16. He who is of God, he has seen the Father – John 6:46

The issue in John 6:46 arises only in the common translations. For example, the NBG51 renders this verse as:

Not that anyone has seen the Father; only he who is from God, he has seen the Father.

This rendering is heavily influenced by the theological notion that the Son had a conscious pre-existence and saw things with the Father. However, the Greek text does not say: “he who is from God,” but: “he who is beside the Father.” Thus:

Not that anyone has seen the Father, only he who is beside the Father, he has seen the Father.

The emphasized phrase does not refer to the past, but to the current position of the Son!

This verse is also a clear example of how John, at times, interjects his own commentary in between the lines of his narrative. Verse 46 is not part of the quotation John gives from Jesus, but rather a clarification from John himself. It is comparable to John 3:13, where in the middle of his account of Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus, John adds his own explanatory note:

And no one has ascended into heaven except the One Who descends out of heaven, the Son of Mankind, Who is in heaven.

This too is an unmistakable example of how John adds a footnote that cannot possibly refer to the time before the Son had ascended into heaven.

Another example where John, just like in 6:46, refers to the present position of the Son, can be found in 1:18:

No one has ever seen God. The only-begotten Son, Who is in the bosom of the Father, He unfolds Him.

It is the Son, Who now is in the bosom of the Father (for He is exalted at God’s right hand), Who unfolds God.

Delen: