Eld Goh Kee Tai

The Son of man

Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is known by various names: His divine name is the Son of God (Mt 8:29) and His Jewish name, the Son of David (Mt 9:27). He very frequently and intentionally referred to Himself as the ‘Son of man’. In fact, this title occurred 69 times in the Synoptic Gospels and 13 times in the Gospel of John. Jesus referred Himself as the Son of God only on two occasions (Jn 9:35; 10:36).

The term ‘son of man’, when used in Psalms (e.g. Ps 8:4) and Ezekiel, was in reference to a mere corruptible mortal creature of dust. In the Book of Ezekiel, God addressed the prophet as the ‘son of man’ a total of 93 times (e.g. Ez 2:1) to remind him that he was nothing in contrast to the glorious majestic almighty God.

However, in Daniel’s prophecies on the end-time events (Dn 2:34,35,44,45; 7:4-14; 9:24-27), the designation ‘Son of man’ referred to the promised Messiah (Dn 7:13) who shall establish His millennial kingdom on earth. In this vision, God the Father described as the ‘the Ancient of days’, shall give to Jesus Christ, the ‘Son of man’, the eternal and universal throne: ‘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. 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’ (Dan 7:13,14).

Jesus used the title ‘Son of man’ in Daniel’s vision to describe both His humanity and divinity in His earthly ministry in His first coming.

Humanity of Christ

Jesus Christ, God incarnate, conceived by the Holy Spirit (Lk 1:31,35), ‘made in the likeness of men’ (Phil 2:7), born into the world, was reared in conformity to the Mosaic law (Gal 4:4). He had a human bodyMt 26:12). He subjected Himself since early childhood to His earthly parents, Mary and Joseph, and ‘grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him’ (Lk 2:40), ‘increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man’ (Lk 2:52). At 12 years of age, His understanding of the Scriptures was remarkable (Lk 2:42,47).He learned the trade of carpentry from his father (Mk 6:3).

He socialised, showed love and compassion, experienced hunger, thirst, joy, anger, grief, sorrow, agony and weariness. He sang, wept, ate, drank and slept. He prayed without ceasing. He was tempted as we are, yet without sin (Heb 4:15). He knew no sin (2 Cor 5:21), did no sin (1 Pet 2:22) and had no sin (1 Jn 3:5; Heb 7:26). He was indeed a perfect sacrificial Lamb ‘without blemish and without spot’ (1 Pet 1:19).

In His earthly mission, He was both ‘a man of sorrows’ (Is 53:3) and the ‘Lord of glory’ (Jas 2:1).

Humiliation of the Son of man

When Jesus Christ used this designation Son of man, He was identifying Himself with His earthly ministry and mission characterised by His lowliness and humility. He took upon Himself the form of a servant. He humbled Himself to be truly man, and at the same time truly divine. He identified Himself with sinful humanity, made ‘in the likeness of sinful flesh’ (Rm 8:3). He came as a Suffering Servant, as prophesised by Isaiah: ‘He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not’ (Isa 53:3).His lowly background was compared to ‘a root out of a dry ground’ (Isa 53:2), being born in a lowly manger and of a humble family. He had no permanent home on earth. He told one of his disciples who desired to follow him: ‘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’ (Mt 8:20).

Redemptive ministry of the Son of man

Jesus Christ’s mission on earth was to ‘save his people from their sins’ (Mt 1:21), to ‘destroy the works of the devil’ (1 Jn 3:8) and to deliver humanity from the bondage of Satan. He explicitly declared His redemptive ministry: ‘Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many’ (Mt 20:28) by offering Himself as a sinless perfect living sacrifice. Therefore, He came as ‘Saviour of the world’ (Jn 4:42), ‘to seek and to save that which was lost’ (Lk 19:10), ‘specially of those that believe’ (1 Tim 4:10).He declared that as a good Shepherd, He gave His life for the sheep (Jn 10:15). His work of salvation was to save sinners from death and hell and the judgment to come and to be witnesses for Him in the world.

