Growing up, I always wondered why Jesus is referred to as ‘the Son of Man’. What the heck is that all about? Not only is this a name for Jesus in the gospels, but it is the second most common title for him other than ‘Jesus’ itself. Interestingly, it is something he actually calls himself, and the only time we find it on the lips of others is when they are quoting Jesus’ own words back to him (John 12:34). So what is it all about? And why did he like it so much?
At face value, one who is a son of man is simply a human. Modern translations like the TNIV translate the phrase ‘son of man’ in Psalm 8 as ‘mere mortals’. But Jesus isn’t just a son of man, he is the Son of Man…so is there a difference?
In Daniel 7, Daniel records a vision, and part of that vision is “one like a son of man” approaching God (who he calls the ‘Ancient of Days’). And Daniel writes that this ‘son of man’…“was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed” (Dan 7:14). This son of man was humanity’s representative before God…
In Daniel’s vision it is clearly ‘a’ son of man…so why does Jesus call himself ‘the’ Son of Man? He is in fact pointing to this vision and saying, ‘Hey guys…I’m it! I am not only a human…I’m that one!’ Jesus claimed to be the human who would approach God the Father on our behalf…the one with all authority, glory and power whom all the nations of the earth would worship. And yet he also taught his disciples that “the Son of Man must suffer many things…and that he must be killed and after three days rise again”. How remarkable that this man, this Son of Man, who had all authority and glory and power, would suffer and die so that he could be our representative before God…
So whenever you read “the Son of Man”, pause a moment and reflect on Jesus…the Son of Man who is still approaching God the Father on our behalf!
Tags: At Home in the Bible
hey andy
this is such a good blog
i am enjoying it so much
i have never formally studied the bible and know so little
i love how you are helping me to grow in my understanding (and faith)
thanks
Here’s some thoughts:
“son of man”, “ben Adam” in Hebrew and “bar Enosh”(formal or high society) or “bar Nasha”(common)in Aramaic simply means man or mankind or children/people or more crudely perhaps “son of/from dirt” as adam means dirt.
In Scripture this sometimes contrasts with “bene Elohim”, “sons of God”, some types of angelic beings or beings from God. Remember the “benot ha Adam”, “daughters of Adam” were taken by the “sons of God” (some sort of non human or superhuman beings) as their wives thus heralding the flood.
“Ben Adam”, “son of God” or man is how the prophet Ezekiel is addressed by an angel. Again it’s a simple contrast to God or even to the angel.
In the song of Moses, the “sons of man” seem to be different to the “sons of Israel” and this presents an, shall we say, prophetic picture of the “sons or children/people” saved by The Lord.
I think at times we place too much emphasis on the word “the” when we refer to Jesus as “the son of man”. He did not deny that he was the expected one but in his reference to the “son of man” being Lord of the Sabbath in Matthew 12:8 (an oft quoted reference for Jesus being The Man)Jesus was referring back to David and maybe to the need to look beyond the set rules (this time of the Sabbath) to meeting essential needs (doing what is normally not permitted on that day yet still honoring the day, if you get what I mean). In the many Gospel references where he refers to himself as “the son of man”, I tend to read it as “this son of man” or “I” (eg, as an idiom)
Yes, Jesus is The Son of Man, The Man, The Messiah – he had to be “of man” to redeem man and “of God” to be without fault. For sin came thru one man, Adam and redemption, thru one man, Yeshua (my paraphrase). This particular son of man, this “kibar Enosh” “one like unto a son of man (Daniel 7) was and is the promised one, as Andy says, our representative before God, victorious, so that we can be also.
Thanks Audrey, I will keep it going then!
And thanks Di, yeah for sure, there is a lot more to the whole Son of Man thing than could be summed up in a simple post…and yes, sometimes you can just substitute Son of Man for ‘I’, which in fact sometimes the gospel writers do when writing about the same story. And you are right…if all we focus on is that Jesus is THE son of man, we can miss the fact that he was A son of man (human)…so perhaps it is best to reflect on both