Why Jesus Called Himself ‘Son of Man’ by Myra Kahn Adams for Town Hall
Thanks for joining today’s Bible Study. As we inch closer to Resurrection Sunday – the holiest and most joyful day for believers in Lord Jesus – we need to reflect on His identity. Crucial to understanding who Jesus is was embedded in his favorite name for himself – Son of Man.
In the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible), the name is found in three books – Psalms, Ezekiel, and Daniel. Hence, “Son of Man” would have been familiar to the Jews (both the people and their leaders) who heard Jesus’s teachings, and that fact can’t be emphasized enough. Here is a quick review of Son of Man as referenced in the Hebrew Bible.
Two Psalms stand out. First is Psalm 8 – magnificent poetry that praises God, beginning: “LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens.” Then verses 4-6 read like a Messianic prophecy:
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We love helping others and believe that’s one of the reasons we are chosen as Ambassadors of the Kingdom, to serve God’s children. We look to the Greatest Commandment as our Powering force.
What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor. You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet (Psalm 8: 4-6).
In my NIV Study Bible, the footnote references that these Psalm verses are re-quoted in the New Testament book of Hebrews 2: 6-8. And, Hebrews: “applies these verses to Jesus who as the incarnate [human] Son of God is both the representative man and the one in whom man’s appointed destiny will be fully realized.”
Moreover, before the Psalm passages appear in Hebrews, the subhead reads: “Jesus Made Like His Brothers” to reinforce Jesus’s identity as Son of Man who is fully human.
