Tag Archives: Son of Man

March 28, 2013

Hey Jude, Who is this Son of Man?

By Clarke Morledge
God took Enoch (Genesis 5:24). From Figures de la Bible, Gerald Hoet and others, 1728.

God took Enoch (Genesis 5:24). From Figures de la Bible, Gerald Hoet and others, 1728.

Jude is one of those obscure little books. Just one page in most Bibles. Whenever I glance at it, I want to sing with the Beatles, “Na na na, na-na na na. Na-na na na, hey Jude!” Often overlooked, the Letter of Jude references a critical key to help unlock the mystery of Jesus as the Son of Man.

The odd key is found in verses 14-15:

It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him (Jude 1:14-15 ESV).

The funny thing about this is that you will search your Bible in vain for this prophesy from Enoch. Enoch is only mentioned a handful of times in the whole Bible, such as in Genesis 5:24:

Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.(Genesis 5:24 ESV)

Pretty brief. Pretty curious, too. Pretty much leaves a lot open to the imagination. So, what is up with this Enoch, who just disappears, and what does he have to do with Jesus as the Son of Man?
Continue reading

3 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , | posted in Apologetics

March 15, 2013

Like a Son of Man

By Clarke Morledge
The Ancient of Days. 1794. Watercolor by William Blake.

The Ancient of Days. 1794. Watercolor by William Blake.    Based on the “like a son of man” passage in Daniel 7.    In the Old Testament, Daniel is the master of apocalyptic imagery, which means using words as pictures to “reveal” or “uncover” that which is hidden.

Jesus talks about being the “Son of Man” eighty-one times in the New Testament. The term is Jesus’ favorite designation for Himself in the Gospels. So, what is the deal with this “Son of Man” stuff anyway?

“Son of Man = Messiah = Divinity of Christ“. For years, I merely assumed this to be true, simply out of reflex of being a Christian. But if it is true, why is it true?  I never really thought about it that much. Recently, our  small group Bible study has been looking at the Gospel of Luke, and every now and then there are puzzled looks whenever Jesus speaks of this Son of Man. As I observe everyone scrambling to read their study bible notes, I know that I am not alone in my why question.

A number of critics complain that Christians read way, way too much into this phrase. The Son of Man as the Messiah?  Mmmm. How so?   Furthermore, the Bible never explicitly equates Son of Man with “divinity”. Are followers of Jesus getting ahead of the Bible when asserting the messianic, divine meaning of Son of Man? Can a believer in Christ reasonably defend such a claim?

Continue reading

8 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , | posted in Apologetics