In saving the lost, Jesus warned His disciples of the work of Satan in thwarting His plan of salvation for mankind (Mt 13:19-22). He also reminded them of sufferings and persecution when they accepted Him as the Lord and Saviour: ‘Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall seperate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out of your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake’ (Lk 6:22). Those who were not afraid to confess Him as their Lord and Saviour, He shall also confess them before the angels of God (Lk 12:8).He challenged His disciples not to be ashamed of Him and the gospel (Mk 8:38), and to watch and pray (Lk 21:36) and be found faithful when He returns (Lk 18:8).

Jesus was fully aware of the time of His arrest, crucifixion and death (Jn 2:4; 7:30;12:23;13:1;17:1). He had never failed to foretell His twelve disciples in considerable details of His betrayal, arrest, mocking, bitter suffering, scourging and condemnation to death by the chief priests and scribes in fulfilment of Old Testament prophecies (Mk 9:31;14:21;Lk 18:31-33; 22:48; Mt 20:18,19).

Divine power of the Son of man

Jesus Christ revealed His divinity step by step as the Son of God through His teaching, preaching and miraculous works. Although he called Himself Son of man, He was definitely not an ordinary man. The Roman centurion could behold the divinity of the Son of man whom he sought healing for his paralytic servant (Mt 8:8). Nicodemus, an eminent Pharisee and secret follower of Jesus, confessed: ‘we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him’ (Jn 3:2).

The Son of man was aware of His equality with God and had the divine authority to forgive sins: ‘But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins’(Mt 9:6). He claimed His authority over the sacred Sabbath as the Lord of the Sabbath: ‘Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath’ (Mk 2:28). He demonstrated His power over darkness by healing the demon-possessed (Mt 8:28-32).

John the Baptist, when he was imprisoned, sent two of his disciples to find out from Jesus Himself whether or not He was the promised Messiah. Jesus confirmed that He was indeed the Christ who had come as evidenced by His preaching and divine healing of diverse diseases: ‘The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them’ (Mt 11:5).

Exaltation of the Son of man

In predicting His sacrificial death, Jesus had never failed to proclaim to His disciples His resurrection from the dead on the third day (Mt 16:21). God was pleased with His active obedience by keeping the moral laws on our behalf (Gal 4:4,5) and passive obedience by dying on the Cross for our sins (Phil 2:8), and raised Him from the dead for our justification (Rm 4:25). He declared His divine Messiahship by identifying Himself as the Son of man to whom God shall give Him eternal dominion over all nations, as prophecised by Daniel (Dn 7:13,14). He spoke of His second coming as a glorified divine being (Mt 24:30) accompanied by holy angels and saints as King of kings and Lord of lords (Mt 16: 27; Jude 14; Rev 17:14): ‘And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory’ (Mk 13:26). He shall sit on the throne of David (Mt 25:31) during His millennial reign to reward His redeemed and to judge the impenitent (Mt 13:41-43). His dominion is an everlasting dominion and His kingdom shall never be destroyed (Dn 7:14).

Rejection of the Son of man as the Messiah

The majority of His followers considered Jesus of Nazareth an ordinary man. While many marvelled at His miraculous signs and wonders, few believed that He was the promised Messiah: ‘He came unto his own, and his own received him not’ (Jn 1:11). He was rejected by his hometown at Nazareth (Lk 4:28,29), and by the religious leaders (Jn 5:18). Those who believed that He was Christ would be put out of the synagogue, and ex-communicated from worship and fellowship (Jn 9:22). Even His half-brothers and half-sisters did not believe on Him prior to His resurrection and rejected Him as the Messiah (Mk 6:4; Jn 7:5).

To the Jews in general, their conception of the Messiah was a secular, nationalistic and political leader who would deliver them from foreign colonial masters and re-establish the Davidic kingdom with Jerusalem as its headquarters. The religious leaders never associated their Messiah with suffering nor ever interpreted the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53 as the Son of man. While Peter acknowledged Him as ‘the Christ, the Son of the living God’ (Mt 16:16), he only thought of Him in terms of glory and not of suffering (Mt 16:21-23).

