Jesus Christ is the Son of Man
1 Timothy 2:5-6: For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time.
Rosalind Goforth in The Christian Digest wrote about a story that came directly from Rev. Cunningham of South China: One day a well-dressed, intelligent looking man came to the Street Chapel. He sate and listened well for some time, then left. This was repeated three consecutive days. Then he rose and addressed the missionary, saying: “I have heard you speak three times and you always have the same text. Why don’t you change it?” Mr. Cunningham, somewhat surprised, asked, “What text?” “Jesus Chris,” was the reply. Aftera moment’s silence the missionary replied: “Sir, before answering your question, may I ask you: ‘What have you for dinner today?’”. “Rice”, replied the man. “What food had you yesterday?” Again came the reply---”Rice.” “And what do you expect to eat in the future?” “Rice, of course. Rice gives me strength. I could not do without it. Sir it is--” he hesitated as if for a strong word---”Sir, it is my very life!” The missionary raised his hand, and said: “That is just what I wanted from you. What you have just said of rice, Jesus Christ is to our soul. Jesus Christ is the rice of life!”
Who called Jesus Christ as the Son of Man? Scriptures show that Jesus Christ referred to Himself as the Son of Man. While He walked on earth, no one else addressed Him by that title. He referred to Himself as the Son of Man when he announced that His hour to be glorified has come (John 12:23), introduced Himself as the Son of Man who has authority on earth to forgive sins (Matthew 3:6), taught about His sufferings, rejection, death, and resurrection (Matthew 8: 31), and proclaimed His position in the right hand of the Mighty Father (Mark 14:61-62).
The designation “Son of Man” occurs very often in the four Gospels, i.e, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. According to J. Rodman Williams, author of Renewal Theology, the phrase referring to Jesus Christ occurred 82 times and in in more than 40 occasions. Beyond the four Gospels, the expression referring to Jesus Christ is found only three times, when Stephen saw Jesus Christ before his death from stoning (Acts 7:56), when John saw the revelation of the end times (Revelation 1:13), and when John saw the coming judgment (Revelation 14:14).
When Jesus Christ referred to Himself as “the Son of Man”, He referred to Himself as a human. As all humans are children of humans (Mark 3:28 KJV), even so, Jesus Christ as “the Son of man” is a human. He is a member of the human race. Old Testament passages also provide evidence that the phrase “son of man” refers to a human (Psalm 8:4 KJV; Psalm 80:17 KJV; Isaiah 51:12 KJV; Ezekiel 2:1 KJV). These references simply reinforces that fact that Jesus Christ basically refer to His own reality as a human being.
We can see Jesus Christ as fully God and fully human. As fully human, Jesus Christ can be viewed in 5 perspectives.
Jesus Christ, the Representative Human
Jesus Christ first and foremost represents all mankind. He is not only the son of David, or the son of Abraham, He is also the son of Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45; 1 Corinthians 15:47). So, even as Adam represented the human race, so does Jesus Christ, the second Adam, represents all humanity.
As He was born of a human mother, grew up in Nazareth, ministered in Judea and Galilee, tried before the Sanhedrin, stood before Pilate, mocked and scourged, received the crown of thorns, and brought before the frenzied crowd, Jesus Christ is fully human.
Being the last Adam, Jesus Christ is truly the first. For in Jesus Christ, God’s original pattern for human existence is represented. At every situation and every occasion, Jesus Christ demonstrated what it means to be a human. He demonstrated dignity (Colossians 1:15) and humility (Philippians 2:7), righteousness (1 Corinthians 1:30) and compassion (Mark 6:34; Matthew 9:36; Luke 15:1-2), forthrightness (Matthew 23:33) and longsuffering (2 Peter 3:9), love for enemies (Matthew 5:44; Luke 6:27), and holiness in times of temptation (Matthew 4:10; Hebrews 4:15). In the humanhood of Jesus Christ is exemplified the manhood as God intended it to be. In Jesus Christ is the pattern or the model of genuine humanity.
The New Testament did not actually describe the appearance of Jesus Christ. Is this strange? This is simply because Jesus Christ is a universal man, a representative of humankind. Often times, Jesus Christ is portrayed with slant eyes by the some people. Jesus Christ is portrayed as the black Nazarene. There are times, Jesus Christ is represented with blond hair. This a way the world perceived Jesus Christ as a universal man (Hebrews 2:17). Indeed, Jesus Christ took upon Himself the nature of humans, therefore He is the man for all men.
Jesus Christ, the Real Human
Jesus Christ is the Son of God and He is truly divine. Jesus Christ is also the Son of man and He is truly human (1 John 1:1). According to John the Beloved, this hearing, this seeing, and this touching of Jesus Christ in person is truly an evidence of Jesus’ human nature. Paul proclaimed Jesus Christ as a descendant of David (Romans 1:1-4). The author of Hebrews aptly described Jesus Christ’s humanity (Hebrews 5:7 (KJV). Paul shared with Timothy the manifestation of Godhead in Jesus Christ through the flesh (1 Timothy 3:16).
