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The one like a Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven (Dn 7:13)
The one who came down from heaven with the clouds is like a “Son of Man” in Daniel’s night vision (Dn 7:13). This verse plays an important role in this study, because John made use of this motif of ascending and descending angels. While the angels ascended and descended on a ladder, Jn 1:51 uses the saying of Dn 7:13 in Jacob’s dream that the angels ascended and descended, but says that they will descend on the Son of Man. Among New Testament scholars the Son of Man is considered to be one of the important Christological titles, because it is used many times by Jesus for Himself. It can be considered as the key to Jesus’ own self-consciousness (Burkett 1999:1). The difference between Daniel’s night vision and Jacob’s dream is that the one who came down from heaven in Daniel is not an angel but one like a Son of Man, and there is no mention about his ascending in Dn 7:13. The one like the son of Man came down with the clouds of heaven, not on a ladder. However, Kim (2013:131) considered it as the same metaphor, because the ladder in Jacob’s dream has the meaning or pattern of the up-and-down movement like the tree in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream vision (Dn 4:10-11). Linguistically the rendering of the two dreams are not similar. Daniel 7:13 uses the verb מְטָא , ἔρχομαι which means “to come”, while Gn 28:12 writes יָרַד , καταβαίνω which means “to come down”. Even though different verbs are used in these two passages, the situation of both is similar. “With the clouds in heaven” implies that the one like a Son of Man is a heavenly being and he is descending from heaven. Therefore it is important to define who the one like a Son of Man is.
Among Old Testament scholars there are many differences of opinion who the one like a Son of Man in Dn 7:13 is. Collins (1998:102-103) suggests that the one like a Son of Man in Dn 7:13 represents the triumph of the Jews under Antiochus Epiphanes. Michael can also be regarded as the one like a Son of Man, because Michael was referred to as the chief prince among the celestial leaders (Dn 10:13, 21), and stood watch over the people of Israel (Dn 12:1). Nebe (1997:112) points out that there is agreement between the conceptions of angels like Michael or Gabriel to the one like a Son of Man in the legendary religious traditions. If the one like a Son of Man can be seen to be the angel Michael, there could be a relation between Jacob’s dream and Daniel’s vision. The other angel that could be the one like a Son of Man is Gabriel who is mentioned to be “like the appearance of a man” (Dn 8:15; 10:18), and “like the resemblance of sons of man” (Dn 10:16). Another candidate with an image of one like a Son of Man is the “messiah”, the anointed one. In the Rabbinic tradition, the one like a Son of Man is regarded as the messiah or the anointed one in the Davidic line. The name ‘messiah’ is referred to in Dn 9:26. From these various interpretations, it is necessary to define who the one like a Son of Man in Dn 7:13 is and then to investigate its relation to the descend to the earth in view of Gn 28:12.
The Son of Man (Jn 3:13, 14; 5:27; 6:27, 53, 62; 8:28; 12:23, 34; 13:31)
The Son of Man is mentioned 81 times in the four gospels: 30 in Matthew, 13 in Mark, 26 in Luke, and 12 in John (Kelber 1997:14). The smallest usage of the Son of Man is in John’s gospel. Besides Jn 1:51, the usage of the Son of Man in John’s gospel can be classified in five groups. The first group is that he will ascend, as the Son of Man came from heaven in Jn 3:13, 6:62. The seond is to present the glory of the Son of Man (Jn 12:23, 13:31). The third is that the authority of the Son of Man to judge is reported in Jn 5:27, and fourthly the lifting up of the Son of Man, which refers to his crucifixion, is mentioned in Jn 3:14, 6:53, 8:28, and 12:34. The last is that God the Father has set his seal on the Son of Man in 6:27. However, it can be grouped into three groups. The first is that the Son of Man was with God. The Son of God from heaven means that the origin of the Son of Man is not on earth but in heaven, the dwelling place of God. The expression of God as the Father has set his seal on the Son of Man means also that the Son of Man belongs to God the Father, as Borchert points out:
The question in this section is thus focused on the recognition of the authentic sign—Jesus, the Son of Man, the one who had been marked/sealed/certified (sphragizein) as genuine by the Father (Borchert [1996] 2001:262). This concept is emphasized from the first chapter of John’s gospel. In the beginning, the Logos was, and he was with God and was God. The descension of the Logos is presented as incarnation in 1:14 and implied many times in John’s gospel from the usage of the word, καταβαίνω. According to Holleman (1990:20), the word, καταβαίνω was applied to the descension of the Son of Man in different ways:
Eleven of the nineteen occurrences of καταβαίνω in the Fourth Gospel have to do with the latter form of descent: two involve the reported descent of the Spirit before the commencement of his public ministry (1:32, 33), one is employed in Jesus’ allusion to Jacob’s dream at Bethel where the angels are said to ascend and descend upon the Son of Man (1:51), and all the rest speak of Jesus’ journey from heaven to the earth.
