11 - CHAPTER EIGHT

THE SONSHIP NAMES OF JESUS

“I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee “ (Psa 2:7). The Father’s favorite name for Jesus Christ is “Son.” It is an Old Testament name (Psa 2:7), and it has eternal implications. Christians around the world call Christ “the only begotten Son.” On all but one occasion Jesus referred to God as “Father. “ The exception to this rule occurred when on the cross Jesus asked, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Mat 27:46). In John 5:19-27 Jesus referred to Himself as “the Son” ten times in His comments to the Jews. He affirmed that the Son did only what He had seen the Father do (John 5:19), that the Son was the constant object of the Father’s love (John 5:20), that the Father had and would continue to reveal all things and greater works to the Son (John 5:20), that the Son had power to give life (John 5:21), that the Father had delegated His authority to judge to the Son (John 5:22), that men should honor the Son as they honor the Father (John 5:23), that those who do not honor the Son offend the Father (John 5:23), that the Father sent the Son (John 5:23), that the dead will rise to life when they hear the Son’s voice (John 5:25), that the Son has life in Himself (John 5:26), and that the Father has given to the Son authority to execute judgment (John 5:27). Obviously, “Son” is an important title of Jesus. Of all the many names and titles of Jesus, perhaps more belong to this family or category of names than to all the others. At least nineteen names in Scripture relate to the Son. These include: the Son of the Highest (Luk 1:32), the carpenter’s son (Mat 13:55), the son of Mary (Mark 6:3), the son of David (Mark 10:47), the son of Joseph (John 1:45), Son (Mat 11:27), his Son from Heaven (1Th 1:10), My beloved Son (Mat 3:17), the Son of God (John 1:49), the son of Abraham (Mat 1:1), the Son of man (John 1:51), the Son of the Blessed (Mark 14:61), the Son of the Father (2Jn 1:3), the Son of the freewoman (Gal 4:30), the Son of the living God (Mat 16:16), the Son of the most high (Mark 5:7), a son over his own house (Heb 3:6), the Son who is consecrated for evermore (Heb 7:28), and the only begotten Son (John 3:16).

Although each of these nineteen “sonship names” of Jesus possesses a special and important significance, this chapter will examine only three of the more prominent names closely. Each of these three names is used in John 3:1-36 in connection with Jesus’ meeting with Nicodemus. Note the phrases “Son of man” (John 3:14), referring to His Messianic office and humanity; “only begotten Son” (John 3:16), referring to His unique relation to God; and “Son of God” (John 3:18), having special reference to the divine nature and character of Jesus.

SON OF MAN

“Son of man” is particularly noteworthy because in the Gospels it appears to be the favorite title of Christ for Himself. He never identified Himself as “Jesus” until He appeared to Paul on the Damascus Road and then only one other time to the Apostle John fifty years later (Rev 22:16). Only once did He call Himself Lord, and that was in quoting from the Old Testament (Mat 22:43). Over eighty times during His three-and-a-half-year ministry, Jesus called Himself “the Son of man.” It is also interesting to note that only Jesus used this term and that no one else ever addressed Him as “the Son of man. “

Why was this term Jesus’ favorite title for Himself? The answer to this question lies in its Biblical background. The only occurrence of the term in the Old Testament with any significance appears in Dan 7:13. There it is a title of Messianic expectation. Daniel describes the Son of man in the context of His return and kingdom. This is the only use of the expression in the Old Testament in which it refers to Christ. Other occurrences of the term in the Old Testament have a different sense (cf. Eze 2:1, Eze 2:3, Eze 2:8; Eze 3:1; Eze 4:1; etc.).

Daniel’s vision contrasts the kingdom of the Son of man with the succession of world empires symbolically represented as the lion (Babylon), the bear (Medo-Persia), the leopard (Greece), and the fourth beast-described only as “dreadful and terrible” (Rome). When these great powers and kingdoms pass, One “like the Son of man” remains (Dan 7:13-14). Closely associated with this One are a dominion, glory, and a kingdom which are greater than all that had come before. The Jews expected their Messiah to conquer an existing kingdom (that is, Rome). They refused His Messianic claims when He did not fulfill their preconceived notions about what Messiah must be like and must do. But someday Jesus will receive the kingdoms of the world from God. He will claim them as King of kings and Lord of lords. This aspect of the prophecy still awaits fulfillment. The context of John 3:1-36 suggests a second reason why Jesus may have favored this name over others: “And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven” (John 3:13). When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, He acquired something He had never possessed before-a human nature. Although He remained God, He became also a man; He possessed a complete human nature. Because He wanted to identify with those He came to save, He chose to call Himself “the Son of man.” The key verse of the Gospel of Luke affirms, “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luk 19:10).

