Jesus used ‘the Son of Man’ more than any other title for Himself. It speaks of His true humanity, yet it is far more than a way to say that He was human. Daniel’s vision gives the title royal and heavenly weight: the Son of Man receives everlasting dominion from the Ancient of Days.
READ THE KEY PASSAGES
Begin with what
Scripture says.
Daniel 7:13–14One like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven... And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom.
Mark 2:10But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins.
Mark 10:45For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
01
The Son of Man is truly human
Matthew 8:20The Son of man hath not where to lay his head.
Jesus was not a spirit who only appeared to share human life. He was born, grew, hungered, slept, suffered, wept, bled, died, and rose bodily. The title keeps His real humanity before us.
That humanity matters for salvation. The Redeemer represents people from within human life. He knows suffering and weakness without sharing human sin. He is not a distant Savior who gives rescue from outside the condition He came to redeem.
The title shows that the eternal Son truly took human nature. He entered real weakness, hunger, suffering, and death without ceasing to be God.
02
The Son of Man has divine authority
Mark 8:31The Son of man must suffer many things... and be killed, and after three days rise again.
When Jesus forgave the paralytic, His opponents rightly understood that forgiveness of sins belongs to God. Jesus did not withdraw the claim. He called Himself the Son of Man who has authority on earth to forgive sins, then healed the man to show that His word carried divine authority.
He also called Himself Lord of the Sabbath. These claims cannot be fitted into the life of a merely human teacher. The Son of Man is truly man, yet He exercises the authority and receives the honor belonging to the Lord.
Jesus also uses the title in light of Daniel 7, where the Son of man receives everlasting dominion. Humility and kingship belong together.
03
The Son of Man came to suffer and give His life
Matthew 12:8For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.
Jesus repeatedly joined the title to His coming suffering, rejection, death, and resurrection. The Son of Man did not enter history to be served or to seize an earthly throne by force. He came to serve and give His life a ransom for many.
His suffering was neither accidental nor a defeat of His authority. It belonged to the saving purpose declared in Scripture. The glorious Son of Man is also the Servant who bears sin and rises again.
As Son of man, Christ can represent His people, suffer for sin, rise bodily, and judge the world in righteousness.
04
The Son of Man will reign and judge
Matthew 25:31When the Son of man shall come in his glory... then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory.
At His trial, Jesus joined Psalm 110 and Daniel 7: the Son of Man would sit at the right hand of power and come with the clouds of heaven. The One condemned by human courts declared that He would be seen in glory.
This future judgment gives the title its full weight. Jesus is not merely a figure from the past. He is the risen Lord who will reign openly and judge the nations in righteousness.
The title corrects every attempt to make Jesus only divine appearance or merely extraordinary man. He is fully God and fully man in one person.
PUT IT INTO PRACTICE
Questions for further reading.
- 01
How does Daniel 7 deepen the meaning of Jesus’ title?
- 02
Why does Christ’s true humanity matter for His saving work?
- 03
How do Christ’s suffering and coming glory belong together in the Son of Man passages?
Read patiently. Let God’s Word speak.
Jesus is the Son of Man: truly human, the suffering Redeemer who gives His life for many, and the Danielic King who possesses divine authority and will return in glory to reign and judge.
