The Son of Man:This is Jesus' most common title for Himself. It is used eighty-one times in the Gospels, and it is never used by anyone else but Jesus. It is used three times outside of the Gospels (Acts 7:56; Rev. 1:13; 14:14). It means He is Lord and King! This does not mean He is just a man, or His identification of being among humanity, even though He is identified with us. Rather, it is one of His Messianic titles. It is a reference from the book of Daniel (Dan. 7:13-14) as a picture of a heavenly body who in the end times is entrusted by God with full authority, glory, and sovereign power, who is to be worshiped. He will judge the world (Matt. 24:30-26:64). It is also a picture, showing us that Jesus must suffer on our behalf (Isa. 52:13-53:12; Matt. 26:24-64; Mark 9:9, 12, 31; 10:33-34; 14:21, 41), and one of His sovereign Lordship and glory (Rev. 1:13; 14:14). Jesus may have preferred this term to Messiah, because most people had a skewed view of who and what a Messiah would be. They wanted a military or political leader, not what God had promised and sent--a Savior from our sin.
© 2003 R. J. Krejcir, Schaeffer Institute of Church Leadership, www.churchleadership.org/
