The Son Of Man

THE SON OF MAN
This is the Aramaic expression used to describe a man. Ezekiel uses it the most often in this sense. It is also the title that Jesus used the most often of Himself. When used in the New Testament, it is always used of Jesus unless it is a part of a quote from the Old Testament such as in Hebrews 2:6 that uses the Aramaic expression.

1. The Background for this Title.

13 I kept looking in the night visions,
And behold, with the clouds of heaven
One like a Son of Man was coming,
And He came up to the Ancient of Days
And was presented before Him.

14 And to Him was given dominion,
Glory and a kingdom,
That all the peoples, nations, and men of every language
Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion
Which will not pass away;
And His kingdom is one
Which will not be destroyed. (Daniel 7:13-14). This passage takes us to heaven and gives to us a glimpse of the throne of God. It is in this setting that we see one who is said to be like the Son of Man. Daniel sees this “man-like” figure who comes before the Ancient of Days. This is in contrast to the beasts who have been pictured earlier in the chapter.

Four Preceding Beasts|Man-Like Figure|
They enjoy temporary dominion.|He is given eternal dominion.|
They represent four kingdoms.|A kingdom is given to him.|
Each of these kingdoms is destroyed.|His kingdom will never be destroyed.| The “Son of Man” is not a title in this passage, but the description is so powerful that Jesus is able to take it and to use it and to turn it into a title.

2. Historical Views regarding the Title. The traditional view concerning this title is that it emphasizes the humanity of Jesus as He identified Himself with mankind. He calls Himself “Son of man” because He has become a man and identifies Himself with men. In more recent times, Reformed scholars have done a turn-around, seeing the reference to Daniel's vision and therefore emphasizing the deity of Jesus. It is said that the title “Son of man” does not emphasize the “mannishness” of Jesus, but rather that He is the divine one who was “like a son of man.”

Modern Reformed Scholars emphasize only the deity of Christ|n|Early Church Fathers emphasized only the humanity of Jesus.| Which of these views is correct? It seems to me that the actual answer lies in the middle. This title gives a measure of emphasis to both the deity as well as the humanity of Christ.

3. Why did Jesus give such preference to this particular title? There are several possible reasons. This was a designation that had already been used in the Old Testament and therefore contained aspects of His identity that He wished to communicate. This designation did not contain the nationalistic or militaristic baggage that might have been attached to other possible titles. It is possible that Jesus intentionally avoided the title “Messiah” for exactly this reasons. The symbolic aspects of this title allowed Jesus to gradually unfold the various aspects of His person and ministry.