by Ptr. Art Calaguas
Shalom.
We are still in the midst of the tense dialogue between our Lord Jesus and the Ἰουδαῖοι (Jewish authorities opposed to him) and all the people there at the Temple grounds in the vicinity of the treasury as the Gospel of John chapter 8 narrates. The Lord had already told them that he was a true witness of who he was claiming to be and his Father was a co-witness (John 8:18). Then a few verses later, he told them the judgment that awaited those who do not believe him (John 8:24). Now, in John 8:28 the Lord, seeing that they were so hard-hearted, spoke to them these words:
εἶπεν οὖν ὁ Ἰησοῦς· Ὅταν ὑψώσητε τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, τότε γνώσεσθε ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι,…
This can formally/literally translated as:
Therefore Jesus said; “when you shall have lifted up the son of man, then you will know that I AM (HE),…”
In John 8:29 the Lord reiterates that what he is doing and saying pleases the Father because these things are what the he has been given authority to say and do. Apparently, as verse 30 states, many did believe in him as he was saying these things.
Again, the phrase εγώ εἰμι used here as an emphatic expression would have the English equivalent of saying: “I am truly He!” The verbs used all indicate 2nd person plural subjects.
With the use of εγώ εἰμι (“I AM HE”), the Lord alludes again to Exodus 3:14 as we have seen before. But now, two (2) other Old Testament (OT) scriptures are hinted at. The first one comes from the aorist subjunctive verb ὑψώσητε (“hupsosete” from ὑψόω “hupsoo” meaning lift/raise up or exalt). The second one is about the Lord’s use of τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου (“tov huion tou anthropou” meaning the Son of Man with the definite article) as the object of the lifting/raising up or exalting. When these 2 things are accomplished (as per subjunctive mood), the Ἰουδαῖοι and all will really know that he is the “I AM” he is claiming to be.
My ESV Global Study Bible says that in the Gospel of John the Lord uses the verb ὑψόω in three (3) different occasions in the context of lifting/raising up and even exalting. These are found in John 3:14, 8:28 and 12:32 in their respective contexts. John 3:14 (and verse 15) is perhaps the most informative as it gives the OT reference that as Moses (ὕψωσεν) lifted up the (bronze) serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be (ὑψωθῆναι) lifted/raised up so that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. The Lord Jesus spoke these words to Nicodemus during their night time discussion.
The second time is right here in John 8:28. And the third one in John 12:32 comes after the Lord Jesus makes his Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem and as the prelude to the Last Supper in the Upper Room with his disciples. After hearing the Father’s voice, the Lord Jesus concludes that the time of judgment of the world has come, and the ruler/prince of this world will be cast out. Then the Lord says that if he is (ὑψωθῶ) lifted/raised up, from the earth, he will draw all to himself. The context also includes the Messiah and the “Son of Man” being lifted/raised up. In John 12:33 the apostle John comments that this was to show the kind of death the Lord Jesus would face.
Notice that in these 3 different occasions, given the different inflections, the verb used is the same. In fact, a search in the New Testament (NT) shows that the verb ὑψόω is used 20 times; in the Gospels (Matthew, Luke and John), Acts and in the Epistles. All are used with the meaning being exalted in their respective contexts (with the possible exception in James 4:10). The most prominent exception is John’s Gospel where the contexts point to the meaning of to be lifted/raised up. But it is possible that John was using the verb with a double meaning as the ESV Global Study Bible says (as lifted/raised up can have the alternate meaning of being exalted).
The primary source of the saying of the Lord in these 3 occasions is given by John 3:14. It is from Numbers 21:8-9 (ESV):
And the LORD said to Moses, “make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a fiery serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.
