Articles The Westminster Confession Studies in the Person of Christ | Studies in the Person of Christ |
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| Written by Arthur Allen | |
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Page 4 of 11
The Son Of ManProfessor Geerhardus Vos writes: "By calling Himself the 'Son of Man,' Jesus imparts to the Messiahship His own heaven-centred Spirit. And the height to which He thus lifted His Person and His work may well have had something to do with the hesitancy of His early followers to name Him with this greatest, most celestial of all titles. As a matter of fact, we can still test this by ourselves. Neither in the language of private piety, nor in that of common worship, hymnodic or otherwise, has Son of Man ever become thoroughly domesticated. ("Self-Disclosure of Jesus," p. 256.)Frequently we hear over the radio, from various pulpits, and read in modern theological literature, that the title, "Son of Man," is used to identify our Lord's human nature as opposite to the title, "Son of God," for designating His Divine nature. But such a view has no warrant in Holy Scripture, for we have the case already quoted of Jesus standing upon the earth and talking with Nicodemus, calling Himself the "Son of Man which is in heaven." The Holy Spirit by the lips of Daniel uses the title, Son of Man, and stamps it with glorious significance, "I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought Him near before Him. 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." (Dan. 7:13.) Professor Vos says: "There can be no doubt that the scene in Daniel means to ascribe the introduction of a superhuman, heavenly Being into the lower world." Also, "The fact stands out significantly that 'Son of Man' connotes in the Fourth Gospel the heavenly, superhuman side of Jesus' mysterious existence, and that consequently it becomes the classical expression of what is called His pre-existence. This great truth is even more clearly taught in connection with it than with the title in whose wake we would more confidently expect to meet it, the title, Son of God." ("Self-Disclosure of Jesus," p. 241.) The title, Son of Man, designates the uniqueness of God the Son in the eternal purpose of redemption. In the Godhead the uniqueness of the Son did not lay in His Deity; for He is equal with the Father and the Holy Spirit in power and glory; the Son is of the same essence as the Father and the Holy Spirit. The answer to Question 6, of the Shorter Catechism, is as follows: "There are three persons in the Godhead; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory. In the most holy counsels of the Godhead, the salvation of man required the incarnation of Deity. God would assume human nature, and the holy counsel determined that, not the Father and not the Holy Ghost but the Son would fill the requirement for the redemption of man, i.e., the incarnation of Deity. The title, Son of Man is not the designation of a nature but of a person, and Christ is "God and man in two natures, and one person for ever." In the discourse delivered by our Lord and recorded in John, Chapter 6, Christ referred to Himself as the giver of life; a life that rendered the receiver of it incapable of death. He says: "Labour not for the meat that perisheth, but for that meat that endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of Man shall give unto you; for Him hath God sealed." (V. 27.) The Son of Man, who bestows the meat, declares the meat is identical with Himself. "And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life." (V. 35.) See also verses 48 and 51. The title, Son of Man, is used in that unparalleled symbolic description of Christ given in Revelation 1:13, 14, 15. Dr. Albertus Pieters writes that he has never heard or read a "sublimer conception" of Jesus Christ as both God and man, than is recorded by John. When Christ reproved the Pharisees touching the observance of the Sabbath, He said: "The Son of Man is Lord also of the Sabbath." It would be impossible to consider Jesus, that is, His humanity, as sovereign over the Sabbath. The Son of Man's Lordship goes back to the first Sabbath in Eden. The title, Son of Man, is used exclusively by Jesus, as a self-designation. Nowhere in the Gospels do we find others addressing Jesus as the Son of Man. This does not mean that the Jews did not understand the meaning of the title, Son of Man; they knew very well that it was the title that belonged exclusively to the promised Messiah. When Christ signified what death He should die: "The people answered Him. We have heard out of the law that Christ abideth for ever: and how sayest thou, the Son of Man must be lifted up?" (John 12:34.) In the Acts of the Apostles, we read the final words of Stephen ere he was stoned. "Behold I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God." Stephen replaces the word "Jesus" in the previous verse with the title, Son of Man. This is the only place in Scripture where the title is applied to Christ except by Christ Himself. (See Acts 7:56, 56.) The 57th verse makes it evident that the Jews well knew the title, Son of Man, was the designation of the promised Messiah; the Jews considered Stephen's statement blasphemous, and stopped their ears. Texts with reference to the title, "Son of Man"
Matthew. - 9:6; 12:8, 32, 40; 13:37, 41; 16:13; 17:9, 22; 20:18; 24:27, 30, 37, 39, 44; 25:31; 26:2, 24, 45. The title, "Son of Man," is used 76 times in the New Testament.
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