What does "on the Son of Man" mean in John 1:51?

Question

John 1:51

"And he said to him, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man'". ESV. My emphasis.

Genesis 28:12-13

"And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth,and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it! 13 And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, "I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac....".

What significance might there be in that in John 1:51 the angels are "on the Son of Man" but in Gen 28 "the LORD" is "above" where the angels are described as being?

Luke 9:10

"For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost". ESV.

Men have a Saviour in the Son of Man. Do angels need "a ladder" to get up to heaven?

Is it significant that the angels ascend before they descend "on the Son of Man"?

Answer 1

The phrase "on the Son of Man" in John 1:51 is a direct allusion to the dream of Jacob's ladder described in Gen 28:12 -

And Jacob had a dream about a ladder that rested on the earth with its top reaching up to heaven, and God’s angels were going up and down the ladder.

Note the order, "ascending and descending" is the same in both John 1:51 and Gen 28:12.

This is consistent with the central teaching of the NT that Jesus is the only link between heaven and earth to reconcile sinful man with The Righteous God of heaven.

• 1 Tim 2:5 - For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus
• Acts 4:12 - Salvation exists in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”
• Titus 2:13 - as we await the blessed hope and glorious appearance of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.
• Rom 5:10 - For if, when we were enemies of God, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life!
• 2 Cor 5:18, 19 - All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s trespasses against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
• Col 1:20 - and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through the blood of His cross.

Or, in the language of Gen 28:12 and John 1:51, there is only one way to heaven and that is "on" Christ; or, there is only communication channel to heaven and that is via the merits of Christ alone.

Put another way, Heb 1:14 says that

Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?

Thus, if angels are God's ministers in the process of salvation, this could not occur unless Jesus was the sacrifice of atonement that made salvation possible. That is, Jesus provides the channel or "ladder" for salvation from heaven.

Jesus is the only "ladder" to heaven.

Answer 2

In John 1:51, the phrase "on the Son of Man" refers to the connection and relationship between the Son of Man and the divine. In this passage, Jesus is telling Nathaniel that he will see the heavens open and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man, indicating that the Son of Man has a special connection to heaven and to God. This passage is referencing the ladder that Jacob saw in his dream in Genesis 28, where the angels of God were ascending and descending on a ladder that reached from earth to heaven.

The significance of the difference between John 1:51 and Genesis 28 is that in John 1:51, the angels are described as being "on the Son of Man" rather than on a ladder, indicating that the Son of Man has replaced the ladder as the means by which the angels can ascend and descend between heaven and earth. This change may reflect the unique role of the Son of Man as a mediator between God and humanity.

In Luke 9:10, Jesus refers to himself as the "Son of Man" and says that he came to seek and save the lost. This reinforces the idea that the Son of Man is a saviour figure who has a special connection to God and is able to mediate between God and humanity.

It is not clear whether angels need a ladder or some other means to ascend to heaven. The Bible does not provide specific details on this topic. In the passage from Genesis 28, the ladder is seen as a means by which the angels can ascend and descend between heaven and earth, but it is not clear whether this is the only way for them to do so or whether it is simply a symbolic representation of their connection to God.

Answer 3

You may be interested in Westcott's take on this verse;

The order is remarkable. The divine messengers are already on the earth though we see them not; and they first bear the prayer to God before they bring down the answer from him. Thus it was in the vision of Jacob which furnishes the image here; and by the Incarnation that image was made an abiding reality... Thus the reference is to the continuing presence of Christ in whom believers realise the establshed fellowship of the seen and unseen, and not to the special acts of angelic ministration to Christ alone during his earthly life.

Gospel of John, 1881, p28

Answer 4

This answer is in response to the Primary question posted: What does the Son of Man mean?" This is the title used by Jesus far more than any other during His ministry. Over 80 times! And it had great significance, because it referred to the grand prophecy of Daniel (Daniel 7).

The son of man approached the Ancient of Days... To Jesus was given kingdom, power, authority, etc. Remember that Jesus began His ministry declaring tha"the Kingdom of God was at hand. It was about to be manifest in the first century. This important Kingdom message remained prominent throughout His teaching ministry. And after the resurrection, Jesus spent 40 days on the same theme until His Ascension.

The use of "Son of Man" was a necessary moniker because of the prophesy of Daniel's use of it in conjunction with the coronation of Jesus and His rule over the Kingdom. He was hoping the Jews (and disciples) would comprehend its significance, but few did.

But Jesus confirmed the fulfillment of all this when He gave His parting speech in Matthew 28: All power has been given Me in heaven and earth, therefore Go...

We must be careful in our hermeneutics not to lump scriptures together simply because they contain some similar words. Jesus emphasis was not a ladder, but the Son, as the rest of the Gospels underscore. A "Son" whose entourage was no less than an angelic band!`

Answer 5

Nathaniel Recognized Jesus as a person Moses wrote about, He knew Jesus was the Son of God, knew He was Israel's King, And Jesus confirms to Nathaniel that he is also the Son of Man.

