Jesus as The Son of Man

In the New Testament we find two titles that refer to the two natures of Jesus Christ, first He is referred to as the Son of God, and second He is referred to as the Son of Man. In order to understand who Jesus really is we must be able to see that He is the Son of Man, truly man and the Son of God, truly God. When we view Jesus we see both of these natures housed within the one Man Christ Jesus. We’ll start by taking a look at the first title, which is the Son of Man.

To begin with as we study this title we find that it is the third most common title that refers to Jesus. And in fact it occurs no less than eighty-four times in the New Testament, and eighty-one of them are found within the four Gospels. And it is the most popular title in which Jesus refers to Himself.

But why did Jesus use the title Son of Man? We find the title first used in the Old Testament. It appears in reference to both in the book of Daniel and the book of Ezekiel. In Daniel 7:13-14, we see the Son of Man appearing to Daniel in a vision of heaven. He is seen as setting on a throne of the “Ancient of days,” and He is given “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.” When we read these passages it is not hard to see the Son of Man as a heavenly king who will come down to earth and establish His Kingdom Church. It is this very Son of Man that is Jesus! He said, “Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world” (John 8:23). And in another place He says, “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).

All of the writers of the New Testament soundly declare that Jesus is a heavenly being. But He was not just a mere angel. He is declared to be much, much more! When Daniel saw him He said that He was “Ancient of days,” and lets take a look at a comparison between what Daniel saw and that which is given by the Apostle John in his visions in the Book of the Revelations.

First, Daniel says that he “beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened” (Dan. 7: 9-10).

Now listen to John, “and I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; 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. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp two edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength” (Rev. 1:12-16).

And again in Rev. 5:11-12, he says “and I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.”

His divinity is seen not only in the Old Testament, but we see that Jesus Himself sees it as fact with all of creation, we see Jesus again in, when He came and went through a corn field on the Sabbath day, and as His disciples went through they began to pick ears of corn from the stalk. And there were some Pharisees who came to Him and said, “will you look at that, don’t You’re disciples know that it is against the law to pick corn on the Sabbath day?”

And Jesus said, “have ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was an hungered, he, and they that were with him? How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the showbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him? And he said unto them, The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath: Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:25-28).

We see that Jesus claims to have the authority that, to the Jew, that belonged only to God! They couldn’t have missed what He was saying here. And so how did they respond to His message? They went out and sought how that they might kill Him because of His claims to deity came out loud and clear.

We see in another place where Jesus declares that the “Son of Man” comes as a judge who “shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats” (Matt. 25:331:32). This judging is clearly a judging that only belongs to God Himself. The “Son of Man” who comes from heaven, is not someone who is deity alone, but He is someone who has come into our humanity through His incarnation. He is the God Man, that is God in the flesh!

The Apostle Paul saw Jesus as the Son of Man, for he writes, “and so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit” (1 Cor. 15:45).

Beloved Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of what Isaiah prophesied saying, “behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us”(Matt. 1:23; see Isa. 7:14). The word Emmanuel means God is with us in flesh and blood.
We find in the book of Daniel, the Son of Man who appears in a vision, He sets on the throne of the “Ancient of days.” Lets read it, “I’ [Daniel] ‘beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire...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... Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom” (Dan. 7:9, 13, 22). Here is the Son of Man seen as a heavenly being, who is a transcendent figure who will descend to the earth to exercise the role of Supreme Judge.

The New Testament is our witness to the fact of the preexistence of Jesus as the Son of Man that is come down from heaven. Jesus said, “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).

Let's compare the descriptions of Daniel’s view of the Son of Man to that of what the Apostle John saw in the isle of Patmos, in the book of Revelation:

In Revelation 1:12-16, “and I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; 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. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.”

And in Revelation 5:11-12, “and I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; saying with a loud voice, worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.”