The context of this bronze fiery serpent on a pole is Numbers 21:4-9. This narrative speaks of the Israelites’ impatience, their loathing of their food and their speaking against the LORD God and Moses. As a result the punishment was death after being bitten by “fiery serpents.” The word fiery in most translations comes from the word שָׂרָף, or plural, שְׂרָפִים. This word is transliterated as “seraph” (singular), and “seraphim” (plural). This Hebrew word is only used 7 times in the OT; twice in Numbers, once in Deuteronomy; and 4 times in Isaiah, where the transliteration “seraphim” is used. In Isaiah (6:2 and 6:6) seraphim denotes heavenly throne room attendants with 6 wings. They most probably may not be the same “fiery serpents” encountered in the desert by the Israelites.
The object lesson in the Numbers context is that God provides the healing to the Israelites; in fact, saving them from death. All they had to do was have faith, obey the instruction, look at the bronze serpent on the pole, be healed and live. Perhaps the Lord Jesus was saying something similar to his audience when he alluded to this OT event: simply believe, have faith, look up at the Son of Man when he is lifted/raised up and have eternal life.
The next point to discuss is of course, who is this Son of Man?
Contrary to popular belief, the term “Son of Man” does not speak of the humanity of the Lord Jesus. Rather it points to his divinity. The reason is that it directly comes from another part of OT scripture. Daniel 7:13-14 (NASB) narrates the prophet’s account of the Ancient of Days (God) in the heavenly throne room giving dominion to this Son of Man:
“I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven one like a son of man was coming, and he came up to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion, glory and a kingdom; that all the peoples, nations and men of every language might serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; and his kingdom is one which will not be destroyed.”
In the OT, it is usually the LORD God who comes with the clouds of heaven. So, clearly, this Son of Man is a divine being.
Then going back to John’s Gospel, the Lord Jesus identifies himself as this Son of Man and more in chapter 5. The context includes the healing of the invalid/cripple at the Pool of Bethesda on a Sabbath. I had visited the Pool of Bethesda archaeological remains beside the Church of St. Anne in Jerusalem, during my past trips to Israel (see my photos below).
[Note: A couple of years ago, I came across 2 different views on this Pool of Bethesda. The first is the standard view that it was a Jewish מִקְוֶה “mikveh” (from an article I accessed last Dec. 3, 2015 from this website: http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-sites-places/jerusalem/the-bethesda-pool-site-of-one-of-jesus%E2%80%99-miracles/?mqsc=E3823823). The other view is that it was a Greco-Roman pagan healing site of the god Asclepius (from an article I accessed last Dec. 1, 2014 from this website: http://jewishstudies.eteacherbiblical.com/bethesda-pool-jewish-facility-pagan-healing-center-jerusalem/).]
Continuing with John chapter 5; in the aftermath of the Sabbath healing controversy, the Ἰουδαῖοι correctly perceived that the Lord Jesus, by calling God his own Father, was making himself equal to God. And the Lord also mentions the title of “Son of God” (John 5:25). Then came his statements in John 5:26-27:
ὥσπερ γὰρ ὁ πατὴρ ἔχει ζωὴν ἐν ἑαυτῷ, οὕτως καὶ τῷ υἱῷ ἔδωκεν ζωὴν ἔχειν ἐν ἑαυτῷ· καὶ ἐξουσίαν ἔδωκεν αὐτῷ κρίσιν ποιεῖν, ὅτι υἱὸς ἀνθρώπου ἐστίν.
This can be formally/literally translated as:
For just as the Father has life in himself, so also to the son he gave life to have in himself. And he gave to him authority to make judgment because he is son of man.
In the Gospels, the favorite title that the Lord Jesus used for himself was “son of man.” And so in John 8:28 there it is: the claim to deity as “Son of Man” to be lifted up (or exalted) and self-identification with the “I AM” of the OT. As John 8:30 says, many did believe in him then.
[Note: The Lord Jesus also discusses about witnesses and being sent in the rest of John 5. Thus, what he said in John 8:18 was not the first time he claimed the Father as the One who sent him and testifies about him.]
We will continue next week with another εγώ εἰμι declaration which may be the most shocking claim to deity for all to hear in the Gospel of John.
God bless us all.