John 3:11-13, Heavenly Things

11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 

Back in verse 2 Nicodemus said, “we know that you are a teacher come from God,” speaking as the representative of a group of experts in the law. Now Jesus says, “we speak of what we know,” identifying as a teacher who not only comes from God but is one with God. Jesus tells Nicodemus that he does not yet understand, and because he cannot understand basic things, he is not ready for the profound truths Jesus could speak to him. 

In calling himself ‘the Son of Man,” Jesus alludes to Daniel 7:13-14: 

“I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven  there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days     and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion     and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages     should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one  that shall not be destroyed.” 

Jesus is the One who Daniel saw in a vision and recorded in his prophecy. Jesus is the One to whom God gives dominion, glory, and a kingdom that shall never be destroyed. Such truths are in Scripture for Nicodemus to read, but without the transformation of his heart and the experience of the new birth of the Spirit, he will not believe in Jesus and therefore cannot understand.  

Read the verses from Daniel above and ask God to give you a glimpse into the heavenly realms where Jesus approaches the Father, the Ancient of Days, and receives dominion, glory, and a kingdom. Worship God in all his glory!