Logikos

He is THE Son of Man…
One title that Jesus often claims for Himself and is claimed for Him is the title “Son of Man.” One example is Matthew 26:63-65 But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest said to Him, “I adjure You by the living God, that You tell us whether You are the Christ, the Son of God.” Jesus said to him, “You have said it yourself; nevertheless I tell you, hereafter you will see THE SON OF MAN SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF POWER, and COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN.” Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has blasphemed! What further need do we have of witnesses? Behold, you have now heard the blasphemy; what do you think?” They answered, “He deserves death!”
This title is in fact written of Jesus 84 times just in the Gospels. Yet it provokes a response from the chief priest to yell out “Blasphemy!” and a call from the other witnesses to seek Jesus’ death for the extreme statement He has just made regarding His name. So what exactly is it that He said? The title “son of man” simply means a servant of mankind and is a title of humility. God also addresses the prophets Daniel and Ezekiel with this title as servants of God sent to serve man. So there must be something more in this title that is a powerfully offensive statement of Jesus’ divinity to cause such a reaction in the Pharisees.
This title originates in the book of Daniel and it is because Jesus quotes this citation from the book of Daniel that the Jews throw such a ninny fit. The passage reads as follows: Daniel 7:13-14 I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven one like a Son of Man was coming, and He came up to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him. And to Him was given dominion, glory and a kingdom that all the peoples, nations and man of every language might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed. This is further perpetuated when looking at King Darius’ proclamation of who saved Daniel from the lion’s den: Daniel 6:26-27 I make a decree that in all the dominion of my kingdom men are to fear and tremble before the God of Daniel; for He is the living God and enduring forever, and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed, and His dominion will be forever. He delivers and rescues and performs signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, who has also delivered Daniel from the power of the lions. See the similarity between who Darius says the God of Daniel is and who the Ancient of Days says the Son of Man is? So apparently this “Son of Man” is very significant after all.
Jesus was in effect saying of Himself, by agreeing to the title of Son of Man, that He was the all powerful king to whom all glory is due, with an everlasting dominion over all, and whom all men of every language are to serve. In conjoining this title with Daniel 6:26-27 He is also calling Himself the “living God” who delivered Daniel from the lion’s den. Do you see why this would have been extremely blasphemous now if Jesus were not God?
I promised to keep all of these sections short but there is one more detail I would be remiss to omit. God refers to Daniel and Ezekiel as “bar adam” in the Hebrew which translates “son of man.” When referring to the “Son of Man” in Daniel 7:13-14, however, He calls Him “kebar enas;” the only time in the Bible this phrase is used. Even though both phrases are translated “Son of Man” they are very different and very distinct in the original Hebrew language.
“Kebar” means “like a son” which would make sense because although Jesus was born in the flesh He was not born into sin because He was not born of the seed of Adam but rather through the incarnate power of the Holy Spirit. In that way, He was a man but only “like a son” of Adam. Similarly, He was not born out of the Father, meaning He was not conceived or created by the Father, but He has always been. So when He was begotten, He became “like a son” but His position was unchanged.
“Enas” is a derivative of the Hebrew word for man “enosh.” When researching the usages of “enosh” you will find that it often refers to a wounded or dying man; a man coming to grips with his weakness or mortality. But in a twist of irony it also refers to men who are both soldiers and/or bloodthirsty.
Who is Jesus? “The Son of Man” or “kebar enas;” God who was made to be “like a son” and sent to be wounded and die for our sins; yet He will return on a cloud as a bloodthirsty soldier to restore His kingdom, slay the wicked and bring His children home. This was no modest title and the Pharisees knew it. It is beautiful when you look into the depths of God’s very specific wording to see what He says about Himself.