Son of Man

QUESTION: Son of Man - Who is it?

ANSWER:

Jesus often referred to Himself as the Son of Man. In fact, this title is used 88 times in the New Testament. Son of Man refers to Jesus being a human being.

Jesus used this title in three distinct ways:

In a general way - almost as a substitute for the pronoun "I." Luke 9:58 says, "Jesus replied, 'Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.'"

Specifically dealing with suffering - Mark 8:31 says, "He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again."

Specially dealing with authority - Mark 2:10 says, "But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. . ."

The phrase "Son of Man" is used as a reference to Daniel 7:13-14 which says, "In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed."

The title Son of Man is Messianic in nature. In the instances that Jesus used this phrase to describe Himself, He was assigning the Daniel prophecy to Himself. The Jewish people of Jesus' time were intimately familiar with the phrase. They knew that Jesus was proclaiming Himself as the Messiah.