Did Jesus Come from Heaven?

The Scriptures speak of Jesus as being "sent" by God; i.e., John 3:17; 3:34; 5:23; 5:36; 6:38; 7:28-29. When one is "sent" he goes by command of one with higher authority to fulfill a specific task. This is what it means to be sent! In the case of Jesus, he was sent from heaven. One of the Scriptures that has contributed significantly to a literal understanding of this is John 6:33 where we find the words "he who comes down from heaven", and again in John 6:38 where Jesus says "I have come down from heaven." Also in John 7:29 which says "... I come from him, and he sent me." Even Paul seems to agree in 1 Cor 15:47 which says, "The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man [Jesus] from heaven." That seems to settle the issue doesn't it? Jesus was sent to earth by God - he came down from heaven! But is it proper and reasonable to interpret these verses in such a literal fashion?

Actually, the phrase "come down from heaven" can be understood in two ways. Of course, the traditional view is that Jesus is himself God - the second person in a trinity - who descended to earth and became a man. But the problem with this view is that, although popular, the Scriptures do not actually teach it. In spite of it's lack of Biblical support either in the Old Testament, the Synoptic gospels, or the Church Epistles, the majority of Christians still accept the incarnation (enfleshment) as 'gospel truth'. I did! I held to the traditional view of Jesus as God for well over 30 years. But after allowing myself to consider the possibility that I could be wrong, and after much study, prayer, and discussion, I have come to the conclusion that the incarnation doctrine is just a fabrication. By combining the virgin birth passages in Matthew and Luke, and the Scriptures mentioned above from the gospel of John, inferences are then drawn that Jesus literally "came" from heaven. But in order to make those inferences, one must totally ignore other powerful Scriptures which clearly teach the opposite!

The virgin birth is a miracle to be sure, but tradition has made entirely too much of it. The virgin birth is exactly what it says it is - a birth! There is no need to convolute the truth! Jesus was conceived when God implanted perfectly created human seed into Mary. The result was a birth! The Scripture reads in plain language that Jesus was "born". Study the following (Mat_1:16, 18, 25, 2:1; 11:11; 26:24; Luk_1:14, 35, 57; 2:6-7, 11; 7:28) and read my blog post "Jesus: Son of God". Being born, even though the conception is miraculous, does NOT presume preexistence; if Jesus preexisted his earthly birth in heaven, then Mary would have been no more than a conduit, not a mother! To be born means to be produced, brought forth, brought into life.

There is another way to interpret the phrase "come down from heaven". When Jesus referred to himself as "coming down from heaven" it was John's way of attesting the fact that Jesus' power and authority came directly from God. We must remember that the authors of each gospel wrote from a particular point of view, and to a particular audience in order to tell the story of Jesus from their own perspective. John wrote to Hellenistic Jews. His perspective was that Jesus was indeed the promised and long awaited Messiah whose life, even before the resurrection and ascension, was so in sync with God the Father that he could speak of himself as being "one" with Him (John 10:10), and could say "whoever has seen me has seen the Father" (John 14:9). John's gospel has long been known as 'the spiritual gospel', and for good reason. Unfortunately, traditionalists have selectively interpreted it literally rather than spiritually which has caused much confusion.

The phrase "from heaven" is a Hebraism which was not confusing to Jesus' listener's. They readily understood it's meaning. The same term is used in Luke 20:1-8 where Jesus confronts the Pharisees regarding their understanding of John's baptism, whether it was "from heaven or from man". The contrast Jesus drew (heaven/man) clearly explains the meaning of the phrase 'from heaven'. Jesus was asking whether the origin of John's authority and his commission to baptize had it's source from God or from mere human design.

Think about this: Jesus was charged with blasphemy for saying 'My Father is working until now, and I am working' (John 5:17) because he spoke of God as his Father. If the Pharisees had understood his claim to be 'from heaven' as meaning that he existed in heaven prior to his life on earth, wouldn't that have given them even weightier grounds on which to accuse him? The only explanation for their failure to make that accusation must be that his claims were understood by his Hebrew audience as an assertion of the origin of his authority- not a prior life in heaven!

To "come down from heaven" and to be "sent" by God, are synonymous terms. The word "sent" in the New Testament is apostello from which the word apostle derives (see Mark 3:14). Essentially the word apostello means "to set apart... send out". The point is, to be sent (apostello) is to be commissioned, or charged with a task. According to John 6:38, Jesus came down from heaven (the source of his authority was from God), not to do his own will (not to promote his own agenda) but to do the will of the one who sent him (the will of the One by whose authority he was commissioned). Jesus was not literally sent down from heaven, he was commissioned by God with a specific task! What was that task? To do the will of the One who sent him! According to Luke 4:43 the will of God was for Jesus to preach the good news about the kingdom of God!

"but he said to them, 'I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.'"

The writer of the book of Hebrews acknowledges this in 3:1 which refers to Jesus as "the Apostle and High Priest of our confession." In other words, as the apostle of our confession, Jesus was commissioned with the divine task of preaching the good news The force of the truth that Jesus was sent in the sense of being authorized by God for a specific purpose is even clearer when we realize that John the Baptist was himself "sent" in the very same sense!

"Now there was man sent (apostello) by God whose name was John. ( John 1:6)

And even greater clarity is given when we read the following...

"As you sent me into the world, so I have sent (apostello) them into the world". (John 17:8)
"Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent (apostello) me, even so I am sending (apostello) you." (John 20:21)

Does anyone believe that John the Baptist or the apostles came down out of heaven? Of course not! But we do believe that they exercised a heavenly derived authority in their work and doctrine.

Likewise, Paul, in 1Corinthians 15:47, was not comparing Adam's humanity with Jesus' divinity! If you follow the analogy through, in context (1Co_15:45-49), Paul is using the word "heavenly" as meaning 'from God'.

The purpose of this article is not to demean the lord Jesus in any way. But to make him into God, when the Scriptures clearly distinguish him from God, severely detracts from his humanity. How could Jesus have been "...in all things ... made like unto his brethren..." (Hebrews 2:17) if he preexisted as God and was literally sent down from heaven? Or even more confounding, to be both God and man at the same time? Who can understand such a thing.... who can relate to such a being?

"But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me". (John 5:36)

Jesus is "a man whom he [God] appointed" (Acts 17:31) His work and his message had it's origin and authority from God, and he was empowered by God to fulfill that commission. The fact that he accomplished this God-given work as a genuine man, NOT as God or God-Man, makes it all the more powerful and meaningful to those who claim to be his followers.