The biblical emphasis on Jesus Christ’s humanity is very important. First and foremost, we should understand the biblical truth that the Son of God had actually come in the flesh (2 John 7; Romans 8:3-4; Philippians 2:5-8:) In the book of Romans, Paul spoke about God sending His son Jesus Christ in the “likeness” of sinful nature (Romans 8:3). It is in this likeness to sinful nature that Jesus Christ identified Himself will all people that His flesh even seemed to be sinful. Yet it is in this human flesh that Jesus Christ was able to fulfil God’s role for Him. In His human flesh, he carried the sins of the world (1 Peter 2:24). As God does not identify with sin because He is God (James 1:13), a human flesh is needed to carry the sins of the world (2 Corinthians 5:19-21). Jesus Christ becoming fully human fulfills that requirement. If Jesus Christ were only fully God, then there would not sacrifice for sin, and no salvation from sin.
Measured by the humanity of Jesus Christ, all else will fall far short. There is no other who fulfil the plan of God for the salvation of mankind.
Jesus Christ, the Total Human
Jesus Christ is completely God, and he is also completely human. Every inch of Jesus is human (Hebrews 2:14). In every way, Jesus lived a fully human life. He was born of a woman (Galatians 4:4). He grew up from childhood to manhood, increasing in stature and wisdom and favor with God and man (Luke 2:52). He became hungry (Luke 4:2) and needed to eat (Luke 5:30). He became thirsty (John 19:28) and needed to drink (John 4:7). Jesus Christ became tired (John 4:6) and he also slept (Mark 4:38). Working first as carpenter (Mark 6:3), Jesus Christ claimed that He was constantly at work (John 9:4). Amazing as it is, He also paid taxes (Matthew 17:24-25)! Jesus Christ experienced joy (Luke 10:21) and sorrow (Matthew 26:37-38). He was also angry (Mark 3:5) and suffered grief (John 11:35). He experienced indignation (Mark 10:14), was astonished (Luke 7:9) and suffered from great pain and anguish (Matthew 27:46). As a human being, He cared so much for His mother (John 19:27).
The most outstanding truth about the humanity of Jesus Christ though, is His experiencing temptation (Mark 1:13, Matthew 4:1, and Luke 4:1-2). He was not only tempted at the beginning of His ministry. He was also tempted in every way (Hebrews 4:15). These temptations of Jesus Christ are real. The fact that He is the Son of God does not change the other fact that He is also the Son of man. He was sorely tempted, He was tried and during His temptations, Jesus Christ also needed comfort and strength (Mark 1:13; Luke 22:42-43).
Jesus Christ, from birth to death, was a total man. In every dimension of His human nature: body, soul and spirit, He is human.
Jesus Christ, the Perfect Human
In Jesus Christ, the perfection of humanity was displayed (John 8:46-47; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:22; 1 John 3:5). These Scriptures, written plainly and without ambiguity, show us the fact that in a world of sin and evil, Jesus Christ lived a life of purity and righteousness.
Most of the time, we fall short and we fail because we do not understand what it means to be sinless. John 8:29 and Mark 10:45 gives us the best picture of the perfect human. We know that love of God above all else, and love of neighbor as oneself are the two greatest commandments. These two greatest commandments were perfectly fulfilled in Jesus Christ alone. These are what God requires of us. These are the roadmaps to human perfection. If we can not do these, then we can never be like Jesus Christ.
How did Jesus attain this perfection? Is it something magical? Is it something divine and not human? we should remember that Jesus Christ is a real human being, a total human being (Philippians 2:6-8).
Here is the secret to Jesus Christ’s perfection. Being humble to self is the expression of
the perfection of human. The perfection of Jesus Christ is a continuous experience, as He underwent many sufferings. He did not only suffer during His last days, He suffered from the very beginning of His ministry (Hebrews 5:7-10). Jesus Christ, being a perfect man has to learn obedience. With obedience, Jesus Christ remained faithful to the end.
The perfection of Jesus Christ pertain to His being sinless. There are important truths that we need to understand today about Jesus Christ sinlessness. First of all, Jesus Christ is fully human. He is sinless not because He is God, but because He chose not to (Hebrews 4:15). Notice that the Scripture says “yet He did not sin.” What if we change for a while that phrase. What if Paul wrote “yet He can not sin.” If Jesus Christ cannot sin, then we are convinced that He is fully God. If Jesus Christ did not sin, then we are convinced that His sinfulness is a matter of choice. And Jesus Christ chose not to sin. Secondly, the New Testament did not say anything about Jesus Christ being sinless because He was God and therefore can not sin. Mark 3:5 and Mark 11:15-16 described how Jesus Christ was angry. He was angry at various moments of His life. Why is anger dangerous? Jesus Christ knew that being angry does not produce the righteousness that God the Father desires (James 1:20). In fact, the Scripture speaks of anger as an evil worse than murder (Matthew 5:21-22). Anger is considered sin by the New Testament. Jesus Christ was angry. Yet He did not sin. He chose not to sin. Rather He choose to display the same anger that His Father displayed. Jesus Christ displayed the anger of righteousness of the righteous and holy One who can not tolerate sin. It is not that Jesus Christ can not sin, but Jesus Christ, just like His God the Father, can not tolerate sin.
