In Daniel 7:9-14, it refers to one like a son of man coming to the Ancient of Days who was seated on a throne. To this son of man was given all dominion and power. All peoples, nations, and men and women of all languages would serve Him. This passage in Daniel seemed to point to this event occurring at a future date.
In Mark 13:24-27 Jesus speaks of the coming of the Son of Man in clouds with great power. The term “the Son of Man” is used in the New Testament only in the Gospels and once in the Acts of the Apostles. In the Gospels, it is used only by Jesus to refer to himself and his mission, and once by the crowd who wanted to know what the term meant.
Although the disciples, after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, used a number of Messianic terms to refer to Jesus, including Son of God, Messiah or Christ, Lord, and son of David, they never used the term “the Son of Man” in reference to Jesus’ ministry, personhood and mission. That is, the term was Jesus’ own personal reference to refer to whom He was and what He had come to do.
At the same time, Jesus rejected or minimised certain Messianic terms used by the various Jewish factions to describe their expectation of the coming Messiah. Jesus refused to take up the political role of one sent from God to deliver the nation of Israel from her enemies, especially the Romans.
Rather, Jesus came to do God’s will and purpose which was far broader than simply saving the Jewish nation from its enemies. Jesus came for all nations and all peoples. Jesus uses the term the Son of Man to refer to his own ministry in three ways:
- the (present) earthly Son of Man – the miracles, work and teaching He did in Galilee and Jerusalem;
- the suffering Son of Man; and
- the eschatological (future) or coming Son of Man.
It is through these three different types of sayings that Jesus’ unique interpretation of the motif the Son of Man, is expressed. Jesus succinctly combines the use of the Son of Man motif with the Suffering Servant motif from such passages as Isaiah 53. Both of these motifs had already existed in Judaism at that time, but were never used together. The first evoked a sense of exaltation with the Son of Man riding upon the clouds, and the other evoked a sense of deepest humiliation with the concept of a suffering Messiah. Jesus fulfilled the second by dying on the cross for our sin and rising from the dead so we could have new life. He fulfills the first in His coming again riding upon the clouds.
The combination of these two terms suggests the meaning of the term that Jesus’ uses to describe His mission and purpose. Although the Jewish nation held a special place in God’s purpose, Jesus did not come to fulfill only the Jewish Messianic expectations of the Messiah. The Son of Man motif carries with it a much broader meaning and application. It identifies the purpose of the Coming One that goes far beyond Jewish Messianic expectations and the redemption of the Jewish community of faith, to the redemption of all human beings through the Son of Man.
Moltmann, in The of Way of Christ notes: “The messiah is a historical figure of hope belonging to nation, space and time (i.e. the Jewish nation). The Son of Man is a figure of expectation for all nations; he is above the world, because he overcomes the world.”
Although Jesus’ mission began with Israel, it did not stay there. It is, thus, through Christianity that Israel pervades the world of the Gentile nations with a messianic hope for the coming of God to all peoples.
The second aspect of this passage in Mark’s Gospel refers to the coming of tribulation or days of trouble with the sun darkened, the moon giving no light, and the stars falling. It is at such a time that the Son of Man is to come. However, what should the church, the people of God, be doing during the lead up to such times?
Jesus notes that before the coming of the Son of Man the gospel will be preached to all nations (Mark 13:10). The Church will be working full on, 24/7, to proclaim the gospel to every nation, to take it to all peoples, so that all can hear the good news of the redemption of the whole world through God’s Messiah – Jesus of Nazareth.
