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Bible Question: When Jesus refers to Himself as the Son of Man, what does that mean? Why does He say Son of Man and Son of God?
Bible Answer: Both of these expressions describe who Jesus was. Jesus was a man and He was God. He was God in human flesh. The Jehovah's Witnesses, who do not accept that Jesus was God, gain their greatest number of converts from among Protestants. They use verses like,
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For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus . . . (NASB) 1 Timothy 2:5 |
Many Protestants do not understand that Jesus was both God and man. Sometimes scripture has Jesus in view as a man and at other times as God. Here is a passage that has Jesus in view as both God and man.
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. . . the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord, (NASB) Romans 1:1-4 |
The passage simply says that Jesus had a human birth and He was the Son of God.
Son of Man. The term Son of Man means Jesus was a human. This term was common in the Old Testament for a human. "Son of man" occurs 93 times in the book of Ezekiel and 106 times in the entire Old Testament. It means a person was a human. Here are some examples.
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God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? (NASB) Numbers 23:19
Then He said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet that I may speak with you!” And as He spoke to me the Spirit entered me and set me on my feet; and I heard Him speaking to me. Then He said to me, “Son of man, I am sending you to the sons of Israel . . . (NASB) Ezekiel 2:1-3 |
But when we come to the New Testament, the term has an additional meaning. It still means a person who is human, but it is now used as a title for Jesus. Jesus was the ultimate human. He was God in human flesh.
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But in order that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” --then He said to the paralytic--“Rise, take up your bed, and go home.” (NASB) Matt. 9:6
For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath. (NASB) Matt. 12:8
. . . for just as JONAH WAS THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE BELLY OF THE SEA MONSTER, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. (NASB) Matt. 12:40 |
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