Son of Man

For and away, the number one title that Jesus chose to use to describe Himself in the New Testament is this title, the Son of Man. Of the eighty-some times that this title is used of Jesus in the New Testament, only two or three times it is used by someone other than Jesus. All the rest of the times, it's Jesus referring to Jesus as the Son of Man. Who is Jesus, this baby born that first Christmas over two thousand years ago?

Some call Him Jesus Christ, as if Christ is His last name, but Christ isn't a name, it's a title, and He's given many titles throughout the Bible. You're listening to the Friday edition of Renewing Your Mind, as we've spent this week hearing messages from R.C. Sproul to help us think biblically about Jesus and other themes related to the Advent season. All week, we've also offered a five series collection from Dr. Sproul and his new book, an Advent devotional titled, The Advent of Glory.

And today is the final day to request this complete collection at renewingyourmind.org. Jesus is given many titles throughout the Bible, and the one that Jesus used the most when referring to Himself is the Son of Man. So what does this title mean?

Here's R.C. Sproul from his series, The Majesty of Christ. In the last summer of Jesus' earthly ministry, before He went to Jerusalem to be executed, He and His disciples together with Him underwent a severe crisis. And sometimes when we think about the life of Jesus and the ministry of Jesus, we tend to telescope the events surrounding it and think of Him walking around from town to town in Galilee and coming back and forth out of Jerusalem, followed constantly by thronging multitudes, pressing up against Him, everybody wanting to hear every word that comes out of His mouth. But if we look carefully at the record of the earthly ministry of Jesus, we will see that public opinion was almost like the New York stock market. It was that volatile.

It was up and it was down. There were times when the people were clamoring with enthusiasm as they watched Jesus perform a miracle here in Canaan and then in Capernaum and so on. But then there came a point in the public ministry of Jesus where to the best of our ability to discern the historical situation, people became disenchanted and disillusioned.

They were fickle. On one occasion after He had fed 5,000 people, the people rushed up to Him and they demanded that Jesus accept the crown and become their King. Now when He refused to do that, the people got angry and they began to leave Him. In fact, we read in John's gospel that there was an occasion where many of those who were the disciples of Jesus also left Him and abandoned His ministry. You remember that occasion when Jesus then, as this group walked away in despair, Jesus turned to His own – the few of the disciples that were left and He said, are you also going to go away? And it was Peter who replied on that occasion, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou alone hast the words of eternal life. That was not really a strong affirmation of confidence in Jesus.

It's like, well, hey, you know, we feel inclined to leave just like everybody else, but we don't figure there's much more hope over there than there is here, so we're going to stick it out to see how things go. But not only were the people fickle in their response to Jesus in terms of His public ministry, but growing consolidated opposition was taking place in Jerusalem. The religious authorities had been outraged by the teaching of Jesus and His criticisms of them, and so they came together and as the New Testament tells us, they began to enter into a conspiracy and to set traps for Jesus so that they could destroy Him. Also the local king, Herod – Herod Antipas, remember Jesus once called him that fox, Herod – who presided over Judea, was becoming very suspicious of Jesus' political ambitions and aspirations, and so he was keeping a watchful eye over Jesus and His activities. And so all of these things tended to come together and produce a climate in and around Jerusalem throughout the whole area of Judea that was quite simply unsafe for Jesus. Now the portrait we have of Jesus in the New Testament is not that of a coward who flees from confrontation, far be it, but there were occasions where He, as it were, was saying this, my hour has not yet come. It's as if Jesus were saying, I will determine the place and the time of the ultimate confrontation that I'm going to have with the authorities.

I'm not going to go by their agenda or their timetable. So this time of crisis came and what happened was that Jesus with a few of His disciples virtually went into retreat, and they left Jerusalem and Judea, and they traveled up through Samaria, went up through Galilee and up to the very top in the northern tip of Galilee into Ituraea, and there in relative seclusion from the masses and all of this public activity for which Jesus was becoming so famous, Jesus withdrew with a handful of His disciples to a little town called Caesarea Philippi. Now we shouldn't confuse Caesarea Philippi with the other city that was called Caesarea that was on the Mediterranean sea coast, and that was built in honor of the Emperor Octavian or Caesar Augustus, and that Caesarea was one of the largest cities in ancient Palestine.

Caesarea Philippi was a little town several miles inland from the big Caesarea, and it had been rebuilt by Philip the tetrarch of that area in honor not of Augustus Caesar but of Tiberius Caesar, but in any case now here they are up in this little place very close to Mount Hermon, right by the little springs and brooks that together became the starting point for the River Jordan. And there Jesus took His disciples aside and asked a crisis question, and it's basically that question that we're going to be examining in this series of lectures on the person of Jesus and on the majesty of Christ. Let me read what the text says about this critical turning point in the life of Jesus and of His disciples. In Matthew's Gospel in the 16th chapter, verse 13, we read this, Now, when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He began asking His disciples saying, who do people say that the Son of Man is? Now, have you noticed something strange about the way Jesus asked the question? He didn't simply say to His disciples, what are they saying about Me?