The heavenly origin of the Son of Man presupposed his return to heaven (Schnackenburg 1995:261).
The second group is about his crucifixion and resurrection (3:14; 6:53; 8:28; 12:34). John 3:14 mentions the lifting up of the Son of Man like the snake in the desert. It means that the Son of Man has to be crucified on the cross, that heralds his ascending to heaven through the resurrection (Lindars 1983:146). There is a more detailed presentation of it in Jn 8:28. Jesus said that he will go somewhere that the Jews could not find and follow him. The Jews guessed that Jesus will try to commit suicide (Jn 8:22), because Jesus said that he will go to another world.
However, Jesus continued that he is from above and belongs to the above. Jesus mentioned that they will know after they have lifted up the Son of Man, referring to his crucifixion. An expression of certainty is in Jn 6:53. To have eternal life, they have to eat the flesh of the Son of Man and to drink his blood. His blood is not related to the Manna, but it refers to and implies his death on the cross. It is explained by Nicholson (1983:75) that, with the theory of “Descent-ascent schma”, the suffering and crucifixion can be considered as the instrument to receive the glory.
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. Statement of the problem
1.2. Research history
1.3. The focus of this study
1.4. Methodology
PART. I THE MOTIF OF “JACOB’S LADDER” IN JOHN 1:51
CHAPTER 2 “YOU WILL SEE” IN JN 1:51 AND JACOB’S DREAM
2.1 JACOB’S DREAM IN GENESIS
2.2 THE DREAM AS A REVELATION OF GOD IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
2.3 INTERPRETATIONS OF JACOB’S VISION IN INTERTESTAMENTAL LITERATURE.
2.4 THE VERB ὄΨΕΣΘΕ THAT WAS USED WITH A VISION IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
CONCLUSION
CHAPTER 3. AN OPEN HEAVEN AND THE GATE OF HEAVEN
3.1 THE GATE OF HEAVEN AND THE HOUSE OF GOD IN GENESIS 28:12 AND ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN
TEXTS
3.2 THE GATE OF HEAVEN AND THE HOUSE OF GOD IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
3.3 THE OPEN HEAVEN IN JN 1:51
3.4 THE OPEN HEAVEN IN JOHN’S GOSPEL (JN 1:32; 3:13; 3:27; 6:38; 12:28; 17:1)
CHAPTER 4. THE ANGELS ASCENDING AND DESCENDING
4.1 THE ANGELS ASCENDING AND DESCENDING IN GN 28:12
4.2 ASCENDING AND DESCENDING FROM HEAVEN IN THE OLD TESTAMENT (PR 30:4; DN 4:13, 23;
7:13; ZCH 6:1-5
4.3 THE ASCENDING AND DESCENDING ANGELS IN INTERTESTAMENTAL LITERATURE
4.4 THE ANGELS ASCENDING AND DESCENDING IN JN 1:51
4.5 THE ANGELS ASCENDING AND DESCENDING IN JOHN’S GOSPEL (JN 5:4; 12:29; 20:12)
CONCLUSION
CHAPTER 5. THE RELATION BETWEEN THE SON OF MAN AND THE LADDER
5.1 THE LADDER IN GN 28:12 AND ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN TEXTS
5.2 THE CONCEPTION OF A LADDER AND THE SON OF MAN IN JUDAISM
5.3 THE ONE LIKE A SON OF MAN CAME WITH THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN (DN 7:13)
5.4 THE SON OF MAN IN JN 1:51
5.5 THE SON OF MAN (JN 3:13, 14; 5:27; 6:27, 53, 62; 8:28; 12:23, 34; 13:31)
PART. II HERMENEUTICS OF JOHN ABOUT JACOB’S LADDER
CHAPTER 6 THE BACKGROUND OF JESUS’ SAYING IN JN 1:51
6.1 THE CONVERSATION BETWEEN JESUS AND NATHANAEL
6.2 THE ANALYSIS OF JN 1:51
CHAPTER 7 THE ESCHATOLOGICAL INTERPRETATION OF JN 1:51 IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
7.1 OPENING HEAVEN IN THE NEW TESTAMENT (MT 3:16; LK 3:21; AC 7:56; 10:11)
7.2 THE ANGEL(S) ASCENDING TO HEAVEN OR DESCENDING FROM HEAVEN (MT 28:2; LK 2:15; 22:43;
2 COR 12:2; GL 1:8
7.3 THE SON OF MAN ASCENDING AND DESCENDING
7.4 REVELATION (RV 4:1; 11:12; 21:2, 10)
CHAPTER 8. CONCLUSION
8.1 THE MAIN POINT OF THIS DISSERTATION
8.2 THEOLOGICAL SYNTHESIS AND DEVELOPMENT
CONCLUSION
BIBLIOGRAPHY
