Bible Question:
What are some thoughts on why Jesus always referred to Himself as the "Son of Man?" I've been doing some study in Mark and have also recently read through Matthew. Why doesn't Jesus just come out and say "I am the Son of God?" In fact, when the demons make that claim, he quiets them (Mk 1:25;3:11,12). Why was it such a significant thing when Peter said, "You are the Christ, the Son ot the living God?" Then a few vss. later in Matt 16:20 is says, "Then He warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was the Christ." What!? I thought that's what Jesus' whole purpose was, to let people know that He was the Christ who had come to save them. The gospels say in several places that Jesus was preaching. But what was there to preach about if it wasn't the gospel. Or how can you preach the gospel without claiming the divinity of Christ? Any thoughts on this whole mess? |
Bible Answer: SharperMarbles, thank you and may God richly bless you for your testimony. Now to your questions. To begin, Jesus was not what the Jews wanted or expected, but He was infinitely more than they deserved (or that we deserve). They wanted their Messiah to be in the form of an imperial king who would establish a powerful earthly kingdom and thus deliver them from Roman rule. They got a carpenter from Nazareth. Subsequent events have shown that this suffering servant of Isaiahic prophecy had the power to free them from the rule of sin in their lives, yet He came into His own country and His own people did not receive Him. So fiercely did they in fact reject Him that they scorned and mocked Him and eventually crucified Him ..... The mystery of why Jesus frequently cautioned his followers and others who had received healing at His hand to "tell no one" can be explained by one or more of the following reasons: [1] Perhaps He did not want to be considered as being merely a miracle worker (contrast that to the fake 'faith healers' of our time). [2] He did not want His teaching ministry to be unduly obscured or obstructed by too much emphasis being focused on His healing miracles. [3] He did not want His death to come prematurely before He had finished the work His Father had given Him to do (See Matt.8:4; 9:30; 12:16; Mark 1:44; 5:43; 7:36; Luke 8:56). ..... Regarding your question on the term "Son of Man": It is the most common title that Jesus used for Himself, used 84 times in the Gospels, and never used by anyone but Jesus. It comes from Daniel 7:13,14, and Jesus used it as a Messianic title. Thus every time He used it in reference to Himself, He was clearly affirming that He was indeed the promised Messiah of Jewish prophecy. Compare Mark 8:31 with 8:29. In v.31 Jesus used "Son of Man" in juxtaposition to Peter's use of "Christ" in v.29. In Jesus' time the popular Jewish ideas associated with the term "Christ" were by and large political and national, so Jesus rarely used it, and even then not of Himself, with the possible exception of Mark 9:41. ..... You see, God's ways are not our ways nor His thoughts our thoughts. The people were expecting an earthly king to rule in regal splendor a powerful earthly kingdom. Jesus did not meet their expectations. He came as a suffering servant whose kingdom is not of this world. He came not as a king to rule their land but to serve, suffer, bleed and die "so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life...for God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him." (John 3:15,17. --Hank |