Acts 7:55-56 (New American Standard Bible) “But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; and he said, ‘Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.’”
Son of Man is an expression that occurs in the sayings of Jesus in the Gospels, Acts of the Apostles, and Book of Revelation. The Hebrew version occurs 103 times in the Old Testament. But its meaning is still controversial. Is it merely a self-reference, another way of saying “I”? Or does it just mean a human being? Is it a counterpoint to the title Son of God, emphasizing Jesus’s humanity? Is it a reference to the apocalyptic figure in the Book of Daniel, one who is prophesied to come with the clouds of heaven, and given authority, glory, and sovereign power? Jesus was such a messianic figure. In John 5:27, He holds the power to judge men. In Matthew 8:20 and Luke 9:58, Jesus states: “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” This seems like the Old Testament prophetic expressions used by such prophets as Ezekiel, and it shows Jesus’s understanding of himself as the “man” that God has singled out as a friend and representative. Either way, Jesus is still a person who suffered and was glorified for his human role and authority in bringing the Kingdom of Heaven to Earth.
—Larry Esposito
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