Why Does Jesus Call Himself the “Son of Man”?

Jesus’s Humanity and Divinity

Jesus, interestingly, never refers to himself as the Son of God. Other people mention him in those terms, but his favorite self-designation is actually Son of Man. And I think that is largely because Jesus is moving along the passageway of his life in light of all that God the Father has planned for him.

Jesus, therefore, knows that when Daniel has this encounter with the outer-dimensional world and he sees into the throne room of heaven, he says, “And I saw one like a Son of Man.” He was going to come and fulfill the role of a judge.

Jesus, interestingly, uses it in the healing of the fellow who was brought by his friends on the bed. The people say to him, “This man is blaspheming. Who can forgive sins but God alone?” And he says to them, “Well, just so that you know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins, I’m going to say to this fellow, ‘Take up your bed and walk.’”

So it speaks to the reality of who he is in his humanity, but it speaks more significantly to the fact of his divinity—that he is the anointed of God. He is God.

Alistair Begg is the author with Sinclair Ferguson of Name above All Names.

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