The Son of Man

The Lord Jesus has many Names and titles in the Old and New Testaments, but the one He used most while upon earth in speaking of Himself was The Son of Man. In Matthew's Gospel He spoke of Himself more than thirty times as Son of Man, in Mark's Gospel about fourteen times, in Luke's Gospel about twenty-six times, and in John's Gospel about ten times. The Jews said to the Lord, "How sayest thou, The Son of Man must be lifted up? who is this Son of Man?" (John 12:34), which shows they knew that the Lord claimed to be the Son of Man, but also that they were ignorant of the Scriptures concerning Him. The only one of the twelve apostles who actually speaks of the Lord as Son of Man, apart from recording His own words, is John, who in Revelation 1:13, and Revelation 14:14, sees Him in vision as like the Son of Man. The writer of the Hebrew Epistle quotes from Psalm 8, and Stephen testified to Jesus as Son of Man.

Psalm 8.

There are but three times in the Old Testament where this title is properly used of the Lord Jesus, in Psalms 8, 80, and Daniel 7. The whole of Psalm 8 centres upon the theme, "What is man, that thou art mindful of Him? and the Son of Man, that Thou visitest Him?" The opening words of this Psalm look forward to the day when Jehovah's Name will be excellent in all the earth, when the Son of Man reigns as Head over all, and when the knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. When the Psalmist wrote there was a measure of respect for Jehovah's Name in Israel, but even among that favoured people how few there really were who knew the excellence of Jehovah's Name. Outside of Israel there was little knowledge of Jehovah, save a respect for what He had done in intervening for the blessing of His people Israel.

But the day is surely coming when Jehovah's Name will be known and respected in all the earth, when His glory shines out in the Person of the Son, and in those whom He has chosen as the favoured companions of His Son, to share His glory in His reign over the earth. Israel too will be brought into blessing, the central nation of the earth, where the temple of the Lord shall be, and from which His glory shall shine out to the nations of those that are saved.

Till that day comes, faith, in the Psalmist, beholds the glory of the Lord as "set above the heavens." In vision the prophets have beheld the glory of the Lord on high, as when Isaiah saw "The Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple," and when Ezekiel saw "above the firmament … the likeness of a throne … This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord" (Isaiah 6; Ezekiel 1). God's glory is secure in heaven, and it has been seen on earth, as with Israel on the tabernacle, and filling the temple at Jerusalem; but it will soon again be seen on earth, as proclaimed by the heavenly seraphim, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory" (Isaiah 6:3).

For us the glory of the Lord is seen in the face of Jesus, even as Stephen testified when he said, "Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God." This was said after "he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God" (Acts 7:55-56).

When the Lord Jesus entered Jerusalem amidst the praises of the children of Jerusalem who cried, "Hosanna to the Son of David," the chief priests and scribes were sore displeased, and said to Him, "Hearest Thou what these say?" and "Jesus saith unto them. Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings Thou hast perfected praise?" (Matt. 21:15-16). The leaders of Israel had put themselves into the place of the enemies of God, but God brought praise from the most unexpected source for His Son, even from the despised babes of Jerusalem. In the coming day God's praise will be from the despised remnant of His people, and the enemy within and the enemy without will be silenced by the coming of the great King.

It is a night scene of Scripture, for the Psalmist does not see the sun shining, but the moon and the stars. And during this world's night the Christian is able to look up in faith and see the glory of God above the heavens in Jesus. Soon the night will pass, then the sun will shine, The Sun of Righteousness will arise with healing in His wings. Till then, the night continues, and soon the deepening darkness will end for the world in judgment, but will bring blessing to God's people. This blessing will come through the Son of Man.

Man from Adam is first seen, frail man whose days are as a shadow; and the Psalmist might well say, "What is man that Thou art mindful of him?" From the time of Adam's fall, man has caused God continual sorrow of heart. His evil was so great that God had to remove him from the earth by means of the deluge, sparing only righteous Noah and his house. And since that time the evil of man has been manifested in every position in which God has set him up. At the cross man has been fully exposed in all the evil of His heart; and it is indeed amazing that God should take account of man, and seek to bless him. This only brings out the perfect goodness and love of God.

But there is another Man, so different from the man derived from Adam, and it is little wonder that God should take knowledge of Him because of all His deep perfections, and because of His obedience even unto death and that the death of the cross. This Man has glorified God where every other man dishonoured Him; and has brought to Him fresh glory, the glory of redemption, through His work on the cross.

Man in rank and station has been made a little lower than the angels, who excel in strength: and Jesus became Man, taking thus a place a little lower than the angels, but it was specifically that He might die, and through death accomplish all God's will. It was only through death that God could be glorified in relation to sin and every question that sin had raised in the universe that God had created.