If Jesus were to declare Himself as Christ, the Anointed One, especially after performing His miracles, His followers would have taken Him by force and make Him their King and His ministry could have come to an abrupt end: ‘When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone’ (Jn 6:15). He specifically instructed a number of those who
were divinely healed of diverse diseases not to announce it publicly (Mt 8:4;9:30;Mk 5:43). He also directed Peter, James and John who had a preview of His glory not to reveal that glorious sight of transfiguration till He had been resurrected from the dead (Mk 9:9).

The Pharisees and scribes accused Him for being ‘gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners’ (Mt 11:19). They called Him a sinner (Jn 9:24), a deceiver (Jn 7:12) and a sabbath breaker (Mk 2:4). They accused Him of casting out devils by the power of Beelzebub, the prince of the devils (Mk 3:22). Some Jews also thought that He had a devil and was mad (Jn 10:20). However, there were others who were touched by His teaching and were certain that He was a Prophet ( Jn 7:40), the ‘prophet of Nazareth of Galilee’ (Mt 21:11) and ‘a good man’ (Jn 7:12), but failed to see Him as the Son of God.

Towards the end of His ministry, the Jews remained unconvinced that the Son of man was the Promised Messiah. When Jesus made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem to observe the Passover feast, a great multitude cried ‘Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest’ (Mt 21:9). They thought that He was the Davidic King that would bring deliverance from their oppression of Rome. Following His betrayal, Jesus was brought before the Sanhedrin Council. When He identified Himself as the Son of man in Daniel’s prophecy, He was charged for blasphemy and condemned to death (Mt 26:64-66). However, the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate, found Him guiltless, but the same crowd cried out again and again: ‘Crucify him, crucify him’ (Lk 23:21).

Conclusion

God announced the gospel of salvation for mankind as soon as the first man made in the image of God succumbed to the temptation of Satan in the Garden of Eden (Gen 1:27; 3:15). But God incarnate, the Son of man, soundly defeated Satan’s temptations in the wilderness at the beginning of His earthly ministry (Mt 4:1-11) and subsequently, victory over sin and death at the Cross (1 Cor 15: 55-57). To all repenting sinners, the sons of man, who confess Him as Lord and Saviour, by grace through faith, He has power to turn all of them into sons of God: ‘But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name’ (Jn 1:12).

Jesus Christ humbled Himself by coming down from heaven’s glory to this depraved perishing world as a Suffering Servant to give His life a ransom for sinful men. The epitome of His humility is described by the Apostle Paul: ‘Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of man: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross’ (Phil 2:5-8).

Despite the many miracles Christ had performed to authenticate His divine teachings, yet the Jews believed not on Him (Jn 12:37). They continued to wonder and ask: ‘who is this Son of man?’ (Jn 12:34), the only record where anyone other than Jesus Himself used this term in the Gospels.

Jesus Christ in using the term ‘Son of man’ had never declared ‘I am the Son of man’, but always referred it in the third person. There is no doubt that the context in every passage obviously showed that He was referring to Himself and not to another person who would come after Him. For example, in the account in Mt 16:13,15,16 where the ‘Son of man’ is equal to ‘I’: ‘Jesus...asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? ...He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God’. This is further substantiated by the account in His trial before the high priest: ‘And the high priest ...said unto him,.... I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven’ (Mt 26:62-64).

One of the most glorious truths of the incarnation of Christ is that He still has and always will have a body of flesh and bone (Lk 24:39). Jesus took His humanity with Him when He ascended to heaven. The heavenly sight which the first Christian martyr, Stephen, beheld just before his death was the Son of man: ‘Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God’ (Act 7:56). The Apostle John also described the exalted Christ as the Son of man with glorious humanity and unblemished deity in His second coming (Rev 1:13 ;14:14).

Our Lord Jesus Christ who came to this earth in human form went through trials and temptations like all of us. His humility, a life of complete obedience to His Father in heaven, and His sufferings provided for us an excellent example of how we should bear our afflictions or persecution for righteousness sake (Jn 13:15;1 Jn 2:6;1Pet 2:21). He understands our frailty and the feelings of our infirmities (Heb 4:15) and are able to comfort us in any trouble and in all our tribulations (2 Cor 1:4). Amen.