If I am asked, “Who are you?” I might respond... “I’m the preacher!” Or “I’m Carla’s husband... yes, she’s my better half!” Or, “I’m Andrew, Sarah and Lizzy’s dad” or “I’m Pappa to a gaggle of little ones!”
If somebody asked Jesus, “Who are you?” Jesus’ likely would have said, “I’m the Son of Man.”
The most important occurrence of “the Son of Man” in the Old Testament is found in Daniel’s prophecies. “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And 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 one that shall not be destroyed” (Daniel 7:13-14, ESV).
Take note. Daniel saw God the Father, the “Ancient of Days,” as He glorified the second person of the Trinity, God the Son, Jesus, who Daniel refers to as the “Son of Man!” In his vision, the Son of Man received from Almighty God dominion over an everlasting kingdom where people from every tribe and tongue serve Him!
In the New Testament, we read about the Son of Man eighty-eight times. (I didn’t count them. I’m quoting my favorite Bible dictionary.) If you look closely at those references, you quickly see that, with only few exceptions, “Son of Man” is printed in red letters. Jesus referred to Himself as the Son of Man.
Several times, Jesus refers to Himself as the Son of Man in reference to His suffering and sacrificial death. Jesus “began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again” (Mark 8:31, ESV). “He was teaching his disciples, saying to them, ‘The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise’ ” (Mark 9:31, ESV). And, “we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise” (Mark 10:33-34, ESV).
In several other places, Jesus refers to Himself as the Son of Man in reference to His second advent. “For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man” (Matthew 24:27, ESV) and “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne” (Matthew 25:31, ESV).
My favorite reference to the Son of Man is found in the sixteen chapter of Matthew. Jesus “asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter replied, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God’ ” (Matthew 16:13-16, ESV). Did you see it? Who is the Son of Man? He’s the Son of God!
In the fourth century, Augustine wrote, “The Son of God became the Son of man that you who were sons of men might be made sons of God.”
He became like us so that He could die for us! Thank you, Lord Jesus, Son of God and Son of Man!