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What did Jesus mean, "No man hath ascended up to heaven?"

     JESUS SAID "NO MAN HAS ASCENDED UP TO HEAVEN BUT HE WHICH CAME DOWN FROM HEAVEN, EVEN THE SON OF MAN WHICH IS IN HEAVEN..."

Q--THEN WHERE DID ELIJAH GO WHEN THE BIBLE SAID HE ASCENDED UP TO HEAVEN BY THE CHARIOT..AND JESUS IS THE SON OF MAN, BUT HE SAID HE WAS (IN HEAVEN)...DID I TAKE THESE SCRIPTURES WRONG???

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  John 3:10-13 says, "10 Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? 11 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. 12 If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? 13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven."

    Jesus is talking to Nicodemus about earthly things — being saved or born-again, and Nicodemus is having a hard time understanding it. Jesus affirms that He has full knowledge of this matter, "We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness."

    To further convince Nicodemus of His knowledge in these matters, Jesus continues on with that thought, that He does know all of these things for a fact, and could share many more. But if Nicodemus doubted Jesus’ knowledge of these matters, then it would do no good to tell him any more, because he would not believe it. "If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?"

    Jesus’ next statement is not denying that Elijah and Enoch were taken up to heaven, but is continuing on with the line of thinking that He could tell Nicodemus many heavenly things — because He was THE ONLY LIVING PERSON UPON EARTH who had been up to heaven before . "And no man hath ascended up to heaven (no living man upon earth), but he that came down from heaven (Jesus), even the Son of man which is in heaven (a statement proving that Jesus is God Almighty, because He is everywhere at once: in heaven, upon earth, etc., at the same time).

    So there is no contradiction here. The context makes it clear that Jesus was talking to Nicodemus about "any living man upon earth." If Nicodemus would not believe the One who came down from heaven, then there was no hope for him, because no other living man upon earth had been up to heaven, except Jesus.

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