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    p . 69 f To most readers of the N . T . the reply of Jesus to the avowal , which Nathaniel made of his faith in him , must appear unconnected and unintelligible ; but Mr . J- has removed the obscurity by a very ingenious and natural conjecture . — " It must have reached the ears of Nathaniel , that Jesus , on being baptised , had

    been announced by a voice from heaven , as the Son of God , and his object appears to have been to express his belief of that fact ,

    by accosting him under the same appellation . At the same time , he could not but have felt a wish that he had , been a spectator of the awful scene , which occurred at his baptism ; and to this natural and innocent desire of his heart , our Lord appears to

    allude : * Verily , verily , I say unto , you , hereafter ye shall see the heavens opened , and the angels ' of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man /' As though he had said , 4 S you need not regret , though it is natural for you to wish , that you had not seen the spirit which descended upon me , and heard the voice , which announced me as the Son of God , for most assuredly " you shall have frequent opportunities to witness a communication between me and my heavenl y Father . "

    There is , perhaps , no passage in the N . T . which has been thought more repugnant to the notion of the proper humanity of Jesus , or which , has occupied more of the attention of biblical critics than John iii . 13 . the true meaning of which , we think , can no longer be contested ; and we are happy to refer to our author , in this instance , as a spe-

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    cimen of the admirable manner in which he usually illustrates and explains the writings of the N , T . ¦ * No man hath ascended up into heaven , but he that came down from heaven ; even the Son of man , which is in heaven / " This verse has a manifest

    reference to what we read of Moses ^ when on the . mount with God ; ' Moses alone shall come near the Lord . ' Exod xxiv . 2 . And after being on the mount with God , he goes down to sanctify the people , xix . 10 . Extraordinary

    events , like established institutions , modify , it is well known , the language ^ and produce new figures or modes of speech among the people who witness them , and hold them in remembrance . This effect appears to have been produced by this memorable incident in the history of the Jewish Lawgiver : and ( o go vp to God ) to go up to heaven * to

    see God , are expressions founded upon it , but which signify , with - out intending any local ascent , simply to learn the will to know the counsels of * God . On the other hand , to come down from

    God 9 to come doun from / ieave ? t , are phrases , which from the same cause , signify to reveal the divine will to the people . As the above verse alludes to the case of Moses , there is in it a latent comparison , between him and the Son of Man . Thus , * as no man went wp to the mount but Moses , who received authority and qualification to ascend ; so no one hath the far greater honour of ascending to heaven , but the Son of Man , who has received his credentials from heavefr , who is in heaven , who now understands the heavenly

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    Review . —Jones ' s Illustrations of the Four Gospels . 399

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1809, page 399, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1738/page/45/