Although Adam's station was lower than angels, his place unfallen in Eden was glorious, for he was "crowned with glory and honour" as the head of the lower creation. In his place of dominion and headship Adam was a type of Christ, the last Adam, who has been crowned with glory and honour at God's right hand.

Adam's dominion was given to him in innocency, and when he fell all under him fell with him, even as it is written in Romans 8:20, "For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who has subjected the same." But Christ's place of glory and honour, in headship and lordship, was given to Him when He came out of death, and the groaning creation will yet be brought into liberty, and its groan will cease, when the Son of Man comes forth to reign.

Now in glory, the One who was made a little lower than the angels has a place so much better than the angels. Man in Adam was made lower than angels, Man in Christ has entered a place far above the highest of created beings, a place in which the angels are subject to Him.

From verse 6 to verse 8 the realm of Adam's dominion is given, the things put under him being carefully recorded: but the realm over which Christ has dominion as Son of Man far excels the scope of Adam's, even as we read, "Thou hast put all things in subjection under His feet. For in that He put all in subjection under Him, He left nothing that is not put under Him" (Heb. 2:8). Again, in Ephesians 1 we learn that in the dispensation of the fulness of times, God will "gather together all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth" (verse 10). The whole universe will come under the Headship and Lordship of the Son of Man in the Millennium.

When all things come under the Headship of Jesus, as Son of Man, in the day to come, it will be truly said, "O Lord our Lord, how excellent is Thy Name in all the earth" (verses 1 and 9). The Psalmist starts out by looking forward to the day when God's Name will be excellent in all the earth, then he brings before us the Son of Man, and having by the Spirit indicated the Lord's place of glory and dominion in the coming day, he can well exclaim "How excellent is Thy Name in all the earth!" God's glory is now in Christ above the heavens, but soon it will fill the scene where Christ is over all.

Psalm 80.

In Psalm 8 we have had Christ's place in relation to all the things in the universe of God; all things come under Him as Son of Man in the world to come. Here in Psalm 80 we have God's relations with Israel. The Psalmist desires the Shepherd of Israel, who dwells between the cherubim, to shine forth and come and save His people. This God had done in former days, but now Israel, on account of their unfaithfulness have been fed with the bread of tears, and their enemies laugh at them.

Israel as God's vine had been plucked and burned, and His vineyard, His inheritance, invaded by those who wasted and devoured His people. It was God's righteous judgment upon a nation that had turned away from Him. But there was still hope for Israel, therefore does the Psalmist say, "Let Thy hand be upon the Man of Thy right hand, upon the Son of Man whom Thou madest strong for Thyself" (verse 17). Only the realisation that their salvation from God is in the Son of Man will bring blessing to God's ancient people.

Through the Son of Man, the remnant of Israel can say, "So will not we go back from Thee." Jesus, whom they refused, will be their Saviour, but not for Israel only, but also for the whole world. Israel will indeed have their Messiah, whom they once refused, but they will learn that His glory is much wider than that of King of Israel, He is also Son of Man, reigning over all the earth, and over the vast universe of God.

Daniel 7.

If in Psalm 8 we have Christ's place in relation to the creation in the coming day, and in Psalm 80 Israel's blessing through the Son of Man, in Daniel 7 we have Christ's dominion as Son of Man over all the nations, His universal and eternal dominion.

The words of verses 13 and 14 are very explicit, "I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven … and there was given Him dominion, and glory and a kingdom, that all people, nations and languages, should serve Him: His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed."

Daniel's vision is confined to the earth, but it shows the width of Christ's earthly kingdom. The Old Testament might give a shadow of the heavenly side of Christ's kingdom, but the full extent of His dominion could not really be disclosed until Christ took His place on high as Head over all, and Lord of all.

In the Old Testament the Son of Man is seen in His greatness and glory, the Head over the creation, the Saviour of God's people Israel, and having universal and eternal dominion, all the nations of the earth being subject to Him. How great the contrast to all this is the opening presentation of the Son of Man in Matthew's Gospel, "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has not where to lay His head" (Matt. 8:20). The Son of God had become Man, and had entered into the reality of manhood, knowing its trials, its griefs and its sorrows, and knowing them with a depth and fulness that no other man had known. The time for His glory would assuredly come, but the Son of Man would be betrayed into the hands of men; and He must suffer, entering into death, for the way into His glory lay through death and the judgment of God.

The Son of Man in John's Gospel

Although John's Gospel presents Jesus to us as the Word become flesh, and brings out His divine glory in Manhood, it also has its own peculiar presentation of Jesus as the Son of Man. All God's thoughts of man are to be found in Jesus. He sets forth what man should be for God in this world, and also what man is according to the eternal counsels of God. The perfection of Christ's Manhood, the place into which in grace He has entered, is brought before us in His title of Son of Man, but this Gospel also clearly indicates the greatness of the One who is Son of Man.