Here now is Jesus Christ who has the inability of perfect love to violate either God or humans. Jesus Christ is sinless because of His continuing victory over every kind of temptation. The fact that Jesus Christ never sinned is not portrayed as deriving from His divine nature, but as a continuing fact of His human life and action. In other words, sinlessness is Jesus Christ’s life, deeds, thoughts, and actions.
Jesus Christ, the Anointed Human
First, let us understand what the word “Christ” mean? The word comes the Greek ‘Christos’, which means anointed. It is equivalent to the Hebrew word ‘machiach’, which means the “anointed one of God”. Old Testament history tells us that to be anointed, literally is to have sacred oil poured on one’s head, as a symbol of being chosen for a special task (1 Samuel 10:1). Priest (Exodus 40:15; Numbers 3:3) and kings (1 Samuel 9:16; 1 Samuel 10:1; 1 Kings 1:34) are anointed, and occasionally, prophets (1 kings 19:16). This is most often used to refer to a king, who received sacred oil during their coronation rather than a crown.
Jesus Christ, as a pure human, is God’s anointed. Is it therefore assumed that God the Father appointed Him as king of the world while He walked on Earth (Matthew 2:1-2; John 12:12-19)? If Jesus Christ were anointed as king of the world just like Saul being anointed by Samuel to be king of Israel, then why did Jesus Christ receive a crown of thorns, instead (Matthew 27:29; John 19:2)?
We can look at Jesus Christ as an anointed human in two ways. Firstly, Jesus Christ was God’s anointed as the Word made flesh in order to bring the message of God’s plan to the world (Luke 4:14-21). The parable of the wicked husbandmen in Luke 20, Mark 21, and Mark 12 illustrates this. Jesus Christ, Himself the Son of God, is anointed by God the Father as a human, to be bring the gospel of salvation to the world. Secondly, Jesus Christ was anointed by God to display the power of the Holy Spirit (Luke 3:21). As humans are anointed with oil at the start of their calling, Jesus Christ received the anointing of the Holy Spirit when His works began. Thus the very beginning of Jesus Christ’s ministry, He was anointed by the Spirit of God (Acts 10:34-38).
Jesus Christ was anointed by the Holy Spirit for power to minister. This is not an anointing as a Son of God. This is an anointing by the Holy Spirit as a Son of Man (Acts 2:22). Peter attested to the fact that Jesus Christ ministered for 3 years as a human being with the power of the Holy Spirit! It was Jesus Christ, the human, who was anointed with the Holy Spirit, and in the power resulting from this anointing He brought about manifold and marvelous works of God.
As God, Jesus Christ also performed the miracles as the Son of God (Matthew 14:22-23). But in many instances, Jesus Christ as an anointed human performed God’s miracles through the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ moved constantly in the power of the Holy Spirit, and wherever Jesus Christ goes, He preaches the good news of salvation, brings healings, and deliverances.
What do you think of Jesus?
Jesus is a representative human who represented humanity to the throne of God. Jesus Christ is a real human so he can fulfil the plan of God for the salvation of mankind. In every dimension of Jesus Christ’s human nature: body, soul and spirit, He is totally human.
He is a perfect human as He chose not to sin. He is an anointed human because the power of the Holy Spirit was upon Him.
Elim Evangel asked the questions to different people about Jesus Christ.
“Pharisees, with what would you reproach Jesus?” The Pharisee answered, “He eats with tax collectors and sinners.”
“And you, Caiaphas, what have you to say of Jesus?” Caiaphas answered, “He is a blasphemer, because He said ‘Hereafter you shall see the Son of Man sitting in the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven.’”
“Pilate, what is you opinion?” Pilate answered, “I find no fault in this Man."
“And you, Judas, who have sold your Master for silver, do you have some fearful charge to hurl against Him?” Judas answered instead, “I have sinned, in that I have betrayed innocent Blood.”
“And you, centurion and soldiers, who led Him to the Cross, what have you to say against Him?” The centurion answered, “Truly, this is the Son of God.:
“And you, demons?” The demons chorused, “He is the Son of God.”
“John the Baptist, what think you of Christ?” John the Baptist answered, “Behold the Lamb of God.”
“And you, John the apostle?” “He is the bright and morning Star.”
“Peter, what say you of your Master?” Peter replied, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
“And you, Thomas, the doubter?” Thomas replied, “My Lord and My God!”
“Paul, you have persecuted Jesus Christ, what testify you against Him?” Paul answered, “I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.”
“Angels of Heaven, what think you of Jesus?” Angels proclaim, “Unto you is born a Savior, who is Christ the Lord!”
“And Thou, Father in Heaven, who knowest all Things?” “This is My Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
