Jesus, The Son of Man

 

Jesus, the Son of man

The phrase, “son of man,” is a title that is introduced to us in the OT Scriptures, and is carried over into the NT. It is the title used most extensively by Jesus to identify Himself. We will see that this phrase is also used to refer to the time of judgement against Jerusalem. This is referred to as, the Coming of the Son of man. Many have mistakenly equated this phrase with the Second Coming.

WHO AND WHAT IS THE SON OF MAN

The basis for NT usage of this phrase is found in the Old Testament. In the OT writings, this phrase has two distinct meanings. The first is used of mankind in general, i.e., it signifies man as the offspring of the original man, or “the son of man(Adam)”. It is used in this way most prominently in the book of Ezekiel. It is a title to remind Ezekiel of the frailty of humanity. The phrase "son of man” appears 108 times in the Old Testament. Of that number, it is used 93 times in Ezekiel.

The second way in which it is used in the Old Testament is to designate a special Being of great importance in God’s plan. This special Son of man is first mentioned in Psalm 80,

15 And the vineyard which thy right hand hath planted, and the branch that thou madest strong for thyself.
16 It is burned with fire, it is cut down: they perish at the rebuke of thy countenance.
17 Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the son of man whom thou madest strong for thyself. (KJV)

The Targum (Aramaic paraphrase/translation) on this verse, equates the “son of man" with the Branch. It is written like this,

16. And the branch that your right hand planted, and the King Messiah whom you made mighty for yourself.
17. [It is] being burned by fire and crushed; they will perish because of the rebuke that [comes] from your presence.
18. Let your hand be on the man to whom you have sworn with your right hand, on the son of man whom you made mighty for yourself.

As we compare the passage quoted above, we see that in the KJV of the OT Scripture, the vineyard is planted in vs. 15, whereas in the Targum, it is the branch, that is planted. The vineyard typically represents Covenant Israel, or can also be the Kingdom of God. In the KJV, it is the Branch that God made strong for thyself. In the Targum, the Branch becomes King Messiah, who God made strong for Himself. We then see in verse 18 of both passages, that it is the son of man, that God made mighty for Himself.

This passage in the Psalms, gives us the information to come to this conclusion. The Branch, the son of man, and the man of thy right hand, are all referring to one and the same person, the King Messiah, who has been made strong “for thyself,” i.e, for God’s own purposes. The Branch is a commonly used word for representing the Messiah, aka, the Servant of the Lord, in Isaiah.

The second place that this special Son of man is found is in Daniel 7.

13 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.
14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.

Daniel saw in one of his visions, “one like the Son of man.” The word like is a particle of comparison or similarity. In appearance, this heavenly being appeared as a Son of man or human. This is taken by Christian and Jewish scholars alike to be a reference to the pre-existent Messiah. This is a vision of the Lord Jesus in His pre-incarnate state. He was the Heavenly Man before He became the Son of man in His earthly estate.

 

Jn. 3:13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.
Jn. 6:62 What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?

Both of the above verses demonstrate that the Son of man’s place of origin was in Heaven, before He came to earth. Even though Jesus identifies Himself as the Son of man, He speaks as though He is still in heaven. Notice what He says in Jn. 3:13. He says no man has ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. He speaks of the Son of man still being in heaven, even though He, the Son of man is living on earth. Jesus does not explain what He means by such a statement. It could simply mean that Heaven is where the Son of man’s rightful place and authority is found.

In Jn. 6:62, we see Him speaking of the Son of man ascending up “where he was before.” In this Jesus is admitting that he was existing in heaven before He came down to earth. He is identifying Himself with the One, “like the Son of man,” as seen in Daniel.

We see this One who was "like unto the Son of man," also in Revelation.

Rev. 1:13 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.
Rev. 14:14 And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.

It is clear that both of these passages from Revelation, are referring to Jesus Christ as the One, like unto the Son of man. This identifies Jesus as the pre-incarnate One who was given the Kingdom of God, to rule all heaven and earth, for all eternity, as we shall see.

Continuing in the Daniel passage, this Son of man came to the Ancient of days to receive dominion, glory and a kingdom. The Ancient of days is another name for the Almighty God. When He came to the Ancient of days, he came with the clouds of heaven. The clouds of heaven are variously interpreted. Some interpret them as representing a multitude of angels. Others see in the phrase,

“the majesty, visibility, and swiftness, with which he came to take open possession of his kingdom and glory.” (Gill)

I believe we can safely see in this phrase that the Son of man came to the Ancient of days with the authority and power of heaven at His command. The Kingdom He received was universal and eternal in scope. Universal in that it was to be comprised of “all people, nations, and languages.” Eternal in the fact that it was a Kingdom “which shall not pass away, and . . . which shall not be destroyed.”

We can safely say that the picture we have of the Son of man from Daniel is His being the head of the universal and eternal kingdom of God. This Son of man is identical to the pre-existent Messiah, and the Word of God. Many different names for selfsame Being, the Messiah, the Word of God who became flesh, and called Jesus, in His earthly estate.

JESUS AS SON OF MAN

Jesus refers to Himself as the Son of man more than any other title. He uses the title in both ways previously discussed. He uses it to signify His humanity.

As the writer of Hebrews says,

14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
16 For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.

As one could be called a son of Adam(man), so He of necessity became a partaker of “flesh and blood,” taking on the seed of Abraham. Just as some men have no certain dwelling in this world (homeless), so also the Son of man. When a scribe wanted to go home with Jesus,

Matt. 8:20 And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.

 However, most of the instances where He uses the title of Son of man, it is in this special role found in Daniel 7.

The high priest and Pharisees understood this phrase to refer to the pre-existent Messiah. After His arrest, during most of His questioning by the high priest and the great council, Jesus remained silent. However, when the high priest asked Jesus the following,

Mk. 14: 61 But he held his peace, and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him, and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?Jesus responded to this question, saying,
62 And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.

Notice that the high priest equated being the Messiah/Christ with being the Son of the Blessed/Son of God.

Jesus admitted to being the Messiah, the Son of God, but did so by identifying Himself with another Messianic term, the Son of man. The high priest made the connection also. He did not deny that being the Son of man who sits at the right hand of Power, is the same as being the Messiah, and the Son of God.

So we can equate the Messiah, the Son of God and the Son of man, as being equal in identity. Jesus claimed to be all three, and the high priest made the same connection. When he made the connection,

63 Then the high priest rent his clothes, and saith, What need we any further witnesses?
64 Ye have heard the blasphemy: what think ye? And they all condemned him to be guilty of death.

When Jesus speaks of the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven, it should be obvious that this coming is unique. Jesus said that they (the great council) would see Him, as Son of man, sitting at the right hand of God. They would also see Him coming in the clouds of heaven. He can only be referring to His coming for a special purpose. As stated at the outset of this writing, it is incorrect to equate this coming of the Son of man to what many call the Second Coming. One important reason they are not the same, is that every time the NT speaks of the coming of the Son of man, it is always time restrictive. This means it is to occur within a specific window of time. This cannot be said of the Second Coming.

The coming of the Son of man is related specifically to the coming judgement upon Jerusalem and its temple, prophesied by Jesus and His Apostles.