=13.= The key to the interpretation of this verse is to be found in its context and connection. Christ says: How shall ye believe if I tell you of things which take place in heaven; yet no one else can tell you, for no one has ascended into heaven, and no one therefore can report its secrets, except he who has descended from heaven and is in continual communion with heaven. So interpreting it, observe, (1) The declaration, _No one_ (not merely no man) _hath ascended up to heaven_, means no living person; it does not militate against the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, nor imply an unconscious or even an intermediate state. It is by the connection limited to those living on the earth, for they alone could reveal the secrets of heaven if acquainted with them. (2) _He that came down from heaven_ plainly implies the pre-existence and supernatural character and origin of Jesus Christ (comp. ch. 8:58). He contrasts himself with other men, patriarchs, prophets, apostles, as the _only one_ who has descended to earth from heaven. (3) _Which is in heaven_ indicates not merely, as Meyer apparently interprets it, that Christ’s proper abode and home were in heaven, but also that he maintained a vital and continuous communion therewith, dwelling in the Spirit in heaven, even while in the flesh upon earth. The Christian’s experience interprets, though it does not fully measure, this mystery of the heavenly life in the flesh (Phil. 3:20; Ephes. 2:6; Heb. 12:22). 14 And as[95] Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: [95] Numb. 21:9. 15 That whosoever[96] believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. [96] ver. 36; Heb. 7:25.