What is the meaning of the Son of Man in the synoptic Gospels?

Answer 1

The Son of Man refers to Jesus who was both a man and God.

"Son of man" refers to the prophet Ezekiel.

"Son of man" refers to Jesus.

"Son of man" is ben Adam, or son of Adam, meaning all humanity.

"Son of man" is a prophetic designation.

It means many things, but Jesus used it to identify with us and the prophets. This does not mean that he was declining to be Messiah or only begotten Son of God.

He was all of that.

Another perspective:As noted above, the expression does have several meanings, depending on where and how it us used. Ultimately, and most importantly, Jesus took the title "Son of Man" to Himself as affirmation that, in human form, He was representative of all mankind; that His sacrifice was to benefit all peoples, not just a few. This universal offer of salvation through faith in Him is one of the unique characteristics of Jesus' teachings.

Answer 2

A:The first gospel to use the phrase, Son of Man, was Mark's Gospel, where Jesus referred to himself as the Son of Man and Peter called him the Christ ('anointed one'). Son of Man was a term sometimes used in the Hebrew scriptures as a flowery way of saying 'man'. Among the Jews, to have called Jesus the Son of God might have been considered blasphemous when Mark was written, but the demons and the centurion, as outsiders, could call do so because their statements would not bring the Christian community into disrepute.

Perhaps fifteen years later, Matthew's Gospel could use the term Son of God quite freely and sarcasm was no longer necessary in the centurion's statement when Jesus died. When Luke was written a few years later, Christians were not really concerned what Jews thought of Christian beliefs and sayings, so Son of God was becoming the more usual term, although Son of Man remained as an alternative description for Jesus.

Answer 3

With the exception of Ezekiel and Daniel, Son of man in the Old Testament is a synonym for man, human kind. In Ezekiel, God uses the term 90 times to address the prophet, emphasizing his humanity. In Daniel, in one of his night visions, the prophet saw "one like the Son of man" (Daniel 7:13) come on the clouds of heaven to appear before the throne of God. He was given dominion over all peoples and an everlasting kingdom. Scholars interpret Son of man here as an angel, as the Messiah, or all of Israel. Later Jewish interpretation of Daniel 7:13 is at one seeing the reference as messianic. Jesus knew very well that His audience would know what He meant by these words. The "Son of man" sayings of Jesus fall into three distinct types.

(1) Apocalyptic sayings. Son of man will descend to earth to gather the elect and to judge.

(2) Passion sayings. Three times Jesus predicted the Son of man would be rejected and killed by the priests and scribes but would rise on the third day. It should be noted that Jewish messianic expectations never connected the Son of man with suffering and death, not even the clear description of the Suffering Servant (Isa. 53). That connection (Mark 10:45; Matt. 20:28) of the Son of man, the messianic Judge of the final time with the Suffering Servant of God, is unique to the teaching and ministry of Jesus.

(3) Sayings connected with Jesus' ministry. Many sayings could be understood in the sense of the Hebrew idiom- "a man, this man, I." Even in these sayings, "Son of man" should be seen as a title pointing to Jesus' special role as the One who has authority to forgive sins (Matt. 9:6) and to interpret the meaning of the sabbath (Matt. 12:8). Some of these sayings reflect an incarnational emphasis (Matt. 8:20, 11:19, Luke 7:34, 9:58). One must accept His humanity to find true life (John 6:53). The Son of man is also Son of God, the one who came from above, the Ladder which links all humanity with God (John 1:51).