Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'” John 20:17
…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. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples 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.” Daniel 7:13
Throughout the gospels, whenever Jesus referred to himself in the third person, he used the term, “the son of man.” It occurs 78 times and appears in such well known statements as “The son of man has come to seek and to save those who are lost,” “But that you may know that the son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins…,” “The son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath,” and “The son of man has no where to lay his head.”
But in the Old Testament, the term, “son of man” occurs only once, in Daniel 7:13. The passage describes a time when, after some unmentioned momentous event, the son of man returns to heaven in glory, comes into the presence of God and is rewarded with dominion over a glorious kingdom that will last forever. In other words, “the son of man” in Daniel 7:13 is no one less than the messiah.
Thus, when Jesus referred to himself as the son of man during his earthly ministry, he was claiming to be the messiah of Daniel 7:13. Indeed, it was this specific claim that drove his accusers to insist that he be crucified.
“But I say to all of you: From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven” Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?” “He is worthy of death,” they answered. Matthew 24:64-66
Thus, Easter is the prequel to Daniel 7:13. Jesus’ death and resurrection tell us why God’s coronation of the messiah in his new, eternal kingdom as prophesied by Daniel hundreds of years before happened.
And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death–even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee would bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:8-11
And now you know the rest of the story.
This post first appeared in NewCommandment.org.
Since 2003 New Commandment Men’s Ministries has helped hundreds of churches throughout North American and around the world recruit teams of men who permanently adopt their widowed and single parents in their congregations for the purpose of donating two hours of service to them one Saturday morning each month. We accomplish this with a free training site called New Commandment Men’s Ministry
Learn how to mobilize your men’s ministry to meet every pressing need in your church here.
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