Why does Jesus call Himself The Son of Man? What does this tell us about Him? As it says in John 1:2, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” Jesus is fully God and fully human. He is Emmanuel, “God with Us.” Jesus, Yeshua, “The Lord is Salvation.” He humbled Himself to become a man, born of a virgin, relatable, went through the sufferings and temptations that we go through, and He died for our sins, paid the price, and rose again to sit at the right hand of God the Father.
Daniel 7:13-14
“I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed.
In one of his visions, Daniel describes the Son of Man when He returns to this earth. One day He will rule this earth, one day He will remove evil and Satan Himself. And His dominion is forever.
Matthew 24:29-31
“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
One day Christ will return. Jesus is The Son of Man and the Son of God. Even though He always speaks of Himself in the third person, it is obvious He is talking of Himself. And when He is interrogated by the Pharisees, He tells them plainly. He told them what will happen, just as He prophesied His own death and resurrection.
Luke 22:66-71
As soon as it was day, the elders of the people, both chief priests and scribes, came together and led Him into their council, saying, “If You are the Christ, tell us.” But He said to them, “If I tell you, you will by no means believe. And if I also ask you, you will by no means answer Me or let Me go. Hereafter the Son of Man will sit on the right hand of the power of God.” Then they all said, “Are You then the Son of God?” So He said to them, “You rightly say that I am.” And they said, “What further testimony do we need? For we have heard it ourselves from His own mouth.”
Jesus plainly said that He was the Son of God. The Pharisees would not believe and had Him crucified for blasphemy. Their hearts were hardened. And when Jesus proved that He was The Son of Man and the Son of God by dying on the cross and rising from the dead, they tried to cover it up. But they could not because He visited over 500 people (See 1 Corinthian 15) after The Resurrection, and the gospel spread.
Luke 24:1-12
Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’ “
And they remembered His words. Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles. And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them. But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened.
The Son of Man, Jesus, was delivered to sinful men, and He was crucified and rose again just like He said He would. And He will return again coming on the clouds of heaven, just like He said He would and just as Daniel prophesied. After His resurrection, the gospel of Jesus Christ spread. Many bore witness of Him and many believed, and the Holy Spirit came upon them and dwelled in them just as He does to each of us who believe and trust in Him as Jesus promised. And the more they were persecuted for sharing the Truth, the more the gospel spread. If we could only have that kind of faith like Stephen who was stoned for sharing the gospel, how many more lives would be changed!
Acts 7:54-60
When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
Even when people wouldn’t believe and were even hostile toward the truth, Stephen’s faith remained strong. He denied Himself to follow Jesus and He gave his life to share the truth of the gospel. One of the last things He saw before he died was Jesus, The Son of Man, standing at the right hand of God the Father. He had a glimpse of Christ in all His glory.
Mark 8:34-38
When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”
Jesus came to this world as a man to bring others to Him. He offers us eternal life. He came to save us from our sins. He gave us the ultimate gift. As it says in Ephesians 2:8, we are saved by grace through faith. Not by anything we can do, but by His sacrifice. He paid for our sins so that anyone who believes will not be condemned but will be forgiven and have eternal life. Denying ourselves (surrendering to Christ and allowing Him to work in our lives…this is called repentance) and believing in Him is a small price to pay for the awesome gift that He offers.
John 3:13-21
No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
“He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”
Jesus spoke of how He would die to save our sins. The Son of Man, who came from heaven, was crucified, and raised again, and ascended back to heaven to sit at the right hand of God the Father. And how are we saved? Not by our works. Not by following the Law. But by believing in Him. Nothing we can do will earn salvation. Ephesians 2:8-9 and many other scriptures are clear about that. And when we are saved, He promised the Holy Spirit to guide us. Our deeds reflect our salvation, our lives are changed. Our heart is changed. Our desires become wanting to do God’s will and to obey His commands. Only through Jesus Christ are our sins forgiven.
Matthew 9:1-8
So He got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own city. Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.” And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, “This Man blasphemes!” But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—then He said to the paralytic, “Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” And he arose and departed to his house. Now when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men.
Jesus often shows His humanity, as well as His power and authority. As the Son of Man, He related to us. He hungered, He thirst, He hurt. He was compassionate and cared for those who are suffering. He is also God. He not only has the power to completely heal, but He has the power and authority to forgive our sins. If we believe in Him, which includes repenting and deciding to change our ways, and trusting that He is the Son of God who paid for our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 Praise God for that!
My Daily Scriptures 