tend to satisfy them? He now speaks of ascending up to heaven, and asserts that he was there before.
Answer. The former assertions were no way to be justified but upon this foundation, that though he appeared now in the form and shape of a man, and was indeed the Son of man, yet he was also God, the eternal Son of God: he therefore here plainly asserts, that he was in heaven before he appeared as the Son of man upon the earth; and descending from thence, did assume the form of a servant; and for a further proof of this, he refers them to what they were to see or hear (to know) within some few months after this discourse, (for this was after his third passover, which was to be the last year of his life), viz. that he should ascend up to heaven; which it is very probable that some of them did see with their bodily eyes; for he was in Galilee when he ascended, and Capernaum was a city of that province; and when he ascended, the men of Galilee stood gazing up to heaven after him, as appears from Act 1:11, and had a revelation, that they should see him so come again, and descend from heaven, as they had seen him go up.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
[What] and if ye shall see the son of man,…. Meaning himself then in a state of humiliation, and was taken for a mere man, though the true Messiah, and Son of God:
ascend up where he was before? for Christ was, he existed before his incarnation, and he was in heaven before; not in his human nature, but as the word and Son of God: and he intimates, that when he had done his work, and the will of his Father, for which he came down from heaven, by the assumption of the human nature, he should ascend up thither again; and which would be seen, as it was, by his apostles; and which would prove that he came down from heaven, as he had asserted; see Eph 4:9; and that his flesh and blood were not to be eaten in a corporeal sense; in which sense they understood him: and he hereby suggests, that if it was difficult to receive, and hard to be understood, and was surprising and incredible, that he should come down from heaven, as bread, to be eat and fed upon; it would be much more so to them to be told, that he who was in so mean and lowly a form, should ascend up into heaven.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
What then if ye should behold ( ). No “what” in the Greek. Condition of third class with and present active subjunctive, “if ye then behold.”
Ascending (). Present active participle picturing the process.
Where he was before ( ). Neuter articular adjective as adverb (accusative of general reference, at the former time as in John 9:8; Gal 3:13). Clear statement of Christ’s pre-existence in his own words as in John 3:13; John 17:5 (cf. 1:1-18).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
What and if ye shall see [ ] . The question is marked by an aposiopesis, i e., a breaking off of the sentence and leaving the hearer to complete it for himself. Literally, if then ye should behold, etc. – the completion would be, would not this still more cause you to stumble ?
Ascend [] . Rev., properly, renders the participle, ascending. I speak [] . But the correct reading is lelalhka, the perfect tense, I have spoken, or I have just spoken, referring to the preceding discourse.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “What and if ye shall see the Son of man,” (ean oun theorete ton huion tou anthropou) “Suppose you all behold the Son of man;” If this that I have spoken is an offense, suppose you should see the Son of man — The Messiah-Redeemer of humanity.
2) “Ascend up where he was before?” (anabainonta hopou en to proteron) “Ascending (going up) where he was at first,” before His earthly descent from heaven. Would that also cause you to stumble or be offended, or would you be any further convinced or confirmed of your faith in me? He personally claimed that He came down from the Father and would ascend back to the Father, which He did, in His own resurrection body, Joh 3:13; Mar 16:19; Eph 4:8-10; Joh 13:3; Joh 16:5, Act 1:8-11; 1Ti 316.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
62. What if you shall see the Son of man ascend to where he was before? The mean and despicable condition of Christ which they saw before their eyes, while, clothed with flesh, he was not at all different from other men, prevented them from submitting to his Divine power; but now — by withdrawing, as it were, the veil — he calls them to behold his heavenly glory, as if he had said, “Because I converse among men without honor, I am despised by you, and you recognize in me nothing that is Divine; but ere long God will adorn me with splendid power, and, withdrawing me from the contemptible state of mortal life, will raise me above the heavens.” For, in the resurrection of Christ, so great was the power displayed by the Holy Spirit, that it plainly showed Christ to be the Son of God, as Paul also shows, (Rom 1:4.) And when it is said,
Thou art my Son, today have I begotten thee, (Psa 2:7,)
the resurrection is brought forward as a proof from which that glory of Christ ought to be acknowledged, and his ascension to heaven was the completion of that glory. When he says that he was formerly in heaven, this does not apply strictly to his human nature, and yet he speaks of the Son of man; but since the two natures in Christ constitute one person, it is not an unusual way of speaking to transfer to one nature what is peculiar to the other.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(62) What and if ye shall see . . .?Our version adds the word what, as will be seen from the italics, but it rightly expresses the sense. Literally, we should read, If then ye should behold the Son of Man ascending up where He was before? The Ascension would be the proof of the coming down from heaven (Joh. 6:58), which is part of the teaching they cannot now accept. The margin refers to the more formal statement of this in Joh. 3:13. The reader should also compare Joh. 20:17, where the Ascension is again assumed, and Eph. 4:9-10. Comments on these incidental references by St. John to an event he does not record have been made too frequently without noting that, in each case, the speaker is Jesus, to whose thoughts this end of subjection to earthly laws, in subjecting them to Himself, was ever present. St. John, in his own narrative, nowhere mentions the fact of the Ascension, nor does he in any way refer to it. That he could write these words without doing so is an assurance of his own knowledge of the glorious sequel of the Resurrection, and of its unquestioned acceptance in the Church.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
62. See the Son of man ascend What if your own eyes shall hereafter witness, in my ascension to the abode whence I came, the full proof that I did descend, the living Saviour, from heaven? Jesus assumes to be speaking, not to gainsayers, but to believers troubled by a mysterious saying. He reminds them that a time of exaltation is in the future, which should prevent their hasty irritability in the present.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
