In John 8:58, Jesus rightly claimed the name of God when he told the Pharisees who were arguing with him that he was the "I Am." Of the many names of God recorded throughout the Bible, Jesus used the name that would have the most meaning and, actually, be the most offensive to his critics in that moment. He was unmistakenly claiming to be the eternal God when he made that statement. In fact, when they heard this, they tried to stone him on the spot.
Jesus never denied his deity, but he never flaunted it either. He never sought glory from his listeners; he only sought their faith. He was willing to patiently wait for the Father to glorify him at just the right time.
John 13:31, 32
Now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once."
I find it fascinating that the way Jesus many times referred to himself was as, " the Son of Man." More than a dozen times the gospels record Jesus referring to himself this way. In Luke 17:22-26, he refers to himself as the Son of Man five times in a single conversation.
It's a name that applies to every human being. I wonder if referring to himself this way was just an aspect of his humility? I wonder if he were trying to emphasize that he understood all of us because he was experiencing humanity in the same way we do?
Sometimes I wonder if he called himself the Son of Man just because it remained a daily surprise to him that all his power and deity was contained in flesh? Like, "Wow! I wole up human again!" After an eternity in the heavenly realms and existing pure spirit, how strange it must have been to be in a human body with human frailties and human needs and human temptations.
This may not be a very deep theological exegesis of this phrase, "Son of Man," but it is deeply moving to me that my Lord became flesh. When I read this phrase, I pause in wonder. May be that's why he said it.
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