Christological Titles – Son of Man
When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats,
Matthew 25:31-32
Thesis
Seeing what you believe is not always the same as believing what you see, and it took fifty years for that revelation. On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched into space the world’s first satellite. People across the globe stared into the night sky to watch the blinking man-made object arc overhead. They were awed by science, watching the celestial marvel streak across the heavens.
It has now been revealed by the designer of the spacecraft, Sergei Korolyov, that people were only viewing the second stage of the rocket that launched the satellite. The 184-pound satellite was invisible to the naked eye. Further, placing the satellite in an earth orbit was significant, not the satellite itself. The satellite did no more than emit a repetitive beep, though it was enough to change the course of history. The race for space had begun.
We can become so transfixed by what we think is the truth, that entertaining another will border on heresy. Preconceived notions are difficult to dissuade once entrenched in the psyche. Jesus accepted for himself the Christological title Son of Man, but failing to adhere to the apocalyptic imagery he was discounted by the Jewish authorities. Enveloped by facts, sealed with illustrations, the message was delivered absent of a reader.
In Hebrew the word for “son of man” is bar nasha, which simply means a “man,” a “human being.” It was only in the Book of Daniel that the title gained significance as the liberator of a captive people. Daniel proclaimed, “I saw in the night visions, and behold with 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 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.” (Dan 7:13-14)
This son of man could not be a mere mortal for he was assigned the role of defeating the great empires that held Israel in subjugation. These rulers were so callus, so cruel, so bestial that they could only be described as such by Daniel. There was the lion with eagle’s wings (v.4) which represented Babylonia. There was the bear with three ribs in its mouth (v.5) which represented Assyria. There was the leopard with four wings and four heads (v.6) which represented Persia. There was a fourth nameless beast with iron teeth, dreadful, terrible, irresistibly strong (v.7) which represented the all-conquering empire of Macedonia and Alexander the Great. Only the son of man could subdue these beasts.
As previous Israelite kings were incapable of defending the chosen people and restoring them to the Promised Land, the new Jewish leader would have to have divine power; thus, the Son of Man would be the anticipated Messiah. Daniel in his pronouncement ushered in the messianic age. It was only an authoritative figure with astonishing prowess that could pounce upon foreign intruders, liberating Israel from its collar of servitude.
This belief was accentuated in the Book of Enoch from the Apocrypha scriptures. It presents the Son of Man in a series of pictures as one with punishing might. Just one of the many multiple images of how the Son of Man will avenge reads as follows: “As straw in the fire so shall they burn before the face of the holy: As lead in the water shall they sink before the face of the righteous.” (48:9) This understanding became dominant in Jewish thought and literature, that the Son of Man would be a grandiose figure, unstoppable against the forces of tyranny.
There are tearful events when we need to affirm there is a God who disposes of despots. Martin Luther King, Jr. affirmed this in a passage that he wrote in his book Strength To Love, that was published in 1963. King thundered forth with these words, “At times we need to know that the Lord is a God of justice. When slumbering giants of injustice emerge in the earth, we need to know that there is a God of power who can cut them down like the grass and leave them withering like green herb. When our most tireless efforts fail to stop the surging sweep of oppression, we need to know that in this universe is a God whose matchless strength is a fit contrast to the sordid weakness of man.” It is in the God who can swing the sickle that often becomes our basis for hope.
Son of Man was the most deliberately chosen title that Jesus selected for himself. It is used eighty-two times in the New Testament, and. with few exceptions, Jesus always pronounced the title upon himself.
Jesus’ use of the Son of Man did mirror the image pictured by Enoch, when he wrote:
And the Head of Days came with Michael and Raphael and Gabriel and Phanuel, and thousands and tens of thousands of angels without number. And he came to me and greeted me with his voice and said to me, “You (are) that Son of Man who was born for righteousness, and righteousness dwells on you, and the righteousness of the Head of Days will not forsake you.” 1 Enoch 71:13-14
Jesus confirmed the Son of Man would come in judgment, returning to the glorious throne in heaven where he would rule righteously over a new world. The following saying parallels so many others pronounced by Jesus, “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.” (Mt 25:31-32) Clearly, the Son of Man is the harbinger of justice.
In a well-known declaration Jesus said, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” (Lk 9:58) Jesus was transparent when he declared himself to be the Son of Man, by ascribing the title to himself. Instead of using the first-person singular, Jesus used the title Son of Man. Unapologetically, Jesus made it known he was the long-awaited Messiah.
A problem arose when Jesus combined the apocalyptic figure portrayed in the Book of Daniel and the Book of Enoch with his own suffering and death. This, people could neither understand nor accept. It did stretch the imagination that the one who would cast aside the Romans would not do so with the guerilla tactics of the Zealots or with the armies of King David, but with humility. It is reported of the ministry of Jesus, “And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.” (Mt 16:21)
The message of self-sacrifice was demonstrated by Martin Luther King, Jr. when he continued to proclaim in his book, “But there are also times when we need to know that God possesses love and mercy. When we are staggered by the chilly winds of adversity and battered by the raging storms of disappointment and when through our folly and sin we stray into some destructive country and are frustrated because of a strange feeling of homesickness, we need to know that there is Someone who loves us, cares for us, understands us, and will give us another chance. When the days grow dark and the nights grow dreary, we can be thankful that our God combines in his nature a creative synthesis of love and justice which will lead us through life’s dark valleys and into the pathways of hope and fulfillment.”
It was Jesus’ synthesis of justice with mercy that baffled the adherents of Judaism. Justice they could accept; mercy they could not. This was just another reason why the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council, brought charges against Jesus. It was the reason why the Pharisees and Sadducees denounced his message and tried to dispose his ministry. It was the reason why Judas, a Zealot, betrayed him. And it is the reason why his remaining eleven disciples were confused, having difficulty accepting his death and resurrection. Jewish religious authorities as well as the inner circle of twelve could not associate the Son of Man portrayed by Daniel and Enoch with one crucified. It was the mission of Jesus to demonstrate that the real power against totalitarianism is pacifism, not the sword but the plowshare.
Let us see and let us believe in the message set before us. Let us not be blinded by preconceived notions or be myopic that the only means for establishing justice is the triumph of one force that is greater than another. Real power lies in one whose path leads to Calvary Hill.
Mother Teresa, in her acceptance speech for the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize, proclaimed the power of humility. She began by referencing Jesus’ dictate, “I was hungry – I was naked – I was homeless – I was unwanted, unloved, uncared for – and you did it to me.” She followed, “And I think that we in our family don’t need bombs and guns, to destroy, to bring peace – just get together, love one another, bring that peace, that joy, that presence of each other into the home. And we will be able to overcome all the evil that is in the world.”