62 What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?
Ver. 62. What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend ] Then you shall not be scandalized (so some sense it); or then you shall much more be scandalized, so Maldonat, who saith he could like the other sense well enough, but that it is the Calvinists’. So George, Duke of Saxony, said, he could have thought well of a reformation, if Luther had not wrought it. (Grinaeus in Hagg. praefat.)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
62. ] ., what then, if ye see not meaning ‘ will ye not then be much more scandalized? ’ or, ‘ what will ye say (or do ), then? ’ but appealing to an event which they should witness, as a certain proof of one part of the , with which indeed the rest of it was bound up , His having descended from heaven . All attempts (as those of Lcke, De Wette, and others) to explain this otherwise than of His ascent into heaven, are simply dishonest , and spring from laxity of belief in the historical reality of that event. That it is not recorded by John, is of no moment here: see Prolegomena. And that none but the Twelve saw it, is unimportant; for how do we know that our Lord was not here speaking to some among the Twelve? To explain it of His death , as part of His going up where He was before, is hardly less disingenuous. Lcke maintains that need not mean bodily sight: which is true enough in some constructions in John (ch. Joh 8:51 alli [94] .); but surely, as joined with , it must. The whole exegesis of the passage in the above-named Commentators is a remarkable instance of the warping of the judgment by unsoundness of belief in the historical truth of the evangelistic testimony.
[94] alli = some cursive mss.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
What and if, &c.? The Apodosis which is wanting (by Ellipsis) must be supplied thus: “If” (as in Joh 6:51) therefore ye should behold the Son of man ascending up where He was before [will ye be offended then]? “
ascend = ascending.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
62.] ., what then, if ye see not meaning will ye not then be much more scandalized? or, what will ye say (or do), then?-but appealing to an event which they should witness, as a certain proof of one part of the , with which indeed the rest of it was bound up,-His having descended from heaven. All attempts (as those of Lcke, De Wette, and others) to explain this otherwise than of His ascent into heaven, are simply dishonest,-and spring from laxity of belief in the historical reality of that event. That it is not recorded by John, is of no moment here: see Prolegomena. And that none but the Twelve saw it, is unimportant; for how do we know that our Lord was not here speaking to some among the Twelve? To explain it of His death, as part of His going up where He was before, is hardly less disingenuous. Lcke maintains that need not mean bodily sight: which is true enough in some constructions in John (ch. Joh 8:51 alli[94].); but surely, as joined with , it must. The whole exegesis of the passage in the above-named Commentators is a remarkable instance of the warping of the judgment by unsoundness of belief in the historical truth of the evangelistic testimony.
[94] alli = some cursive mss.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Joh 6:62. , if then) , if, has as the Apodosis to be understood, what shall be? [Engl. Vers. what and if, etc.] That is, there are far greater things, which will follow: if ye do not believe this, how would you believe those things, if I were to tell you them? (A similar passage occurs, ch. Joh 3:12, If I have told you earthly things and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you of heavenly things?) And yet, when ye shall see that, ye will acknowledge that the things which I have spoken are true; and ye will wonder, not at My doctrine, but at your own slowness of comprehension: ch. Joh 8:28, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father hath taught Me, I speak these things; Mat 26:64, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.-, ascending) See on ch. Joh 3:13, note, No man hath ascended up to heaven, but He that came down from heaven, even the Son of man, which is in heaven.- , previously) before that He descended.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Joh 6:62
Joh 6:62
What then if ye should behold the Son of man ascending where he was before?-Jesus knowing he would return to the Father from whom he had come asked this question to intimate that they would see or know this, and what would they think if they should see him do it?
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Joh 3:13, Joh 16:28, Joh 17:4, Joh 17:5, Joh 17:11, Mar 16:19, Luk 24:51, Act 1:9, Eph 4:8-10, 1Pe 3:22
Reciprocal: Luk 9:51 – that Joh 16:5 – I Act 1:2 – the day Eph 4:9 – he ascended 1Ti 3:16 – received Heb 9:24 – but
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2
See the comments on verse 53. The same principle is carried out in this verse, except it is in a still more baffling form. By suggesting an event that would make it impossible to eat of the literal body of Christ, the disciples ought to see the point finally, that their Lord did not mean his fleshly body. Hence he indicated that he was going to ascend to Heaven, and that they would see it occur.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Joh 6:62. What then if ye behold the Son of man ascending where he was before? The meaning of this ascent is surely clear in itself; but if it were not, the mention of a past descent (Joh 6:41; Joh 6:51; Joh 6:58) would remove all doubt. Our Lord certainly refers to His ascension into heaven. He would say: Is the word that speaks of the descent from heaven, of the living bread that alone can give life, of the Sons descent from heaven to give His flesh and His blood that the world may eat and drink and live, a stumbling-block to you? If, when I am here before you, you cannot understand what is meant by eating my flesh and drinking my blood,cannot apprehend the spiritual meaning which such words must bear,how much more will you, in this your carnal apprehension of what I say, be made to stumble if you should see me ascending where I was before, to be no longer upon earth at all! As the necessity of eating His flesh must continue, what will they think then? Then the sense they have put upon His words will indeed wholly break down: then at last they may come to see that the words can only be spiritually understood.