Son Of Man And Son Of God


When a reader starts studying the New Testament, He will eventually learn that Jesus was known by different descriptive terms. One of which is the word Christ. That is simply a reference to Jesus being the anointed One of God. Then there are other terms like “the good shepherd”, “the door”, “the way”, “the truth”, and “the resurrection and the life”. Those are just a few. For emphasis in this article we will notice two other distinct ways that Jesus was known during His life on Earth.

First of all, Jesus was called the Son of man. It was Jesus Himself that declared, “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). By calling Himself the Son of man, Jesus revealed his humanity. To be the Son of man was to claim equality with man. Therefore, Jesus made it known that He was just as much a human being as any other man. As such, Jesus endured the hardships of living as a man. Take for example, “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15). Jesus knew what it was like to be tempted (cf. Matt. 4:1-11). Jesus also knew what it was like to suffer mentally and emotionally. “And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (Luke 22:44). Then there was the physical suffering. “Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him. And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe, And said, Hail, King of the Jews! and they smote him with their hands” (John 19:1-3). In addition to all of that, we should never forget that “Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away. And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst” (John 19:16-18). Indeed, Jesus was the Son of man!

Secondly, Jesus was called the Son of God. On one occasion, Jesus asked a man, “Dost thou believe on the Son of God” (John 9:35)? The response was “Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him” (John 9:36)? “And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee” (John 9:37). By calling Himself the Son of God, Jesus revealed His Deity. To be the Son of God was to be equal with God. It is recorded that the Jews understood this to be the case. “Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God” (John 5:18). Also, that was the main reason that Jews wanted Jesus put to death. “The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God” (John 19:7). As the Son of God, Jesus possessed the abilities of God. Take for example, “But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man” (John 2:24-25). Jesus was omniscient, which means He was “all knowing”. That is an ability that only God possesses. Indeed, Jesus is the Son of God!

Because of Jesus being both the Son of man and the Son of God, He is the right choice to be the Judge of all men. “For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him” (John 5:22-23). Likewise, Paul wrote, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:10). Also, Paul wrote, “But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ” (Rom. 14:10). Jesus declared, “When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left” (Matt. 25:31-33). Thus, the Son of man/Son of God will be able to judge perfectly because of His humanity and His Deity.
~ Corey Barnette