Son of Man

KEY VERSE: “He began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed and after three days rise again.” —Mark 8:31

SELECTED SCRIPTURE: Matthew 8:18-22; Mark 8:31-33; Mark 14:61-65

IN THE New Testament the title Son of man, when applied to Jesus, is always prefaced by the article ‘the.’ When used in connection with anyone else it never has the article.

The first man, Adam, was given dominion over all the works of the Creator. But because of disobedience his dominion was lost and is now held in abeyance waiting until it is finally restored to him and his race by the Son of man. The Apostle Paul takes note of man’s sorry plight in Hebrews 2:6-8 and concludes verse eight saying, “But now we see not yet all things put under him.” And then continuing in the next verse, “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.”

Adam was the man preeminently, in that he was the head of the race of men, the life giver, and in him resided the title to the earth and its dominion. This earthly right was lost through the fall, but this was precisely what was redeemed by the great offering for sin provided by the Son of the man.

Our Lord’s right to this title is indisputable. In the beginning Adam alone was perfect but he lost his perfection when he sinned and subsequently all others of his race became degenerate, except this one Son who attached himself to Adam’s race, to be the redeemer of all lost possessions. Because he has redeemed them from the curse or the sentence of death, the title of the Son of the man came legally and indisputably into his possession.

Jesus used the title “the Son of man” on many occasions. One of the interesting times is recorded in John 3:13-17: “No man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.”

In this text Jesus identifies himself as one who came down from heaven. We find that this is in harmony with the statement in John 1:1, that in his pre-human existence he was the Logos. He then indicates that his purpose for coming to earth was to die, in order that the world might be cured from sin. To illustrate this he used the incident involving the children of Israel in the desert, when, because of disobedience, the Lord sent a plague of serpents upon them. Many Israelites were bitten and died and because of this the people cried unto Moses to intercede with God for them. The Lord instructed Moses to fashion a serpent of brass and lift it up on a pole, “and it shall come to pass, that everyone that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.” (Num. 21:8) Jesus said that he, the Son of man, was pictured in this incident. He too was to be lifted up, crucified, and because of this, whosoever believed in him would have eternal life.

The title of the Son of man serves to identify Jesus as the great kinsman of mankind, the one who had the power to redeem them from the bondage of sin and death, and as the mediator of the New Covenant, restore dominion to Adam and his race.

This great work of restoring dominion and life to the world by the Son of man is foretold by Jesus himself. “And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, that ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel,” and again, “When the Son of man 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: and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”—Matt. 19:28; Matt. 25:31-34

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