Paul is the man in John 3:13
Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2018 4:45 am
No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.
καὶ οὐδεὶς ἀναβέβηκεν εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν εἰ μὴ ὁ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καταβάς, ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου. ⧼ὁ ὢν ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ⧽.
καὶ οὐδεὶς ἀναβέβηκεν εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν εἰ μὴ ὁ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καταβάς, ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου. ⧼ὁ ὢν ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ⧽.
Paul, speaking of himself in the second person, describes his revelation as so:
I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. And I know that this man was caught up into paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses— though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth; but I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me.
Jesus cannot be speaking of himself because the language in John 3:13 indicates that someone must first ascend into heaven so as to descend. Jesus, however, descended first, and ascended afterward. The passage is applicable to Paul, who describes his revelation as being caught up to the third heaven--ascending.
This goes along with my greater proposal of Paul being related to the Johannine literature, and Luke is a synthesis of Johannine and Matthean material.