Why did Christ call Himself the, “The Son of man?"

[biblebuf]

• 

“The Son of man.”
- John 3:13
How constantly our Master used the title, the “Son of man!” If he had chosen, he might always have spoken of himself as the Son of God, the Everlasting Father, the Wonderful, the Counsellor, the Prince of Peace; but behold the lowliness of Jesus! He prefers to call himself the Son of man. Let us learn a lesson of humility from our Saviour; let us never court great titles nor proud degrees. There is here, however, a far sweeter thought. Jesus loved manhood so much, that he delighted to honour it; and since it is a high honour, and indeed, the greatest dignity of manhood, that Jesus is the Son of man, he is wont to display this name, that he may as it were hang royal stars upon the breast of manhood, and show forth the love of God to Abraham’s seed. Son of man-whenever he said that word, he shed a halo round the head of Adam’s children. Yet there is perhaps a more precious thought still. Jesus Christ called himself the Son of man to express his oneness and sympathy with his people. He thus reminds us that he is the one whom we may approach without fear. As a man, we may take to him all our griefs and troubles, for he knows them by experience; in that he himself hath suffered as the “Son of man,” he is able to succour and comfort us. All hail, thou blessed Jesus! inasmuch as thou art evermore using the sweet name which acknowledges that thou art a brother and a near kinsman, it is to us a dear token of thy grace, thy humility, thy love.
“Oh see how Jesus trusts himself
Unto our childish love,
As though by his free ways with us
Our earnestness to prove!
His sacred name a common word
On earth he loves to hear;
There is no majesty in him
Which love may not come near.”

By C. H. Spurgeon

[Frank T]

• 

Remember also it was foretold that He (the Messiah) would be the son of David.

[Fat]

• 

It was understood as a designation of the Messiah, according to Old Testament predictions, Psalms 80:17  Daniel 7:13, 14 but appears to indicate especially his true humanity or oneness with the human race. It is applies to him more than eighty times in the New Testament.

Daniel 7:13-14 "In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. 14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.

[clark thompson]

• 

I also think is was to say He was the Prophet as well as the Christ. It also shows that He knew what life consisted of because He lived life as well.

[biblebuf]

• 

I think that we are all on the same page here.
The Jews knew exactly what Jesus was referring to, when he called himself the son of man, he was saying I am the Messiah, a man. God with us, Emanuel.

[Francis Drake]

• 

The whole point of Jesus's mission was that he walked as a man, not God. If Jesus had functioned in his Godhead power, or Son of God power, then his mission would have failed. Jesus absolutely had to live and die as a man, son of man. That is why he constantly emphasised that title.

Despite being God and son of God, Jesus laid that glory and power aside to come as redeeming man, and to stand in Adam's place, to become the second Adam. The only power he manifested came from the Holy Spirit which came on him at his baptism, none coming from his own ''creator of all things'', glory.
Have you noticed that Jesus did no miracles before his baptism. That means he watched his father Joseph die without intervening. As God, Son of God, he was technically free to as he wished, but He had a higher mission to accomplish which must not be compromised by anything.
Even after his baptism, Satan tried to get Jesus to do things as the Son of God. Had he done so, he would have instantly been disqualified from his mission. Satan was trying to do to Jesus what he had succeeded in doing with Adam.

Jesus is the firstborn amongst many sons. Not only did He pay the price for Adam's rebellion, but he came to demonstrate that a man, any man, could be totally empowered by the Holy Spirit. The disciples grasped this, sadly it was not too long before they abandoned such spirituality in favour of a powerless,  intellectual, christianity.

[biblebuf]

• 

But by not denying that He was the Son Of God to Satan ( Matthew 4:3), unclean spirits (Mark 3:11) and even to Peter and all in the boat (matthew 14:28-36) He did confirm that He was.

Matthew 26 HCS
62 The high priest then stood up and said to Him, "Don't You have an answer to what these men are testifying against You?" 63 But Jesus kept silent. Then the high priest said to Him, "By the living God I place You under oath: tell us if You are the Messiah, the Son of God!" 64 "You have said it," Jesus told him. "But I tell you, in the future you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power and coming on the clouds of heaven ." 65 Then the high priest tore his robes and said, "He has blasphemed! Why do we still need witnesses? Look, now you've heard the blasphemy!

