If Jesus was the son of God, why did he never say he was. My Bible says he called himself "the son of man".

Question

Healthsys2:- I passed Religious Knowledge GCE O Level at school and Jesus was always described in the Bible we used for school as "the Son of Man", never as the "Son of God". At the time, I was too unassertive to ask my teacher why.

For GCE O Level we were instructed to ignore one of the 3 Gospels. I think it was Luke, but I cant quite remember.

Answer 1

John 9:35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God?

36 He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him?

37 And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee.

38 And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him

Answer 2

Read it all, and read it slowly. You will see. I promise. If your Bible is not cut up like the one put out by certain blasphemous ones who want to change history to suit their own devices. What version do you read?

And to set the record straight, regarding Jesus' step father, Joseph, if they checked your DNA and matched it to your step dad's, that would be very strange, woudn't it? Joseph was Mary's husband, and the father of Jesus' half brothers and sisters, including the New Testament writer named James.

Thank you for the update.

Remember that in some schools of thought, the priority of the educators is to view holy books as literature. Also, some msytic types look to many different texts to use as a tool to support their own incorrect conclusions. And in some cases, the school of thought is dedicated to disect the text into what can be fully explained as opposed to what cannot. Many secular schools use this approach. The goal of the class is often theology, not a personal relationship. Then they run the class from that particular worldview. Does this response make sense?

Answer 3

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.

Recommended Resource: Why Believe in Jesus?: Who He Is, What He Did, and His Message for You Today by Tim LaHaye.

Answer 4

The Jews would have known that calling himself the son of man was a claim to be God, based on the OT

Answer 5

I think you were told to ignore the gospel of Luke because Luke was a Roman doctor who lived about 2 hundred years after the rest of the gospels were supposedly written. Most church dogma was formulated at the synod of Whitby hundreds of years after the events described in the bible. The king James bible was authorised by a man who thought witches in a sieve tried to sink his ship.

Answer 6

Better yet, God said Jesus was his son. Upon Jesus' baptism, there was a voice from the heavens heard, and holy spirit ascended in the form of a dove. God's voice said, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." The account is found in Matt 3:17.

So, no, God and Jesus cannot be the same person, and they both have said that Jesus is God's son.

Answer 7

When Jesus was asked if He is the Son of God, He answered and said He is. (Luke 22:70)

Answer 8

I would add to the above answers that the main reason is that Jesus claimed to forgive all sins. Only God can forgive sins. Furthermore the early christian writers seem quite certain of what he was:

The apostle Peter, who knew Jesus:
'we were not making up clever stories when we told you about the powerful coming if our Lord ... The voice from the majestic glory of God said to him, "This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy". We ourselves heard that voice from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain' (2 Peter)

Paul, one of the earliest Christian writers:
'shown to be the Son of God when he was raised from th dead' (Romans 1)
'i live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me' (Galatians 3)

Answer 9

He called Himself the "son of man", because He was man as well as God, and because He was humble. But, as other replies indicate, He as well accepted being called the Son of God because he is the Son of God.

Answer 10

Because he was the Son of Man, meaning his humanity, was God in the Flesh call Jesus. He was God the Son, meaning he was Diety, our Lord and Savior.

Answer 11

He never directly said that he was the Son of God but he said it indirectly... hope this helps
as my old youth pastor would say: he is the Godman... 100% God and 100% man