What's the scuttlebutt? You people are out in the marketplace, you hear people talking, what's the popular opinion? I can remember when Lyndon Johnson was the president of the United States, the press would say that on any occasion when Lyndon Johnson was in public that they would talk to him, he would reach into his pocket and pull out a copy of the latest Gallup poll, and that he always knew up to the minute what the drift of public opinion was. And sometimes we get cynical about politicians in our culture where we say what a politician does is he looks out the window and whenever he sees a parade moving in a certain direction, what the politician does is run around to the front of the parade and grabs the baton and lead the people in precisely the direction they were already moving. But that's not the kind of leader Jesus was. Jesus was not the type of man who would acquiesce to public opinion and do whatever anybody wanted him to do.

He determined his own agenda. But here he's asking the question, what are they saying about me? But notice how he phrases it. He doesn't say simply, who do they say that I am? But there are various translations of this in the English versions of the text. The older translations read it this way, somewhat awkwardly, that Jesus said, who do they say that I, comma, the Son of Man, let's write that up here on the board, who do they say that I, the Son of Man, am? Later translations sort of smooth over the awkwardness there and simply record it this way, who do they say the Son of Man is? Now, what's strange about the way he phrases the question is that the very moment that Jesus is asking what other people think about him, he uses a title to identify himself to his disciples. And this title, the Son of Man, has some very strange circumstances about it in the way it's used by Jesus in the New Testament.

If we, for example, would go through the gospel records, or the whole New Testament for that matter, and list on the board here the titles that the Bible uses for Jesus, the titles that they use to describe his identity, and then list them in terms of their numerical frequency, what title do you suppose would be far and away the number one title most often attributed to Jesus in the New Testament? The title Christ. In fact, this title, Christ, is used so often in conjunction with Jesus in the New Testament that many people think that that's his name.

That my name's R.C. Sproul, I have a first name and a last name, and Jesus' name is Jesus Christ, because he's called Jesus Christ so often in the Bible. But in fact, his name would be Jesus bar Joseph. Jesus is his name, Christ is a title.

And we'll get to the meaning of this title later on in this course. Just for a moment, we'll just simply say that the word Christ is the Greek equivalent to the Hebrew concept of Messiah, so that when the New Testament says Jesus Christ, what the Bible is saying is Jesus Messiah. That's the number one title that is used. The second most frequently used title for Jesus in the New Testament is the title Lord. And we will also take a look at the significance of the use of this title in the life of Jesus.

In third place, in terms of numerical frequency, is the title Son of Man. It's used of Jesus 80-some times in the New Testament. But the striking thing about the use of the title is this, that if we would go back to the text and say, okay, far and away, the number one title that is used for Jesus and of Jesus is the title Christ, let's back away from that for a second and say, in Jesus' self testimony, when Jesus is describing himself or naming himself, what is the title Jesus uses for himself more often than any other title? And now the numbers change, because far and away, the number one title that Jesus chose to use to describe himself in the New Testament is this title, the Son of Man.

Of the 80-some times that this title is used of Jesus in the New Testament, only two or three times it is used by someone other than Jesus. All the rest of the times, it's Jesus referring to Jesus as the Son of Man. Now, I find in teaching adult classes and even teaching in the seminary, if I ask my seminary students, what do you suppose is the principal reason why Jesus calls himself the Son of Man, and the response of the seminarians was, well, this was a humble self-designation that Jesus used to call attention to his humanity, his identification with us as people. Well, there certainly is an element of the human that is connected with this title Son of Man, as we will see. But we notice in the New Testament the two famous titles that we see side by side, Son of Man and Son of God. And in the history of Christianity, the classical church has confessed its faith traditionally that Jesus, though he's one person, has two natures, a divine nature and a human nature. And it's just almost too delicious to resist the invitation here that when we see the title Son of God in the New Testament used for Jesus and the title Son of Man used for Jesus, that we not just jump to the conclusion that when the Scriptures use the title Son of Man, it's in reference to what?

The humanity of Jesus. But when the Scriptures use the term Son of God, they have specifically in view the deity of Christ. As I say, that's enticing to jump to that conclusion, but if we jump, we're going to jump into all kinds of trouble because it just simply isn't a sound conclusion.

Because if anything, the situation is reversed. If you study carefully the title Son of God in the Bible, you will see that that title is a title that is described to angels and also to human beings with specific reference to people who are particularly obedient. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that the title Son of God has nothing to say about the deity of Christ. It does, particularly in the special way in which it's used for Jesus. But the phrase in and of itself more often refers to humans who are particularly related to the Father by way of obedience and doesn't necessarily indicate deity. And though, as I said, the title Son of Man has reference to Jesus' solidarity with humanity and His entering into our flesh and bones kind of life through incarnation certainly is connected to that, there is something about this title in its biblical use that focuses on the transcendent majesty of Christ.