Angels Ascending and Descending

Nathanael had confessed Jesus as Son of God, King of Israel, according to the Second Psalm, but Jesus tells him that He is also the Son of Man of Psalm 8 (John 1:49-51). Moreover, Jesus as Son of Man is the divine link between earth and heaven, fulfilling that which Jacob saw in his dream, when the angels of God ascended and descended on a ladder that reached from earth to heaven. The angels are the messengers of God, and the executors of His judgments; but when Jesus took His place on high they were "sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation" (Heb. 1:14).

The disciples saw Jesus ascend up to heaven, but a bright cloud received Him out of their sight. But the Lord had said to Nathanael, "Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man." The angels came down when He was in Gethsemane, and when He rose from the dead; and they shall ascend after their present service for His saints has been completed. But Stephen saw the heavens opened, and witnessed to Jesus standing at God's right hand. By faith, the saints of God now look through an opened heaven to see Jesus crowned with glory and honour, knowing that the angels obey His word, not only in heaven, but as sent forth to minister to His own on earth.

The Son of Man Which is in Heaven

This wonderful statement was made while the Lord was on earth: "And no man has ascended up to heaven, but He that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man which is in heaven" (John 3:13). Two men, Enoch and Elijah, were taken up to heaven; they did not ascend in their own right and title. But Jesus, the Son of Man, belonged to heaven; it was His home. He came down from heaven, having the right to leave heaven because of who He was. No angel could come down from heaven of his own volition; to do so would be to leave his first estate, which some angels did, and are reserved in everlasting chains awaiting the judgment of the great day.

Here the Lord anticipates His going up to heaven, speaking of what was yet future as if already accomplished. It is not here His being received up, but His ascending as a divine Person, going to the Father after having finished His work on earth. But He also speaks of Himself as actually there, though still on earth. This brings out the glory and greatness of the Person of Jesus who, though still retaining His place in the unapproachable light, was yet upon earth, a perfect Man, revealing God and making known the Father's Name.

The Son of Man Must be Lifted Up

As is well known, the Lord speaks three times in this Gospel of His being lifted up. In John 3:14, it is the fulfilling of the type of the brazen serpent. Romans 8:3 teaches that God condemned sin in the flesh when His Son was made an offering for sin; and this answers to the type of the brazen serpent. But in John 3 another aspect of that wondrous death is brought before us; the Son of Man died upon the cross in order that eternal life might be brought to those who had forfeited their life from Adam, and who believed in Him. Those who did not look to the brazen serpent, after being bitten by a fiery serpent, perished; and those who are sinners, and do not look to Christ upon the cross in simple faith, will assuredly perish.

In John 8:28, Jesus said, "When ye have lifted up the Son of Man, then shall ye know that I am He, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father has taught me, I speak these things." The Jews were fore-warned of their guilt, for the Lord spoke of their lifting Him up in death. They would crucify Him, and know after they had done so that they had not only rejected and slain their Messiah, but One who was the great I AM. They had taken the occasion of His Manhood to reject and slay Him, but He had allowed them to do it, sealing their guilt, but opening the ways for the carrying out of higher purposes, even God's eternal purpose for the wide creation.

When the Lord, in John 12:32, said, "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me," the people answered Him, "We have heard out of the law that Christ abides for ever: and how sayest thou, The Son of Man must be lifted up? who is this Son of Man?" They knew that Jesus claimed to be the Son of Man, and that as such He claimed to be their Messiah; but in spite of this they would not have Him. As the uplifted Son of Man He would be the gathering centre of His own during the time of His rejection; and in that day to come the great gathering centre of the whole creation.

Authority to Execute Judgment

All judgment has been given into the hand of the Son, and the reason for this the Lord has told us is, "That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father" (John 5:22-23). But a few verses after, we read that the Father has given the Son "authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man" (John 5:27). Men have taken the occasion of the Son's Manhood to deny His deity, but the Father has taken good care that men should realise who the Son is. If men refuse to bow before the Son in the day of God's grace, they will be compelled to bow before Him in the day of judgment.

A Man will sit on the throne of judgment at the judgment seat of God, the Man whom men have despised and set at naught. What an awful moment it will be for the Jews who listened to the Lord speak on earth, and refused His words. How dreadful will the judgment seat be for the chief priests who mocked and reviled the Lord Jesus when He told them they would see the Son of Man "sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven" (Matt. 26:64). What confusion of face for Pilate and Herod before whom the Lord stood, when they stand before the judgment seat of God and see upon it the Man whom they allowed their soldiers to mock and set at naught. And what of the numerous religious professors, both small and great, who in Christendom have denied the divine glory of the Man Christ Jesus? How fitting it is that the Son of Man, once here in humiliation, and humbled by men, should be so exalted, and all judgment given to Him.

