Son of Man
© 06.16.25 By David Eric Williams
Perhaps the most common title Jesus applied to himself is "Son of Man." The first century Jew who heard this would have recognised its source as the prophet Daniel. In a vision, Daniel saw one like the Son of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, And they brought Him near before Him. Then 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 the one Which shall not be destroyed (Daniel 7:13b-14).
Jesus referenced Daniel's vision in his exchange with the high priest just prior to his crucifixion. He had kept silent throughout most of the questioning but when the high priest said I put you under oath by the living God: tell us if you are the Christ, the son of God! Jesus boldly replied, It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven (Matthew 26:63-64).
Jesus was not talking about a visible second coming. Instead he was telling the high priest that Daniel's vision of the Son of Man foretold the ascension and enthronement of the one who stood before him at that very moment. Jesus is the one like the Son of Man who received a kingdom.
To better understand the significance of the title, “Son of Man” we need to go back to the beginning of time. According to Genesis chapter one God created humanity in his image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them (Genesis 1:27). Luke informs us it is correct to understand Adam as the son of God (Luke 3:38). Obviously this does not suggest Adam was another incarnation of the eternally begotten Son; it means he was the first human being to exist and he was brought into being by the immediate action of Yahweh himself. Moreover, Adam (along with Eve), was given a particular responsibility; dominion over all of creation (Genesis 1:26-28). He was commissioned as God’s representative and vice regent.
Now, I have taught and written elsewhere about the nature of this dominion so I won't go into much detail here. It will suffice to say the dominion humanity is called to exercise must be godlike. We are created in the image of God and given the responsibility to express the character of God in every activity. We are expected to be like dear children who imitate our father (Ephesians 5:1). We are supposed to be imitators of our master Jesus the Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1). Therefore, biblical dominion is not exploitative but is nurturing, protective and productive. Adam and his offspring were intended to actualize Yahweh’s sovereign dominion over creation. Humanity’s ability to fulfill this commission was nullified because of Adam’s rebellion. Indeed, the various “Adams” subsequently introduced in history continued to fail at the task of godly dominion. Noah, Abraham, the nation of Israel – none of them were capable of exercising dominion as God intended. Thus it fell to the eschaton Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45) to fulfill the dominion mandate.
We will come back to this topic next week.
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