Did Jesus lie about Elijah?

Question

"Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven" 2 Kings 2:11

Jesus said "no one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man"? John 3:13

I know some Christians believe there are 3 heavens, but Jesus did not rule out any heaven when he made his statement.

Answer 1

Elijah did not ascend yet. He was caught up by God though not to heaven. Elijah is one of the two witnesses and will ascend after his death.

Answer 2

At 2 Kings 2:11, 12 the prophet Elijah is described as “ascending in the windstorm to the heavens.” The heavens here referred to are the atmospheric heavens in which windstorms occur, not the spiritual heavens of God’s presence. Elijah did not die at the time of such ascension, but he continued to live for a number of years after his heavenly transportation away from his successor Elisha. Nor did Elijah upon death ascend to the spiritual heavens, since Jesus, while on earth, clearly stated that “no man has ascended into heaven.” At Pentecost, Peter likewise said of David that he “did not ascend to the heavens.” (Ac 2:34) In reality, there is nothing in the Scriptures to show that a heavenly hope was held out to God’s servants prior to the coming of Christ Jesus. Such hope first appears in Jesus’ expressions to his disciples (Mt 19:21, 23-28; Lu 12:32; Joh 14:2, 3) and was fully comprehended by them only after Pentecost of 33 C.E.—Ac 1:6-8; 2:1-4, 29-36; Ro 8:16, 17.

The Scriptures show that Christ Jesus was the first one to ascend from earth to the heavens of God’s presence. (1Co 15:20; Heb 9:24) By such ascension and his presentation of his ransom sacrifice there, he ‘opened the way’ for those who would follow—the spirit-begotten members of his congregation. (Joh 14:2, 3; Heb 6:19, 20; 10:19, 20) In their resurrection these must bear “the image of the heavenly one,” Christ Jesus, in order to ascend to the heavens of the spirit plane, for “flesh and blood” cannot inherit that heavenly Kingdom.—1Co 15:42-50.

Answer 3

Jesus is God; therefore he cannot lie. Enoch and Elijah were translated, taken up body and spirit. That is a fact of the Bible and Jesus knew and knows this. Enoch and Elijah are not permanently in heaven at this point. The bible says that it is appoint to every man to die once, except those that will be alive at the rapture. Enoch and Elijah will return to earth during the Great Tribulation. Revelation talks about the two witnesses that will be slain and that their bodies will lie in the street three days. It is my belief that these two witnesses will be Enoch and Elijah. Jesus is referring to the resurrection of the just, the first resurrection of all those that are saved in Christ.

Answer 4

Elijah did not go up the "same" exact way however, for a whirlwind took him, where as Jesus went straight up through the sky, where His disciples could see Him go....and He did not have help from the wind.

Answer 5

Nope, the Bible was written by man and man is totally imperfect so therefore the Bible is imperfect. Don't take what the Bible says word for word, look at it like a general idea.

Answer 6

elijah got sucked into a tornado.

different heavens - heaven god resides in, heaven that we call outerspace, and i dunno about the 3rd.

there is going to be a new heaven in the book of revelation if thats what your referring to.