The Giver of the Meat that Endures

Those whom Jesus fed with loaves and fishes would have made Him their king, and they sought Him diligently, only to be told by the Lord, "Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled" (John 6:26). Then the Lord told them, "Labour not for the meat which perishes, but for that meat which endures unto life everlasting, which the Son of Man shall give unto you." These men were eager to obtain present things, that which would meet temporal needs, but they were quite unconcerned about spiritual matters. They had not perceived the glory of Jesus in the miracles He performed.

But Jesus had not only come to satisfy Israel's poor with bread for present needs, He had come to give them bread from heaven. The Son of Man was here to bring spiritual blessing to men, and for this He had been sent, and was the Sealed One of the Father. The mark of the Father was upon Him, in all His works and words, which testified to all with eyes to see and ears to hear that He had come from the Father. The food that Jesus brought from the Father was not to give or sustain natural life, but to communicate and satisfy the eternal life expressed in Him.

The Flesh and Blood of the Son of Man

As Son of Man, the Lord offered the food that endures to life eternal, but to make it available to men it was necessary for Him to die, even as He said," Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you" (John 6:53). He had become Man for the express purpose of dying, for there was no other way of accomplishing God's will for the blessing of men. Altogether apart from dealing with their sins, there was the great question of life, which man had forfeited by sin. Now, through His death, the Son of Man would make available to men an altogether different kind of life, a life that neither sin nor death could touch.

To appropriate this life, men must feed on the death of the Son of Man. To obtain His life they must eat His flesh and drink His blood. How blessed it is for us to realise that Jesus not only died to wash away our sins, and to justify us before God, but also to give us a life in which we can know and enjoy the divine love that gave Him to die. There is no other means of obtaining divine life; but the divine life we obtain is rejoiced in in the contemplation of all that came out in the wondrous death of the Son of Man.

The Son of Man ascending up where He was before

Those who followed the Lord for present advantage did not care to hear about His going into death, but it was the path of life for Him. In reply to the murmurers, the Lord said, "Does this offend you? What and if ye shall see the Son of Man ascend up where He was before?" (John 6:61-62). Had they realised that the Lord had come from heaven, they would have had perfect confidence in Him and in all that He said. They would have accepted the necessity for His death.

Is not this another blessed expression of the glory of the Person of the Son? He had come down from heaven: He had become Man; and having accomplished all that He had come to do down here, He would ascend as Man into the place from whence He had come. What a wonderful mystery is in these words! Having become Man, having taken the place of the Son of Man, He would remain a Man in the place in which He had ever dwelt. The glory of His Person is unchanged; He must ever be what He ever was; but in grace, having taken up Manhood, He remains a Man for evermore.

The Son of Man Glorified

In the life of Jesus the moral glory of the Son of Man had shone in heavenly radiance, marking Him out as unique in all His deep perfections; but now, through death, the Son of Man would be glorified in a new way, even as the Lord said, "The hour is come, that the Son of Man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abides alone: but if it die, it brings forth much fruit" (John 12:23-24). As Man, the Son of Man would not be alone. How much was involved in His coming! He came to reveal God; but He came to die to glorify God in relation to sin; but He also came to communicate life to those the Father had given Him, and to give them His own place before the Father.

Jesus did not wish to be alone; He desired companions; but His companions must be like Him, and the only way to secure them was, like the corn of wheat, to enter into death. This the Lord has done, and how brightly does His glory shine in bringing His own into His own place. He gave Himself for us, and through His death we now have His life, and soon we shall have His likeness. Already the Lord Jesus is surrounded by a great company, living in His life and nature, and soon He will be surrounded for eternity with those like Him who will for ever sing His praises. How rich is the glory of the Son of Man as He lays down His life to have His own like Himself!

But the Son of Man is glorified in another way in death, as He says in John 13:31-32, "Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him. If God be glorified in Him. God shall also glorify Him in Himself, and shall straightway glorify Him." His entry into death was an act of voluntary surrender to the Father's will, and how brightly does the glory of the Son of Man shine in His obedience to the Father, even to death. There never was such obedience seen in man! Abraham's obedience in offering Isaac was very great; but how it pales before the perfect obedience of the Son in giving Himself as the true Burnt Offering to God the Father.

The Father was glorified in the obedience of the Son; God was glorified in His great work upon the cross, in meeting all the claims of His throne, and in securing all His counsels. God's answer is to glorify the Son of Man, and to glorify Him in Himself. What a place is this for Man to enter into! Man in Jesus has a place that only belongs to God. Does not the glory of the Son of Man shine exceedingly bright in this wondrous place! And is He not worthy of it? Immediately God was glorified, the Son of Man was glorified. This is His present place. He will be glorified in the kingdom, when He comes in His own glory as Son of Man, and with the glory of the Father, and of the holy angels; but He is now glorified as Son of Man at God's right hand; and this is the glory that Stephen saw, the glory that we now see by faith.