Jesus referred to Himself as Son of man in three contexts. He was, first, the Son of man in the context of His earthly ministry (cf. Mat 8:20; Mat 9:6; Matthew 11,:19; Mat 16:13; Luk 19:10; Luk 22:48). Secondly, He used this title also when describing His approaching death on the cross (cf. Mat 12:40 Mat 17:9, Mat 17:22; Mat 20:18; Mark 10:33; Luk 9:22; John 3:14; John 8:28; John 12:23; John 13:31). Finally, Jesus used this title in an eschatological context with reference to His second coming (Mat 13:41; Mat 24:27, Mat 24:30; Mat 25:31; Luk 18:8; Luk 21:36). THE ONLY BEGOTTEN SON When someone asked a little boy what he learned in Sunday School, he replied that the lesson was on “God’s Only Forgotten Son.” He went on to explain how people forgot about Him, and He had to be born in a stable, and later His parents forgot about Him and left Him in the temple. Although the little boy had misheard the title “Only Begotten Son,” he was also right about “God’s Only Forgotten Son.” People today still forget Him as was also common during His life (cf. John 1:10-12). The name “only begotten Son” (John 3:16) did not originate in the Gospels but, rather, in Heaven before time began. In the first of the Messianic Psalms, David noted, “I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee” (Psa 2:7). Over the years, several suggestions have been offered as to the “day” in which Jesus was begotten. In order to resolve a doctrinal controversy in the early church, the church fathers coined the expression “eternal generation.” When we speak of the eternal generation of the Son, we mean that Jesus was eternally the Son and did not become the Son at His birth, baptism, death, resurrection, ascension, or at any other historical point in His incarnate life. If Jesus became the Son at a point in time, He would not be the eternal Son and, therefore, not related to the Father as the Son from eternity.

We should understand the difference between being begotten and being identified or named as a son. Traditionally, Jews name their sons eight days after birth, at the time of their circumcision. It is not, therefore, unusual that a period of time should exist between the eternal generation of the Son and various times when He was named or called the Son. I have only one begotten son. When my son was born May 8, 1956, we named him Stephen Richard Towns. About ten years later, I heard another man calling his son by several terms of endearment that sounded too effeminate to belong to a boy. Turning to Stephen, I said, “If I ever give you a nickname, it is not going to be something effeminate like that. I would call you something strong, like `Sam,’ a real man’s name.” For some reason, the name stuck, and to this day my son is known as Sam Towns. He was begotten Stephen Richard Towns in 1956 but called “Sam” in 1966. Similarly, Jesus is called the Son at His birth, baptism, death, resurrection, and ascension, but He was begotten as Son in eternity past.

Two different Hebrew words for “Son” are used in Psa 2:1-12 : ben and bar. Each has its own distinctive meaning, although both are used throughout the Scriptures to identify the male descendant of a father. The first word, ben (Psa 2:7), refers to that which Christ achieves-that is, His Lordship. As the firstborn, He is the builder of God’s spiritual house. The second word, bar (Psa 2:12), refers to that which Christ receives as heir of all things-that is, His legacy. The first refers to His honor; the latter, to His heritage. The word “begotten” emphasizes His uniqueness. All who receive Christ by faith are “sons of God” but not in the same sense that Jesus is the only begotten Son (cf. John 1:12). God had only one Son, and He sent Him to be a missionary. To that Son He gave the promise, “Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession” (Psa 2:8). This phrase “only begotten Son” occurs on three other occasions in the Gospel of John. John beheld “the glory as of the only begotten of the Father” (John 1:14), noted “the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father” (John 1:18), and later identified Jesus as “the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:18). This uniqueness of the Son is alluded to prophetically in a birth name given to Him by Isaiah when he distinguished between “a child is born” and “ a son is given” (Isa 9:6). Jesus had both a human nature (a child born) and a divine nature (a son given). Neither nature in any way hindered or altered the other nature. He was the God-man-one Person with two natures. “Generation” and “only begotten” are the terms which best express the eternal relationship that existed between the divine Person of Christ and the divine Person of the Father. THE SON OF GOD The Gospel of John primarily purposes to produce faith in the reader, more specifically, “that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name” (John 20:31). When I first began to study and teach theology, it used to bother me that Jesus did not more often call Himself the Son of God and emphasize His deity. This was especially frustrating when I heard or read the arguments of liberals who noted Jesus’ use of the name “Son of man” and insisted that Jesus never claimed to be God, only man. It was not until much later that I began to understand why Jesus did what He did. It is only when you fully understand the humanity of Christ that you see His deity. Likewise, only when you fully see His deity can you then see His humanity.

