Jesus Christ being God and the Son of God called Himself Son of Man.
Why did He do that and what does it mean?
The “Son of Man” was a Messianic title pointing to the Messiah who we now know is Jesus Christ.
The Jews knew the Old Testament and therefore could relate to the term “Messiah”. They were actually waiting for the Messiah, but unfortunately wouldn’t acknowledge Jesus to be that Messiah.
You even find the words “Son of Man” mentioned in the Old Testament pointing to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ in Daniel.
Daniel 7:13-14:
“I was watching in the night visions,
And behold, One like the Son of Man,
Coming with the clouds of heaven!
He came to the Ancient of Days,
And they brought Him near before Him.
Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom,
That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion,
Which shall not pass away,
And His kingdom the one
Which shall not be destroyed.
Coming with the clouds
Daniel mentions that “One like the Son of Man” will be “Coming with the clouds” which is repeated in the Book of Revelation:
Revelation 1:7:
Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.
Who is coming with the clouds?
We know that the One is the Lord Jesus Christ!
So why the name Son of Man?
We know that Jesus was born of a woman, a human being, meaning that at the same time Jesus was the Son of Man, the son of a human being.
Luke 1:26-31
Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”
But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus.
The Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, on page 1518 in the second paragraph, describes Son of Man as follows:
“In the Gospels, but especially in John, “Son of Man” means humanity and humiliation, but “Son of Man” also means exaltation and glory.”
Studying the Scriptures we find many places throughout the New Testament where Jesus refers to Himself as Son of Man:
In Matthew 16:13-17 Jesus asks his disciples “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” The final answer is: He is the Christ!
Matthew 16:13:
When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”
Matthew 16:16:
16Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Luke 9:26:
For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels.
More references to Son of Man: Luke 6:5; 12:8, 10; 12:40; 17:22, 24, 30; Matthew 12:8, 32.
And the answer to our question: “Who is the Son of Man?” is: the Lord Jesus Christ!
I will close today with a quote from Saint Augustine:
“The Son of God became the Son of Man that you who were sons of men might be made sons of God.”
Who do you say the Son of Man is?
We would like to hear your thoughts on this question.
Please let us know by leaving a comment. Thank you.
Emphasis added to “Son of Man” to highlight the reference.
All Scripture quoted is taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Now for further study on Jesus’ next coming and the signs of the time check out our 3-in-1 Study Guide “Digging Deep into the Revelation of Jesus Christ”. It’s a one-of-a-kind reference for anyone striving to understand the Book of Revelation in the Bible.
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For someone studying Revelation, this one reference saves time and enhances understanding without making the mistake of translating scripture. This enables the reader to make his/her own conclusions about the meaning in the Word as inspired by God.
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