The “Son of Man”
Daniel 7:13-14
June 18, 2006
Introduction
Well, after our break to look at The
Da Vinci Code, we’re turning our attention back to the gospel of Matthew.
But if you look at your note-taking guide, you’ll see that we won’t be referencing Matthew much for this message.
So what’s the scoop? The scoop is that I want us to look at a phrase Jesus uses to describe Himself throughout the gospels, and particularly in Matthew.
The title, “Son of Man” occurs 81 times in the Gospels. In Matthew, 30 times. And in every case except one, it is Jesus using the phrase.
But isn’t Jesus the son of God? Then why would he call Himself the Son of Man? Well, this title is a reference to a passage in Daniel 7, which I’ve printed for you in your note-taking guide.
I’d like it if you would read this aloud with me, please!
"In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. 14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.”
I think it’s important to know that while Jesus used the title, most of his listeners probably didn’t catch the implication.
In some places in Scripture, the phrase is used “to contrast the chasm between frail, mortal man and God Himself.” (Expositor’s Bible Commentary – “Matthew,” p. 212)
But especially toward the end of His ministry, His references to this title pointed all the more toward what we find in Daniel.
So I want us to take a look at what these two verses tell us about the “Son of Man,” and therefore, about the Savior.
But first, let’s pray.
Despite the fact that on the surface, “Son of Man” might appear to be a reference to Jesus’ humanity, I think that as we look at this passage from Daniel, you’ll see that it was a reference to the fact that He was divine, as we looked at a few weeks ago.
And so I want us to look at three facts about the Son of God that are noted in this passage in Daniel but also displayed in the gospels.
1. He is in the Presence of God.
He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence.
Now this is very important.
We talk about being in the presence of God. He is everywhere all the time, and so no matter where we are, we are in His presence.
But while we are present to Him, that doesn’t mean He is present to us. In other words, He sees us, but we don’t see Him, at least not in all His glory.
In the book of Exodus, we find Moses talking with God, and asking Him for help in leading the people to the promised land.
God says that His presence would go with them, but Moses says that he would like to see God’s glory.
God agrees, but only to a certain extent.
He says this, in Exodus 33:19-20 –
"I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 20 But," he said, "you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live."
We cannot see Him in all His glory and live. Isaiah and Ezekiel’s visions of God were such that that their mortal eyes could comprehend what they were seeing, but the human eye and mind cannot comprehend the presence of God in all His glory. Even Daniel here can only see part of the deal.
But the Son of Man sees God in all His glory and is led into His presence.
Jesus mentions this presence in John 8:38 –
“I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence, and you do what you have heard from your father."
I need to make a quick detour here.
You know, it’s Father’s Day. And I want to very quickly give a couple things that Dads can take from this passage here in John.
First, pass on the good that you’ve gotten from your Father, whenever possible. Let your kids know that your father had a positive impact in your life.
Now I understand that that’s not always easy for some people. I’m fortunate, because my dad gave me some great stuff that I can apply to my kids.
My dad had nicknames for each of us kids. My nickname was “Pal.” And as I grew up, I loved hearing my dad call me by that special name.
So when I had kids, I determined that I would have nicknames for my kiddos, and that they would be nicknames they would enjoy as they grew up.
I gave my nickname, “Pal,” to Lance.
What I got from my father’s presence, I wanted to pass on to my kids.
The second thing I want to give you dads is an encouragement to be the kind of dad that your kids can take something from in your presence.
I’m hoping that my children will find things in me that they can pass on to others and especially their children.
But here’s the scary thing. They WILL take things with them from your presence, for good or bad. It’s up to you what it will be.
So allow God to form and shape your character so that your presence will be a godly influence instead of a negative one.
Back to the passage – Jesus lived in the presence of the Father.
And it’s in this presence that we find out more about the Son of Man, and that is that…
2. He is the complete representation of God.
I specifically wanted to emphasize the word “complete” here, because the Son of Man is more than just an “ambassador” for God.
Verse 14 shows us three ways the Son of Man is the complete representative of God.
He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him.
First…
> He is given the authority of God.
Jesus is the boss, folks. He even declared it in Matthew 28:18 –
Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”
You may remember an episode of The Andy Griffith Show where Barney came across a couple of guys selling produce out of their truck without a license. He runs them out of town, but these fellas find out that Barney is really more of a blowhard than anything, and come back to town.
After intimidating him, he slinks back to the office, but then comes to the realization that he needs to confront these guys.
His words to them went along the lines of the fact that his uniform and his badge stood for more than Barney Fife. They stood for the authority of law and order, and that was bigger than Barney and these guys put together.
That did the trick, and they left.
Barney represented the authority of the people.