Although some people like to distinguish between the expressions “God the Son” and “Son of God,” the difference is more imagined than real. The phrase “son of” was a common Hebraism to denote a relationship in which the “son” possessed the very same nature as that of which he was “son.” Even today, the highest honor a Jew can receive is to be recognized as “a son of Israel” by the Israeli government, meaning that he is by nature the personification of the true spirit of the nation. The expression “Son of God,” therefore, means Jesus is by nature the personification of God Himself: He is of the very same essence as the Father. When we refer to Jesus as “the Son of God,” we do not mean that He is in any way inferior to or less than God the Father. In every respect the name “Son of God” implies that the Son is both co-equal and co-eternal with the Father. This is also true of other forms of this name- such as, “Son of the Blessed” (Mark 14:61), “the Son of the Father” (2Jn 1:3), “the Son of the Highest” (Luk 1:32), “the Son of the living God” (Mat 16:16), and “Son of the most high” (Mark 5:7). This relationship of Jesus to the Father was not something that Jesus discovered only later in life. As a twelve-year-old boy, He understood He was the Son of God and needed to be about His Father’s business (Luk 2:49). This was also reaffirmed at His baptism. When He was dipped into the water by John the Baptist, God “thundered” from Heaven, “Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Mark 1:11). When Jesus was tempted by Satan, He did not dispute that He was indeed the Son of God (Luk 4:3, Luk 4:9), and Satan knew full well that Jesus was the Son of God.

Jesus later encountered a demon-possessed person who called Him “ Son of the most high God” (Mark 5:7). “God Most High” (El Elyon) is the name of God which demons most often used. Satan fell from his exalted position when he attempted to be like El Elyon (Isa 14:14). Melchisedek used this name to identify the Possessor of heaven and earth (Gen 14:19). The constant attack of Satan against El Elyon often takes the form of destroying or taking possession of that which rightfully belongs to God. At His trial, Jesus was accused and charged with both insurrection (at the Roman trials) and blasphemy (at the Jewish trials). He was asked by the High Priest, “I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God” (Mat 26:63). While He hung on the cross, enemies of Jesus mocked Him with statements such as, “If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross” (Mat 27:40); and, “He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God” (Mat 27:43).

CONCLUSION

Jesus was not only the Son of man but also the only begotten Son of God. That is what He claimed and taught. That being the case, we must respond to Jesus in one of three ways. If He lied about His identity and knew it, then His attempt at deception was such that He got exactly what He deserved. If He believed He was the Son of God and was deceived Himself, then He should be regarded not as a liar but, rather, as a lunatic on the level of a man who thinks He is a poached egg. If, however, He was telling the truth-that is, if He really was the Son of God that He claimed to be-then we must recognize and worship Him as none other than the Lord of life and very God of very God. Jesus’ claim to be the Son of God gives us these three alternatives today. We must all answer the haunting question of Pilate, “What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ?” (Mat 27:22). For Discussion:

1. Giving Jesus the title Son implies that the first Person of the Trinity is the Father. What do the sonship names reveal about the Trinity?

2. There are 19 sonship titles of Christ. Which three are predominant? Why?

3. Of all His names, which one did Christ use most frequently in reference to Himself? Why do you think He preferred this name?

4. Why was Jesus called the only begotten ?Song of Solomon 5:1-16. The title Son of God reminds us of the deity of Christ. Can a person be saved apart from belief in Christ’s deity? Why or why not?