Son of Man (1)
(Part 1 of 2)
The Creeds teach us to speak of Jesus as Christ and Son of God – but it is notable that in the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) such language is rare. There are good reasons for this. Hope for the Messiah was based on God’s promise to David (2 Samuel 7; Psalms 89, 132) of a son and heir to reign on his throne for ever, one who stands in relation to God as son to father, as the one “anointed” by God, to exercise the authority of God’s kingdom over God’s own people. After the fall of the Davidic dynasty, the Jews passed under the control of a succession of pagan kingdoms and empires, and in that context, the Jews looked for redemption, liberation, and the restoration of David’s kingdom in accordance with God’s promise by the “anointed one”, Messiah or Christ. In popular expectation therefore the “Messiah” and “Son of God” was expected to be a warrior-hero like David, who would lead a nationalistic revolution against the pagan empire, and indeed messianic nationalistic rebellion against the Romans erupted in 65 and 135, resulting in the destruction of the Temple and the dispersal (diaspora) of the Jews.
The ministry of Jesus, his proclamation of the kingdom of God in words and deeds of power, awakened Messianic hopes. More than one suppliant addressed him as “Son of David”, and when Jesus asks his disciples “whom do ye think that I am?”, Simon Peter makes the momentous confession, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God”. Jesus affirms this confession, as a revelation of God, but at the same time he cautions them against making that claim public (Matthew 16:13-20), lest his own mission be hijacked by worldly Messianic agendas. There was at least one attempt to make him king by force (John 6:15), and it is only in the final phases of his earthly ministry, his triumphant entry into Jerusalem, does he allow an open acclamation as Messiah. “Hosanna to the Son of David!” (Matthew 21:9)
According to the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Jesus frequently referred to himself as “Son of man”. In John’s gospel, the term appears less frequently, but still in similar and significant ways. The origins of “Son of man” can be traced to the Old Testament, where it underlines the contrast between the frail human creature and the mighty Creator: “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent” (Numbers 23:19). In Psalm 8, the psalmist expresses wonder that the frail human creature, “the son of man”, should have been set as head over creation (a reference to Genesis 1:26): “What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? Thou madest him lower than the angels, to crown him with glory and worship. Thou makest him to have dominion of the works of thy hands; and thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet”. Likewise in Ezekiel, when God appears in glory, he addresses the prostrated prophet as “son of man”: “Son of man, can these bones live?”
This frail but exalted human being features in the apocalyptic visions of Daniel 7. In the heavenly court room, the Ancient of Days passes judgment on the bestial kingdoms of the earth that persecute the faithful people of God, and in their place, “one like a son of man” is brought to him in clouds of heaven, and is given the authority of God over all the world:“his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed” (7:14). An angel explains that the son of man represents the martyr people of God, those persecuted for their loyalty to God, but destined to be vindicated, exalted, and to share in the authority of his kingdom (7:15-28).
Daniel’s vision of the Son of man lies behind Jesus’ use of this term in the gospels, and above all, in his trial by the Sanhedrin. When the high priest demands to know if he is the Messiah and Son of God (Matthew 26:63), Jesus replies with a qualified affirmative (“thou hast said” = ‘those are your words’, ‘you could say that’), but then supplies his own interpretation of these titles: “nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven” (Matt. 26:64, cf. Mark 14:62, Luke 22:69; the reference to session at God’s right hand comes from the Messianic Psalm 110:1).
Thus at the pivotal moment of Jesus trial, he defines the office of Messiah, and Son of God, as the human being called to suffer for his loyalty to God, destined to be vindicated and exalted to the Father’s right hand, in a place of equality with the Father, to exercise the authority of God as mediator of salvation and judge of all men. In his suffering and vindication he is a representative figure, and in his authority and kingdom his disciples have a share (Luke 22:28-30). It is for this understanding of the titles Messiah and Son of God that Jesus is condemned, and therefore also for this understanding that he is vindicated of God, not as an leader of worldly revolution, but as the one who entered into the glory of his kingdom by the suffering of the cross (Luke 24:26).