But the Son of Man doesn’t just represent the authority. He is the authority. He is the court of final appeal, and that authority is His simply because He is the Son of Man, given authority by the Father.
The third way that the Son of Man is the complete representation of God is that…
> He is given the glory of God.
We just talked a few minutes ago about this, but what I want to point out is that the Son of Man is given this glory as well.
While He was on earth, that glory was hidden, for the most part, although at the Transfiguration, some of His glory was shown to Peter, James, and John.
But the time is coming when we will all see that glory.
The book of revelation, in chapter 1, verses 12-18 gives us a glimpse of it. I’ve written out just a portion of verse 16, but let me read these seven verses very quickly –
I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and among the lampstands was someone "like a son of man," dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. 15 His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.
17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. 18 I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.”
The Son of Man, who was dead and is alive. Kinda sounds like Jesus to me! How about you?
Jesus will one day be glorified for all to see, and what a day that will be, not only for Him, but also for us who live in submission to His authority.
The third way the Son of Man is the complete representation of God is that…
> He is given the worship of God.
Matthew 14:33 –
Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."
When the magi came to Jesus, what does the Bible say they did? They worshiped Him. When Jesus healed the man born blind and declared Himself to be the Son of Man, what did the man do? He worshiped Him. When Jesus appeared to the disciples after His resurrection, what did they do? They worshiped Him. And what was the last thing they did before He went to the Father? They worshiped Him.
Folks, no mere human can have the authority of God. Why?
Because God refuses to allow us to follow anyone but Him. He is the ultimate authority.
Even Paul had to address this, when people in the early church were saying, “I follow Paul,” or, “I follow Apollos,” or, “I follow Peter.” Paul says we are to follow Christ alone, because He’s the authority.
No mere human can have the glory of God. Why?
Because God refuses to allow His glory to go to anyone but Him.
And no mere human can have the worship of God.
Because God refuses to allow us to worship anyone but Him.
The Son of Man cannot be a mere human. And therefore when Jesus claims to be the Son of Man, He is making a very special and distinct claim.
Bottom line: only someone from Him, and of Him could be this Son of Man.
Colossians 2:9-10 –
For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.
In other words, only a divine man could be the Son of Man.
I hope that makes sense. No ordinary human could claim to be the Son of Man as Jesus used the title.
Here’s the third
3. His kingdom will last forever.
Back to our passage in Daniel 7, we find these words –
“His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.”
It might be helpful to remember that when Daniel wrote these words, he was a captive in Babylon. Judah had been exiled to Babylon, and Daniel and some of his fellow exiles were actually given jobs in the service of the king of Babylon.
But some 550 years later, we find the baby Jesus being brought to the temple. And an older man named Simeon comes up to Mary and Joseph and prophesies over Jesus. And his words included these from Luke 1:32-33 –
“He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."
Some of the most tragic parts of the Bible are the stories in Kings and Chronicles of kings who were on the throne one day and the next day they were dead.
Murdered by power seekers, angry subjects, or even their own children. These guys, in many cases, didn’t know if they were going to make it to the next day. Their kingdoms were in constant jeopardy. None could claim to be part of a kingdom that would last forever.
But the Jesus, the Son of Man could. His kingdom, when it finally comes and this ol’ world is just a memory, will last forever and ever and ever and ever, infinitely.
The book of Revelation is the story of how all that will fall into place. I don’t pretend to understand everything about the book of Revelation, but I do know that Jesus wins, and He will be glorified forever and ever.
You’ll find people who make their life’s goal to be able to decipher everything in Revelation and about the end times, but I’m not one of them.
I’m not saying we shouldn’t be aware of stuff, but folks, if you were to look at all those theories, they all come back to the same thing: Jesus wins and the devil loses.
Folks, and you’d better believe that that’s good news for you and me, as well.
Conclusion
You’ll notice that I’ve got Hebrews 13:8 printed in your note-taking guide –
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Folks, it’s my heart’s desire that as you read and meditate on the Word of God, you will come to the phrase “Son of God,” and it will bring you to awe and wonder of Jesus. There is so much more to Jesus than what we’ll ever be able to comprehend this side of heaven.
But we can ask God to fill us with awe and wonder as we contemplate the idea that God Himself came to earth in a form we could see and understand.
His glory was cloaked, if you will, in mortal flesh. Society and liberal theologians would have us believe that He was nothing more than flesh.
But the Bible denies that, and gives us a glimpse of the glory of the Savior. And one day, if Christ is your Savior, you will get to see that glory for yourself.
The Bible says that we see Him just as He is, and we will be in the presence of God. And then we won’t be just reading about it, we’ll be experiencing it.
Let’s pray.
