No one has ascended into heaven except the One who descended from heaven—the Son of Man.
13. No one hath ascended to heaven. He again exhorts Nicodemus not to trust to himself and his own sagacity, because no mortal man can, by his own unaided powers, enter into heaven, but only he who goes thither under the guidance of the Son of God.
A Pharisee and ruler of the sanhedrim comes to Christ, proof that grace subdues even the greatest opposition. He sought private counsel rather than public hearing, a pattern we should follow: go to faithful ministers about the deep matters of your soul, not content with hearing sermons alone.
AI summary
Commenting on John 3:1-21
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,.... The history referred to is in Num 21:8. There is, in many things, an agreement between this serpent, and Jesus Christ: as in the matter of it, it was a brazen serpent; it was made not of gold, nor of silver, but of brass, the meaner metal, and was a very unlikely means, of itself...