“Son of Man” was Al Masih’s favorite name for Himself. It is used eighty-two times in the Gospels. What is the significance of this name? It certainly says that Jesus is a human being. Does this name indicate that Jesus claimed He was only a man?
To be sure of His meaning, we can look at one of the last times Jesus used that name: Matthew 26:63-66. In this passage, Jesus has been put on trial by the Jewish leaders called the Sanhedrin. During the trial, Jesus had not answered any of the accusations made against Him by false witnesses. The High Priest placed Him under oath to force Him to testify. The High Priest said: “I charge You under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God” (Matthew 26:63). This is a very interesting question. The question tells us that the High Priest believed that “the Christ” (Al Masih) would be God in human flesh.
In Jesus’ response He uses His favorite name for Himself: “‘You have said it yourself,’ Jesus answered. ‘But I say to all of you, from now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven'” (Emphasis added. Matthew 26:64). This response answers the High Priest’s question with the strongest “yes” answer possible. (For more about Jesus’ forceful answer, please read Matthew 26:64 and the comments we have written for you there.)
But Jesus goes farther than saying “yes.” He adds, “you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” The word picture Jesus uses is drawn from God’s word written by the prophet Daniel in Daniel 7:13-14.
Daniel’s prophecy is about a time many years in the future from Daniel’s time. For our purposes, the important things to note are that the Person in these verses is “One like the Son of Man” and that He is “coming with the clouds of heaven” (Daniel 7:13). This is also what Jesus said about Himself.
The words that the Holy Spirit inspired in Daniel’s prophecy contain four things that show the Son of Man is a divine being. First, He is riding on the clouds. Only God rides the clouds (compare “coming with the clouds” in Daniel 7:13 with Psalm 104:3 and Matthew 26:63-64).
Second, He receives glory (Daniel 7:14). God does not share His glory with anyone (Isaiah 48:11). If the Son of Man receives glory, He is God.
Third, He is given “dominion, glory, and kingship” (Daniel 7:14) so that everyone should serve Him. This Hebrew word for serve means to serve a deity (1), like the Jewish priests served God in the Temple (Ezra 7:24). It is only used in Daniel for serving a deity, especially the living and true God of the Bible (read Daniel 3). That this word means worship and not merely obedience is reinforced by “serve” being used again in Daniel 7:27 alongside another word which means “obey”: “serve and obey Him” (Daniel 7:27). So the Son of Man is worshipped.
Fourth, in the interpretation of the vision which reveals the Son of Man, the One who possesses the everlasting kingdom is called “the Most High” (Daniel 7:27).
Therefore, when Jesus called Himself the Son of Man under oath, He was claiming to be fully man for sure but also fully God.
I should add that some of our friends have been confused by a verse in the Old Testament which says, “God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?” (Numbers 23:19). Some of our dear Muslim friends have suggested that this verse plainly teaches that God is not a man. Therefore Jesus was only a prophet.
I understand why they misinterpret the verse that way. I’m happy to say that this is easy to explain. First, this verse was written approximately 1450 years before Jesus was born. So at the time it was written, the Word had not yet been made flesh (John 1:14). Second, the point of the comparison is that unlike mankind, God is faithful to His promises. He doesn’t lie, and He doesn’t change His mind about what He has promised. For example, He promised to send His Son in the flesh (Isaiah 7:14; 9:6), and He has done it (Matthew 1:23).
Thank you for reading this article about Al Masih being the Son of Man. I hope that you have seen the full meaning of Al Masih’s favorite name for Himself. When Jesus called Himself “Son of Man,” He meant that He was fully human and fully God. As the Holy Spirit said through the apostle: “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)
(1) Kohlenberger/Mounce Concise Hebrew-Aramaic Dictionary of the Old Testament, s.v. “פְּלַח”
* Unless otherwise specified, Bible quotations are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible. BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee. This text of God’s Word has been dedicated to the public domain.