The disciples grasped this, sadly it was not too long before they abandoned such spirituality in favour of a powerless,  intellectual, christianity.

This last line confuses me only because you end it with the word 'christianity'. Is there more then one type of 'christianity'? I know that many call themselves christians that are not and are nothing but cults using the label.

Welcome!   

BB

[Francis Drake]

• 

But by not denying that He was the Son Of God to Satan ( Matthew 4:3), unclean spirits (Mark 3:11) and even to Peter and all in the boat (matthew 14:28-36) He did confirm that He was.

Matthew 26 HCS
62 The high priest then stood up and said to Him, "Don't You have an answer to what these men are testifying against You?" 63 But Jesus kept silent. Then the high priest said to Him, "By the living God I place You under oath: tell us if You are the Messiah, the Son of God!" 64 "You have said it," Jesus told him. "But I tell you, in the future you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power and coming on the clouds of heaven ." 65 Then the high priest tore his robes and said, "He has blasphemed! Why do we still need witnesses? Look, now you've heard the blasphemy!

This last line confuses me only because you end it with the word 'christianity'. Is there more then one type of 'christianity'? I know that many call themselves christians that are not and are nothing but cults using the label.

Welcome!   

BB

Thanks for the welcome BB, that comment was my opener on this forum, having only just found it.
Sorry if I wasn't clear though. Of course Peter and others identified Jesus as Christ, the Son of the Living God, but Jesus still continued to emphasis that He was functioning as "son of man". It is that juxtaposition that is important.

Your Matthew quote is really interesting. Jesus acknowledges the description of, Messiah, Son of God. He then tells them that they will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of God etc. So right to the very end it is his manhood that is emphasised. That's because he had to live as a man just like Adam and die as a man. -The second Adam.

And yes, there are countless types of Christianity, mostly fake, or contaminated with the world so as to make them powerless. I didn't mean to say that the disciples abandoned what Jesus said, but those who followed later.

My real point is that of necessity, Jesus needed to walk the walk of a perfect man, if he was to bear the judgment due on mankind. If Jesus came in his own power and glory, it would have invalidated him. Therefore he constantly made the point that he did all the work as the Son of man, empowered by the Spirit of God, not as Son of God.
In doing so, he also made the point that all men could be filled and empowered by the Holy Spirit, and do what he was doing, should they so choose.

The question is, are we walking as a man who has eaten of the Tree of Life, and thus empowered by the Holy Spirit?
Alternatively are we like Adam, a man who has eaten of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and thus empowered by his own independent intellect?

[biblebuf]

• 

Thanks for the welcome BB, that comment was my opener on this forum, having only just found it.
Sorry if I wasn't clear though. Of course Peter and others identified Jesus as Christ, the Son of the Living God, but Jesus still continued to emphasis that He was functioning as "son of man". It is that juxtaposition that is important.

Your Matthew quote is really interesting. Jesus acknowledges the description of, Messiah, Son of God. He then tells them that they will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of God etc. So right to the very end it is his manhood that is emphasised. That's because he had to live as a man just like Adam and die as a man. -The second Adam.

And yes, there are countless types of Christianity, mostly fake, or contaminated with the world so as to make them powerless. I didn't mean to say that the disciples abandoned what Jesus said, but those who followed later.

My real point is that of necessity, Jesus needed to walk the walk of a perfect man, if he was to bear the judgment due on mankind. If Jesus came in his own power and glory, it would have invalidated him. Therefore he constantly made the point that he did all the work as the Son of man, empowered by the Spirit of God, not as Son of God.
In doing so, he also made the point that all men could be filled and empowered by the Holy Spirit, and do what he was doing, should they so choose.

The question is, are we walking as a man who has eaten of the Tree of Life, and thus empowered by the Holy Spirit?
Alternatively are we like Adam, a man who has eaten of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and thus empowered by his own independent intellect?

I agree and it is just as important that we see Him in His role as a servant of man. If we are to follow Him we must show His love for our neighbors.

As far as Adam goes, he had a sinful nature that we have inherited. But the good news is that there is a new inheritance available for us. But you know that, I say it because other readers may not.