Son of Man

The ‘Son of Man’ is Jesus’ favourite way of referring to Himself (e.g. Matthew 9:6). The phrase can simply mean ‘human being’, as when God uses it to the prophet Ezekiel (Ezekiel 2:1). So in one sense Jesus is making it plain that He has a truly human nature as well as a divine one as God the Son (see Incarnation). However, the title ‘Son of Man’ is loaded with meaning from the book of Daniel. In Daniel 7:13-14, Daniel sees a vision of an awesome figure, ‘one like a son of man’, who comes on the clouds from heaven and is granted authority by God to bring in His Kingdom. This ‘Son of Man’ is worshipped by the nations as only God can be, and is revealed in Daniel 7:27 to be God Himself. So when Jesus uses this title of Himself, it is a claim to be this prophesied figure, a claim to be God Himself who is bringing in His Kingdom (Matthew 24:30). The Jewish leaders certainly recognised this claim to be one of His deity (Matthew 26:64-65). Similarly, in the book of Revelation, the apostle John’s vision begins with seeing the risen and glorified Jesus as ‘someone like a son of man’, who comes to strengthen His Church before finally bringing in His Kingdom (Revelation 1:12-16).