There are at least 80 times in the Gospels when the Lord Jesus Christ referred to Himself in the third person as "the Son of Man". Of course since the Gospels duplicate some of His sayings that number may be lower. But what is really significant is that rarely did Christ refer to Himself as "the Son of God". So we need to understand why this was important to Christ.
When we go to the creation account, the triune Godhead said that they wanted to make man (mankind) in the image and likeness of God. Not only does this include a mind, a will, and a "heart" (emotions), but it also seems to include full identification with humanity. In other words, when Christ had fellowship with Adam and Eve, He appeared as a Man walking in the Garden of Eden. Then when -- as the pre-incarnate Christ -- He appeared as "the Angel of the LORD" at different times, that too was in the form of a man. When He appeared to Abraham as "the Word of the LORD", that too would have been in the form of a man. When He came to Abraham and Sarah to give His promise of Isaac, He came as a man.
We also see in Daniel 7 that (a) God the Father seated on His throne has the appearance of a man and (b) Christ is called "one like unto the Son of Man". And the way Christ is presented in Revelation 1 corresponds to the appearance of God the Father in Daniel 7.
The Jewish rabbis understood that this "Son of Man" was no less than the "Son of God", so when Christ referred to this passage at His mock trial, they accused Him of blasphemy. To them "Son of God" was the same as "God". And that is why they wanted to put Him to death.
But we still need to see why the Father and the Son identified themselves with humanity from the very beginning, when they needed absolutely nothing. God is self-sufficient. He needs no man. Yet it would appear that for some inexplicable reason, God wanted to have eternal fellowship and communion with redeemed human beings (who are only dust). And that is His plan for the future with His saints. Even angels are excluded from this plan. But God will perfect His saints and give them glorified resurrected bodies which are called "spiritual bodies".
God already knew that mankind would be in a fallen state very soon after the Fall, and would desperately need redemption. So even before the foundation of the world, He saw the Son of Man become the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world.
Eventually, at the right time, Jesus of Nazareth was supernaturally conceived and born in a manger. He walked on this earth as a sinless Man, and kept on calling Himself "the Son of Man". But all along He remained God the Son, who went about doing good and healing all who came to Him.
But He knew that ultimately He would face the cross and also be temporarily forsaken by His Father. He was in extreme agony in Gethsemane, but fully submitted to the will of the Father. There was no other option or hope for mankind. So then we go to Isaiah 53 and get a glimpse of how He suffered, and bled, and died, while making His soul an offering for sin. No ordinary man could have ever done what the God-Man Christ Jesus did.
However, Christ also knew that He would destroy the power of sin, and death, and Hades, and Hell, and Satan through His "one great sacrifice for sins". And that He would rise again after three days and three nights, so that we might have eternal life.
And now He is an eternal great High Priest after the order of Melchizedek. He has been exalted by the Father, seated at the right hand of the Father, and given a name which is above every name. And yet He remains "the Man Christ Jesus" in Heaven, so that human beings can have fellowship with Him. All of this is truly amazing and only God could have revealed it to us.
When we go to the creation account, the triune Godhead said that they wanted to make man (mankind) in the image and likeness of God. Not only does this include a mind, a will, and a "heart" (emotions), but it also seems to include full identification with humanity. In other words, when Christ had fellowship with Adam and Eve, He appeared as a Man walking in the Garden of Eden. Then when -- as the pre-incarnate Christ -- He appeared as "the Angel of the LORD" at different times, that too was in the form of a man. When He appeared to Abraham as "the Word of the LORD", that too would have been in the form of a man. When He came to Abraham and Sarah to give His promise of Isaac, He came as a man.
We also see in Daniel 7 that (a) God the Father seated on His throne has the appearance of a man and (b) Christ is called "one like unto the Son of Man". And the way Christ is presented in Revelation 1 corresponds to the appearance of God the Father in Daniel 7.
The Jewish rabbis understood that this "Son of Man" was no less than the "Son of God", so when Christ referred to this passage at His mock trial, they accused Him of blasphemy. To them "Son of God" was the same as "God". And that is why they wanted to put Him to death.
But we still need to see why the Father and the Son identified themselves with humanity from the very beginning, when they needed absolutely nothing. God is self-sufficient. He needs no man. Yet it would appear that for some inexplicable reason, God wanted to have eternal fellowship and communion with redeemed human beings (who are only dust). And that is His plan for the future with His saints. Even angels are excluded from this plan. But God will perfect His saints and give them glorified resurrected bodies which are called "spiritual bodies".
God already knew that mankind would be in a fallen state very soon after the Fall, and would desperately need redemption. So even before the foundation of the world, He saw the Son of Man become the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world.
Eventually, at the right time, Jesus of Nazareth was supernaturally conceived and born in a manger. He walked on this earth as a sinless Man, and kept on calling Himself "the Son of Man". But all along He remained God the Son, who went about doing good and healing all who came to Him.
But He knew that ultimately He would face the cross and also be temporarily forsaken by His Father. He was in extreme agony in Gethsemane, but fully submitted to the will of the Father. There was no other option or hope for mankind. So then we go to Isaiah 53 and get a glimpse of how He suffered, and bled, and died, while making His soul an offering for sin. No ordinary man could have ever done what the God-Man Christ Jesus did.
However, Christ also knew that He would destroy the power of sin, and death, and Hades, and Hell, and Satan through His "one great sacrifice for sins". And that He would rise again after three days and three nights, so that we might have eternal life.
And now He is an eternal great High Priest after the order of Melchizedek. He has been exalted by the Father, seated at the right hand of the Father, and given a name which is above every name. And yet He remains "the Man Christ Jesus" in Heaven, so that human beings can have fellowship with Him. All of this is truly amazing and only God could have revealed it to us.
