What does Son of Man mean?
Jesus Christ was not referred to as God the Father’s Son (except in prophecy – see Psalm 2:7; 2 Samuel 7:14) until His human birth (Hebrews 5:5-8; Luke 1:32). Likewise, God the Father was not referred to as the Father before this time. In fact, the Father’s existence was not clearly revealed until after Christ’s coming (Luke 10:22; Matthew 11:27). Not until He was born of a human mother, Mary (Matthew 1:18-25), was Christ given the title “Son of Man.”
Christ’s divesting Himself of His glory (John 17:5; Philippians 2:5-11) in order to become our sacrifice was a vital part of God’s plan, and was necessary in order for Jesus to become a fully understanding and compassionate High Priest (Hebrews 4:14-15). So, this title designates a very important attribute of Christ. In the Old Testament, Christ had many different titles. Since that time, the title, and attributes of “Son of Man” have been added to them.
