“… the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory,” Jesus, Matthew 24:30
“To understand Jesus we need to understand what this title means. If Jesus thought it was important enough to use over 80 times, it is certainly important enough for us to explore.” (Max Lucado, And the Angels Were Silent, p. 28)
“The heavens will be ablaze with the glory of God.” (John Walvoord, on Christ’s return , Thy Kingdom Come)
There is deep, deep theology in the phrase The Son of Man. To some, that phrase may appear to deny His deity when actually it affirms that Jesus is the Messiah, very God of very God. Max Lucado says the title “the Son of Man” is used 82 times in the New Testament, 81 times in the gospels and 80 times spoken by Jesus.
Devout Jews knew the phrase “Son of Man” was a reference to the Messiah from Daniel 7:13-14: “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days [God the Father] and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.”
(One should take note of how the much of the language of Matthew 24 can be found in this passage from Daniel.) I found eleven times, in the New Testament when Jesus’ title “Son of Man” is used in direct reference to Daniel 7: Matthew 10:23, 16:27,28, 24:30, 26:64; Mark 8:38, 13:26, 14:62; Luke 21:27, 22:69, Revelation 14:14. In these eleven references, Jesus is equating Himself, or is equated, with the Messiah of Daniel 7. (Revelation 1:7 seems to reference Daniel 7 but does not use the title “Son of Man.)
At His trial by Caiaphas, the High Priest, Jesus is asked point blank in Mark 14:61: “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” To which Jesus quotes Daniel 7: 13: “’I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.’ And the high priest tore his garments and said, ‘What further witnesses do we need? You have heard his blasphemy’… And they all condemned him as deserving death,” (Mark 14:63-64). Even His enemies recognized that Jesus was claiming to be the Son of Man, the Jewish Messiah, the very essence of the Ancient of Days and therefore “guilty of blasphemy.”
This same reference to Daniel 7 is made when John records Christ’s return in Revelation 14:14: “Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand.” Throughout the New Testament, Christ’s return is seen as a fulfillment of Daniel 7.
Recently I had a conversation with a few Jehovah Witnesses. I listened politely as they said Jesus was just a man. Then it was my turn. I started at Daniel 7, then to Mark 14 and on to Revelation 14. I explained that Jesus’ identity as the Son of Man is one reason (among many) why I believe He is the second person of the Trinity. I invited them to return later with a response. They never did. I did not wish to win the dialogue and not win the soul. Still, I wanted to expose this ideology that diminishes the worship due my Lord Jesus Christ.
When Matthew records the words of 24:30, He is not just using colorful language. Those words are purposeful and point us to the majestic identity of our Lord! He is Immanuel, the Son of David, the Root of Jesse, the Son of God, the Alpha and Omega, the Lamb of God and the Lion of Judah. And He is the Son of Man, coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory! Hallelujah! Amen! Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus, come!
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