Along with this recognition, Jesus tells him that he will see the heavens open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the son of man.

This takes us back to Jacobs dream where he had been fleeing the wrath of his brother Esau.

Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place.

12 And he dreamed that there was a stairway[b] set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 And the Lord stood beside him[c] and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring,

16 Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it!” 17 And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”

19 He called that place Bethel,

22 and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house,

In tying the two scriptures together we see that Jesus is the house of God, Gods temple where His Spirit dwells even in the Son of man. He indeed is mediator between heaven and earth.

Upon: figuratively used of that upon which anything rests (like our upon)

(resting on the declaration)

So there has been declared that the Son of Man has jurisdiction over the angels, because He opens up heavens gate to the earth.

Jesus is telling Nathaniel that he is also the Son of Man which goes back to the prophecy in Genesis 3.

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

He is this seed that conquers the authority that Adam had lost over the earth to the serpent. This right now belongs to the Son of Man who has Authority over the angels coming and going to earth now.

Answer 6

Copy from your script

John 1:51

"And he said to him, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man'". ESV.

Genesis 28:12

"And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it!

In comparison of these two verses, Jesus substituted "the Son of Man" to "it - i.e. the ladder between the earth and heaven". Jesus was actually claiming himself is the bridge between the human and the Lord.

Worth to note that at that time, Jesus told Nathanael this vision when Nathanael confessed Jesus is the Son of God, the king of Israel. So what is the connection between the account of Nathanael and the dream of Jacob?

The life of Jacob had many accounts of deceit.

1. Jacob deceived his father Isaac to earn his blessing (Gen chapter 27)
2. Laban deceived Jacob his marriage, in order to prolong his service to him. (Gen chapter 29-30)
3. Jacob deceived Laban by not telling him he was running away (Gen 31:20)
4. Jacob deceived his brother Esau to go with him but instead he went to Sukkoth. (Gen chapter 33)
5. Jacob's son deceived Shechem and Hamor to get all males circumcised. While they were in pain, they got killed by Jacob's son Simeon and Levi. (Gen chapter 34)
6. Jacob's son deceived Jacob that Joseph was killed by ferocious animal (Gen 37:33)

But how did Jesus called Nathanael on their first met? John 1:47 read;

47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” (ESV)

Jacob was not born to deceive but many kind of deceit followed his life, yet he was blessed by the Lord. In his dream he had a vision of angel ascending and descending on a ladder. So when Jesus told Nathanael that he was a true Israelite of no deceit, that Jesus knew him already when he was under the fig tree. Nathanael immediately confessed as only true God knew his heart. Jesus further reiterated the dream of Jacob as his dream is time to fulfill, for Jesus is the ladder, the mediator, the advocate, the bridge between the human and the Lord. And this is "On the Son of Man" meant in John 1:51.

Ascending and Descending

Personally I don't see the order of these has a specific meaning, though I generally accept all kinds of spiritual comments to it.

We should note our relation with the Lord is never just one direction. The interaction is a cycle, that makes no difference which direction to go first. So why "Ascending" preceded "Descending"? Perhaps Book of Job had a clue.

Job 1:6-7 (ESV)

6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them.

7 The Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.”

Some English translation will use "going back and forth on it" e.g. NIV. But they all indicate that the angels of the Lord are on earth, then come up to present themselves before the Lord, and go back down to the earth.

Answer 7

While I don't object to the idea that this is allusion to Jacob's Ladder, I think it can be understood sufficiently without that reference. Jesus was the mediator between heaven and earth. Angels would descend to him from God (or God the Father) and then ascend back to heaven after ministering to him or carrying out his instructions on earth and reporting them.

1 Timothy 2:5 KJ21

For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.

As the mediator between God and humans, Jesus also acted as the commander and mediator for the angels. They centered "on him" in both their coming and their going. Although author may have been thinking of Jacob's ladder, he also may have used the preposition "on" to refer to Jesus central position to guide the angels' missions.

Answer 8

There's a good article on this by Christopher Rowland in New Testament Studies; in it he explains that the 'on it' phrase, being masculine, can refer to either Jacob or the ladder, and the first possibility is discussed by early Rabbis. This is developed to show that Jacob constitutes the principal link between heaven and earth; the angels ascend to look at the image of Jacob/Israel on the divine throne chariot (merkavah) and descend to look at the man Jacob sleeping at Bethel. So Jesus as the 'Son of Man' in this passage replaces Jacob/Israel, i.e. he is 'greater than our father Jacob', as will feature in a question of the Samaritan woman in John chapter 4. Rowland also discusses how elsewhere the vocabulary of God going 'up from' Abraham is read similarly by the Rabbis. So, for John's Gospel, Jesus replaces the constitutive patriarchs of the people of Israel.