What does it mean that Jesus is described as the Son of Man?

Answer 1

I think it means he was fully human. He was born into this world as anyone else.

Answer 2

When His face/mind was turned towards humans and life on earth -He was the Son of Man.
When His face/mind was turned towards heaven and heavenly things - He was the Son of God.

He was given birth to by a human - Son of Man.
His Father was God in Heaven - Son of God.

Jesus was so humble that He preferred to be called "Son of Man" not "Son of God".

He was so humble that although He was born rich, He chose to live a simple a life:
Jesus was given gifts of gold as a 2 year old child. Mt. 2:11

Jesus had a home. He would have inherited Joseph’s home, under the culture of His day, since He was the eldest Son.
John 1:38, 39

Jesus wore expensive clothes. John 19: 23, 24

Jesus carried sufficient physical cash with Him to feed 15,000 people. Mark 6: 35-37

Jesus was wealthy enough to have need of a treasurer.
John 13:29

Answer 3

The term "son of man" is a Semitic idiom for human being. There is some limited evidence (see Geza Vermes' publications on the subject for more information) that it could be used as a circumlocution for the first-person pronoun "I" in the Aramaic of Jesus' time.

In conjunction with apocalyptic imagery such as clouds and throne it could allude to the "one like a son of man" (in other words, the "human-like figure") in Daniel chapter 7, an idea taken up in later works such as 1 Enoch and interpreted in Messianic terms.

Note that in almost all instances this is a way Jesus is depicted as referring to himself, rather than a way that others refer to him.

Answer 4

Jesus had no biological father, but He did have a father here on earth called Joseph, chosen by God to be his father to love nurture and rear Him. And Jesus was fully man and fully God. So He had a human father on earth, and a heavenly Father above. Therefore He can be called the Son of Man, and the Son of God.

Answer 5

The expression "son of man" as used in the Bible basically means "a son of mankind, a human, an earthling son."

In the Gospel accounts the expression is found nearly 80 times, applying in every case to Jesus Christ, being used by him to refer to himself.

Jesus' application of this expression to himself clearly showed that God's Son was now indeed a human, having 'become flesh' (John 1:14), having 'come to be out of a woman' through his conception and birth to the Jewish virgin Mary. (Galatians 4:4; Luke 1:34-36) Hence he had not simply materialized a human body as angels had previously done; he was not an incarnation but was actually a 'son of mankind' through his human mother.

The designation "Son of man" also serves to identify Jesus Christ as the great Kinsman of mankind, having the power to redeem them from bondage to sin and death.

Answer 6

I feel they are speaking of Christ being the light among men, given by God to bring men out of darkness. I think God has a double meaning in these words to signify to everyone about the truth in his words, and considering the bible codes that have been discovered this can't be too far fetched.

For instance if you recall in the bible where he says all who have ears, let him understand, calculate the number of the beast for that number is 666, starting at the book where this is located every 666th letter spells out undeniably:

SATAN THE ACCUSER

true statement, see what I mean about the double meanings. There is no way this could have been written by man, only a computer program could discover this!

Answer 7

Jesus is both Son of Man & Son of God on high,
but Christ is the Son of God in heaven: "higher".

Son of Man should repent: Numbers 23:19
Daniel and Jesus are called the Son of Man.
Johnny Law Law is called like unto Son of Man.

Jesus: made under the law; division and not peace
Christ: is the end of the law; peace and not divided.

To WIT, that God was in Christ reconciling the world.
- that God is light(only), having no darkness at all
- Christ is the end of the law: so grace void of law
- reconciling is about unity, division is about alienation

Let there be LIGHT: UNDERSTANDING: GRACE(ONLY)

The GRACE(ONLY) of our Lord J->C with you->all. Amen.

Answer 8

Jesus is referred to as the "Son of Man" 88 times in the New Testament. What does this mean? Does not the Bible say Jesus was the Son of God? How then could Jesus also be the Son of Man? A first meaning of the phrase "Son of Man" is as a reference to the prophecy of Daniel 7:13-14, "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." The description "Son of Man" was a Messianic title. Jesus is the one who was given dominion and glory and a kingdom. When Jesus used this phrase related to Himself, He was assigning the “Son of Man” prophecy to Himself. The Jews of that era would have been intimately familiar with the phrase and to whom it referred. He was proclaiming Himself as the Messiah.

A second meaning of the phrase "Son of Man" is that Jesus was truly a human being. God called the prophet Ezekiel "son of man" 93 times. God was simply calling Ezekiel a human being. A son of a man is a man. Jesus was fully God (John 1:1), but He was also a human being (John 1:14). 1 John 4:2 tells us, "This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God." Yes, Jesus was the Son of God – He was in His essence God. Yes, Jesus was also the Son of Man – He was in His essence a human being. In summary, the phrase "Son of Man" indicates that Jesus is the Messiah and that He is truly a human being.

Answer 9

"a" son of man was a man of God, either a judge, leader, or prophet. basically a very Godly person appointed for some great purpose.

"the" Son of Man refers to His Christship, His body being anointed, as He was the Messiah.

Answer 10

Scripture indicates that Jesus was not denying His deity by referring to Himself as the Son of Man. In fact, it is highly revealing that the term "Son of Man" is used in Scripture in contexts of Christ's deity. For example, the Bible says that only God can forgive sins (Isaiah 43:25; Mark 2:7). But as the "Son of Man," Jesus had the power to forgive sins (Mark 2:10). Likewise, Christ will return to earth as the "Son of Man" in clouds of glory to reign on earth (Matthew 26:63-64). In this passage, Jesus is citing Daniel 7:13 where the Messiah is described as the "Ancient of Days," a phrase used to indicate His deity (cf. Daniel 7:9).

Further, when Jesus was asked by the high priest whether He was the "Son of God" (Matthew 26:63), He responded affirmatively, declaring that He was the "Son of Man" who would come in power and great glory (verse 64). This indicated that Jesus Himself used the phrase "Son of Man" to indicate His deity as the Son of God.

Finally, the phrase "Son of Man" also emphasizes who Jesus is in relation to His incarnation and His work of salvation. In the Old Testament (Leviticus 25:25, 26, 48, 49; Ruth 2:20), the next of kin (one related by blood) always functioned as the "kinsman-redeemer" of a family member who needed redemption from jail. Jesus became related to us "by blood" (that is, He became a man) so He could function as our Kinsman-Redeemer and rescue us from sin.

Answer 11

It's just another one of the traditional expressions used in pagan mystery cults that was later incorporated into Christianity.