The fountain or the source of this phrase the Son of Man is not something invented by Jesus in the first century but has its roots way back in Old Testament literature, particularly in the prophetic book of Daniel. Let's look for a moment at a passage in the seventh chapter of Daniel where Daniel is describing here a vision that God gives him of the inner sanctum. That is, Daniel as the prophet is transported, as it were, by the Spirit much as John was on the Isle of Patinos when he wrote the book of Revelation. And Daniel is given the privilege of looking not only into the future but into the interior of heaven itself. And he is commanded to write down what he sees, and he uses these sharp crystal images to describe his experience. Now, first of all, he describes what he sees in the night vision beginning in verse 9 of chapter 7.

Let me just read this for you quickly. He said, I kept looking until thrones were set up, and the Ancient of Days took his seat, and his vesture was like white snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool. His throne was ablaze with flames, and its wheels were a burning fire, and a river of fire was flowing and coming out from before him. Tens upon thousands were attending him, and myriads upon myriads were standing before him. The court sat, and the books were opened.

Do you get the picture? Daniel's looking now into the inner court of heaven, and he sees one who is seated on this throne of splendor who has the title, the Ancient of Days. Now, that title clearly has reference in the Old Testament to God the Father, and God the Father as He is sitting now in regal splendor upon the throne is attended by thousands and tens of thousands of angelic beings surrounding His throne.

Now, the scene that is portrayed here in the drama is that of judgment where it is a courtroom situation where the judge is seated, the court comes to order, and the books are open. You can imagine how breathtaking this is for this Old Testament prophet to see into the future where the Ancient of Days is seated on the throne of authority and of judgment. But then Daniel says, I kept looking.

I kept looking in the night visions. This is what he saw. And behold, with the clouds of heaven, one like the Son of Man was coming. And He, that is the Son of Man, came up to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him, and to Him, that is to the Son of Man, was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, an everlasting kingdom. You see, what Daniel was seeing was, from the perspective of eternity, the divine drama of the exaltation of Christ, the elevation of Christ to the position of majesty.

The basic thrust of the title is that it is used not to describe so much a human being whose sphere of operations is the earth, but the Son of Man, ladies and gentlemen, describes a heavenly being, a heavenly being who leaves the presence of the Ancient of Days in heaven, enters into humanity here on earth, and at the completion of His sojourn and at the completion of His vocation and ministry, then returns to His place of origin, heaven itself, where He is given dominion, glory, and a kingdom. It's not by accident that when Jesus left this world on the Mount of Ascension that the biblical description was that He ascended in clouds of glory. And as that cloud of glory disappeared beyond the vision and the sight of the disciples who beheld it, and as the book of Acts tells us, were gazing into the heavens for the last possible glimpse of the departing Jesus, we only see the departure.

We don't see the arrival on the other end. But it's the arrival on the other end that Daniel is writing about. Jesus made this cryptic statement in His earthly ministry. He said to His friends, no one ascends into heaven except He who has descended from heaven. Jesus frequently made reference to the fact that His origin was not Bethlehem. He was born in Bethlehem, yes, but He predated His own birth. He repeatedly talked about the fact that He came from above, that He came from the Father, that He descended from heaven before He ever ascended to heaven.

Two other episodes in His ministry call significance to the urgent importance of this title, the Son of Man. On one occasion when Jesus healed a crippled person, in the act of healing them, do you remember what He said? He said to this person, your sins are forgiven.

Now when the authorities heard that, they were furious, and they sought to take Him on the spot. And they said, who does He think He is? He's just a human being, and He's making Himself out to be God. The Jew clearly understood that the only person ultimately who has the authority to forgive sins is God. And here when Jesus ministers to this crippled man, He doesn't say, let me pray for you that my Father will cover your sins and forgive you of your sins. Unilaterally, He makes the declaration, your sins are forgiven. And so there's the response now of anger and the charge of blasphemy against Him.

And what does He say? He says, which is easier to say, your sins are forgiven, or rise up, take up your bed, and walk, and so on. And then Jesus said, I said this so that you might know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. That is not a statement of self-effacing humility, and His contemporaries understood it. What they heard Jesus saying was, the Son of Man is divine. That's what He was saying, and they understood it. And so the question that is provocative that we will look at the next time, Jesus says, who do men say that the Son of Man is?

That was R.C. Sproul on this Friday edition of Renewing Your Mind. So who do you say the Son of Man is? This Christmas, will you confess with your mouth that Jesus, this baby who was born in a manger, is Lord, and believe in your heart that He was raised from the dead? You can learn more about the identity of Jesus and His ministry when you work through Dr. Sproul's complete series, The Majesty of Christ.

In this week's special collection, there are four other series, including What Did Jesus Do and The Coming of the Messiah. You call us at 800-435-4343 or visit renewingyourmind.org with a year-end donation of any amount. We'll also send you R.C. Sproul's new Christmas devotional, The Advent of Glory. Today's the final day to request this complete Advent collection, so give your gift at renewingyourmind.org while there's still time. Only hours remain. It'll be Christmas on Monday, so you'll hear a special message from R.C. Sproul that we have never released on Renewing Your Mind before, so I hope you'll join us on Christmas Day here on Renewing Your Mind.