fdesilva wrote:Jesus is the Son of God. However he also called himself the Son of Man. I have always wondered what this meant. Offcourse I have been lazy about finding out. Anyway the other day it struck me, that maybe Jesus called himself the son of man because He is the future of every Man. What man is called to become. Mans destiny is to be the Son of God
This is from
VINES EXPOSITORY DICTIONARY W.E.Vine.
"Son of Man"is the title Christ used of Himself; John12:34 is not an exception, for the quotation by the multitude was from his own statement. The title is found especially in the Synoptic Gospels. The occurrences in John's Gospel,1: 51; 3:13,14 5:27; 6:27,53,62;8:28 (9:35 in some texts) ; 12:23,34 (twice); 13:31, are not parallel to those in the Synoptic Gospels. In the latter use of the title falls into two groups,(a) those in which it refers to Christs humanity, His earthly work, sufferings and death, e.g.Matt. 10:20; 11:19;12:40;26:2,24; (b)those which refer to His glory in resurrection and to that His future Advent, e.g. Matt. 10:23; 13:41; 16:27, 28; 17:9; 24:27, 30 (twice), 37, 39, 44.
While it is a Messianic title it is evident that the Lord applied it to Himself in a distinctive way, for it indicates more than Messiahship, even universal headship on the part of One who is Man. It therefore stresses His manhood, manhood of a unique order in comparison with all other men, for He is declared to be of heaven, 1 Cor. 15:47, and even while here below was " the Son of Man, which is in Heaven,"John 3:13. As the Son of Man HE must be appropriated spiritually as a condition of possessing eternal life, John 6:53. In His death, as in His life, the glory of His Manhood was displayed in the absolute obedience and submission to the will of the Father (12:23; 13:31), and, in view of this,all judgment has been commited to Him, who will judge in full understanding experimentally of human conditions, sin apart, and will exercise the judgment as sharing the nature of those judged,John 5:22, 27. Not only is He man, but He is "Son of Man," not by human generation but, according to the Semetic usage of the expression, partaking of the characteristics (sin apart) of manhood belonging to the category of mankind.
I hope this will answer your question.