Who Do You Say That He Is?

What did Jesus call Himself?

This is intended to be a Bible study on the importance of the ways in which Jesus referred to Himself.  I believe this reveals not only how He saw Himself, but also how He saw us.  God is a relational God.  He is 3 persons in One:  Father, Son, Holy Spirit.  The way Jesus saw Himself reveals the way in which He wants us to regard Him and how we are to regard each other as we follow Him.

Jesus refers to Himself as the Son of Man 86 times in the 4 gospels.  The title Son of God is used 40 times in the gospels but it's interesting to note that Jesus wasn't the one using the term.  In almost every case, someone else called Him Son of God.  Now, Jesus did refer to Himself as Son of God, this is obvious, but the number of times He used the title Son of Man (translated in a modern way to "The Human One") far exceeds the times He called Himself Son of God and the times someone else called Him the same.  I believe a pattern like this makes it safe to infer that Jesus saw Himself as the Son of Man.  But what does that mean?

Consider Jesus' attitude in coming to earth as described by Paul in his letter to the church at Philipi:

Philipians 2:5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.…

Consider carefully verse 7 above.  Jesus "emptied Himself".  Bill Johnson has said it many times that Jesus did what He did as a man.  He's eternally God, but His mission on earth He chose to complete as a man.  He chose to become The Human One.  The human one of what?  The Human One of the Triune God.  Father, Son, Holy Ghost.  Some would say that God cannot be human.  I would say, He's God.  He can be a duck if He wants.

It's true that Jesus wanted to model a life for us that we could live.  He set aside His divine "edge" if you will.  He said it Himself.  He could do nothing by Himself.  He only did what God was doing, said what God was saying.  He co-labored with Holy Spirit to perform every miracle, including His resurrection.  He also could only fulfill all righteousness as a man and then be a perfect sacrifice only as a man.  If He died on the cross while being more than human, the sacrifice would not have been perfect.  There is much to be said about why Jesus absolutely had to be fully human.  But I'm more focused right now on what is revealed in His choice of titles.

Yes, Son of Man accurately represents His being fully human but I believe there's more to be revealed.  Part of the manifold wisdom, if you like.  Consider the dynamic in conversation between those who spoke to Jesus about His identity and His response:

Mat 26:62 And the high priest arose and said to Him, "Do You answer nothing? What is it these men testify against You?" 63 But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest answered and said to Him, "I put You under oath by the living God:Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!"
64 Jesus said to him, " It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven."

He agreed with the high priest that He is the Son of God and in the very next breath refers to Himself as the Son of Man.   Why?

Again, when being questioned by Pilate, Jesus does not choose to speak of Himself as royalty or divinity in any way.  He simply agrees with the title given Him by the person addressing Him:

Mat 27:11 Now Jesus stood before the governor. And the governor asked Him, saying, " Are You the King of the Jews?"
Jesus said to him, " It is as you say."

It hit me suddenly one day as I was listening to a song by Hillsong.  One of the singers brought up Matthew 16 where Jesus asks His disciples who people are saying He is:

Mat 16:15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

And then I got it.  God is so amazingly loving, patient, merciful, and secure that He is to us what we allow ourselves to believe He is.  All the effort Jesus put forth.  All the eternal planning, divine wisdom, blood, sweat, tears.  The cross, His life growing in favor with God and man, His trials in the wilderness.  Eons of watching His dear dear children squander life and grace, love and mercy.  All that, He endured.  And when He had finally wrapped it all up, when He had rescued us, when it was all over and all ok, He left it up to us to value it or throw it away.

He called Himself the Son of Man to give us the honor of discovering the Son of God.