Yeshua, Son of God or Son of Man?

The question surrounding the divinity of Yeshua (Jesus) has been with us for some time. Something like 2000 years. Theological disciplines have researched and categorized verses throughout the Gospel accounts and the rest of the New Testament. The Old Testament has been dissected as well, sometimes giving us valuable insight and other times giving us fanciful interpretations that would never have been seen by the author or the original readers. Theologians already know what they believe so there must be abundant evidence there to support their view. In the process we find creative twisting of passages to support preconceived ideas.  Many also ignore the cultural and historic context as well as the intent of the original author and how their original audience would have understood the text. We do so at our peril, for there are times we distort the message and other times we miss valuable truth.

I attended a Christian Liberal Arts College to study Psychology and Counseling. I was also required to take basic Bible classes which grew into a minor in theology. In the process I took a class called Intro to New Testament and then one called Christology. Being a fairly new follower of Messiah the classes were both challenging and somewhat intriguing. They were also pretty narrow in their traditions. I learned all the standard verses about the deity of Christ, (John 1:1, John 10:30, and John 20:28, Matt. 17, and Matt. 16:16). I was also told that there were four Gospel accounts to give four pictures of Jesus. Mathew as king, Mark as servant, Luke as man, and John as divine. It is a nice Western way to categorize and compartmentalize truth while somewhat ignoring the context and message contained therein.

I believe that Yeshua, our Messiah was divine. I believe that the scriptures cited above help support that truth. But in my study of the Sabbath I discovered that we may have turned the messages of the Gospels a bit upside down. To begin, it seems that it would be good to see how Yeshua responded when asked the question if He was the Son of God, if He was divine. Matthew 26:64, Mark 14:62 and Luke 22:69 record that Messiah answered, as He often did, by quoting Scripture. The passage He quotes is a bit surprising. We miss the impact if we do not know the discussion among the rabbis of the time. Yeshua goes to Daniel 7.

Daniel Boyarin documents the ongoing discussion among the rabbis that surrounds the time when Yeshua was engaged in His ministry. According to Boyarin many rabbis raised provocative questions concerning Daniel 7:13-14. The text reads, "I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom which shall not be destroyed." These rabbis concluded that the passage was in reference to Messiah, and most would agree. Yet there were many who saw that this everlasting authority must mean that Messiah was somehow divine. No mere man would be so anointed by Yahweh to to hold this eternal power and position. The Priests and the religious rulers questioning Yeshua saw His reference as the "Son of Man" to be a claim to divinity not just as Messiah. That is why there is the follow-up question "Are you the Son of God?" Yeshua's confirmation leads to the tearing of their garments and cry of "blasphemy!" Yeshua claims that Daniel 7:13-14 refers to Him. He is the One who will come in the clouds and be given an eternal kingdom and authority by God Himself. He will rule over the kingdom of God forever. Thus He is divine.

There are rabbinic records confirming Boyarin's research. Through this historic lens we learn a number of things. First, Yeshua was proclaiming and affirming His deity throughout His ministry, not just in John. It also explains the strong reaction of the Pharisees to Yeshua recorded in Mark 2. The first comes with the healing of the paralytic. Yeshua tells the man his sins are forgiven, the Pharisees claim Yeshua is guilty of blasphemy for only God can forgive sins. Yeshua responds, "But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins” (Mark 2:10). Yeshua claims that, as the Son of Man, He has authority to forgive sin. He is claiming to be God, claiming to be divine.

Mark's next event concerns the Sabbath as Yeshua's followers, in compliance with Deut. 23:25 ("When you come into your neighbor’s standing grain, you may pluck the heads with your hand, but you shall not use a sickle on your neighbor’s standing grain"), are plucking heads of grain and eating them. The Pharisees claim that they are violating Sabbath regulations concerning work. Yeshua responds that "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath”(Mark 2:27-28). The Son of Man has authority to declare what the Sabbath is, for He is Lord, master, ruler over the Sabbath. Only God has this authority. Yeshua is claiming divine authority concerning the Sabbath. A commandment given to Moses by Yahweh, Himself. Yeshua is claiming the same authority as God. So it seems that Yeshua, Messiah claims that He is divine throughout Matthew, Mark and Luke. There is much more evidence that Yeshua, Jesus, claimed that He was divine  than we might have imagined. Each time He declares or describes Himself as the Son of Man He was proclaiming His divinity. And the religious leaders understood His claim.

The "Son of Man" title that Yeshua uses throughout His ministry would have been in agreement with the arguments of the rabbis, drawn from Daniel 7. It would have been a constant jab at the Pharisees, Priests, Sadducees, and other rabbis who disagreed with this understanding of Daniel 7. If we are not aware of the theological controversy percolating among the Jewish scholars in the time of Yeshua's earthly ministry we miss both His claim and the reason for the growing irritation of the Jewish religious leaders. Yeshua, this nobody rabbi from Nazareth, was doing miracles, teaching to the poor and the masses. He was claiming divine power and authority. He was claiming to be Daniel's divine Messiah who will rule over the kingdom of God forever and ever. Maybe we need to take a closer look at the Gospel records and see the "Son of Man" in a different light? Divinity on display on almost every page.