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On another occasion Christ again asserted that He had come from heaven:-- For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. (John 6:38) (122:1) Believing that by heaven was intended the literal heaven above us, the Jews who heard Him could not understand His message:-- The Jews then murmured against Him, because He said, 'I am the bread which came down from heaven.' And they said, 'Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, "I have come down from heaven"?' (John 6:41-2) (122:2) Despite such instances, which demonstrate the symbolic nature of heaven, many Christians await Jesus' return, expecting Him to appear in the sky. Even as the Jews interpreted Jesus' words literally and misunderstood them, Christians have interpreted the story of the resurrection of Jesus into heaven and the prophecies of His return in the same manner. Both these occurrences are factual and necessary truths with regard to the spiritual reality that they represent, but the circumstances of these events are described symbolically in the Scriptures and therefore it follows that they should not be taken literally. It is important not to confuse a symbol with the reality it represents. (122:3) Some people, failing to understand the value and necessity of symbolism, argue that if the resurrection is not literal then it did not happen and it is therefore a lie. However, if this were an accurate appraisal of symbolism, Jesus' statement that He came down from Heaven (John 6:38ff) would also have to be considered a lie. This would equally apply to many other statements by Jesus, and to other portions of the Bible as well. As we have previously seen in the introduction, Baha'u'llah directly addresses this issue in this claim concerning Himself: (122:4) He, verily, hath again come down from heaven, even as He came down from it the first time. Beware lest ye dispute that which He proclaimeth, even as the people before you disputed His utterances. (Tablets of Baha'u'llah 11)
(122:5)
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