NAMES AND TITLES OF CHRIST
SON OF MAN
DR. JIM DIXON
JOHN 5:22-27
NOVEMBER 2, 1997
People had many names and titles for Jesus Christ. Some called him rabbi or rabboni. Some called him Savior or Lord. Some called him prophet or priest or king. Some called him the Messiah. Some called him the son of God, but Jesus rarely used these titles when referring to himself. The title that Jesus normally used when referring to himself was to title the Son of Man. This was the title he used more than any other. this was his title of preference. This was his title of choice he used his title in two ways and these comprise our two teachings this morning.
First of all, our Lord Jesus Christ used his title with regard to his earthly humiliation. Jesus said, “the Son of Man came not to be served but rather to serve and to give his life, a ransom for many.” Jesus said, “the Son of Man must be delivered over and crucified for the Son of Man must go the way that was written of him.” He was referring back to Old Testament prophecies such as Isaiah 53 where the Bible prophesied that the Son of Man would be “bruised for our iniquities and chastised for our transition transgressions. By his stripes we would be healed.”
So, Jesus oftentimes uses the title the Son of Man to refer to his earthly humiliation and specifically the cross. Now, the word humility comes from the Latin word, “humilis” which means “IOW.” Basically, a humble person is a person who is willing to lower himself or herself in order to help someone else. Biblically a humble person is a person willing to lower herself or himself to exalt or lift up someone else.
I’ve always loved the story of Booker T Washington who was born in 1856 and died in 1915. During those years Booker T Washington became the most influential black leader and educator in the United States of America. He was an advisor to presidents. He advised Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft and he founded, established the Tuscany institute, today called Tuskegee University in Alabama. He was a devout Christian. Booker T Washington was a very humble man.
One afternoon he decided to take a walk. It was during the fall and the day was cold. He left the Tuskegee institute and began to walk. He had a lot of energy that day, so he walked a long way further than he had ever walked. He walked into a white suburban area where he had never been before and where no blacks lived. He saw the big homes and the wealthy people. As he walked through this neighborhood there was a wealthy woman in front of her house, and she saw him walking down the street. Since it was the late fall and winter was coming on she said, “Mister, I need someone to help me chop some wood.” Booker T Washington came over and said, “I’ll help you.” For four hours he chopped wood, stacking the wood by the side of this wealthy person’s house, and bringing some of the wood into the living room and placing it neatly by the fireplace.
When Booker T Washington was done, the woman offered him a few pennies and he politely refused. With a smile he walked away and went on his way. The woman had not recognized him, but her daughter did. Her daughter came into the living room and said, “Mom, do you realize who that was? That was Booker T Washington. You just had Booker T Washington chop your firewood.” The mother was embarrassed. The next day she went to the Tuskegee institute, and she found Booker T Washington in his office. She apologized and she said, “I’m so sorry I did not know who you were.” He said, “Oh that’s alright. I really needed the exercise.” Then he smiled and he said, “Besides, it’s always a pleasure to do a favor for a friend.”
That was amazingly gracious and unbelievably humble because Booker T Washington surely knew that she had only asked him to chop her firewood because he was black, and she had only apologized because he was famous, but he was a humble man.
Throughout history and today there are many humble people, many humble women, many humble men, but I tell you no one has ever been humble like Jesus. No one is as humble as the Son of Man. And in John chapter 13, we read how Jesus girded himself with a towel and washed his disciples’ feet and that was humble. But far more humble bus is coming into our world his birth in Bethlehem. What kind of humility would lead him to so lower himself that he would leave heaven’s throne of glory, and come to earth, and take our flesh upon himself in what theologian’s call, “the Incarnation.” What led him to come and live amongst us experiencing our joy in our sorrow? What led him to Calvary? What led him to the cross? Why did he become the Son of Man?
In Philippians, chapter 2, the Bible says, “have this mind in you, which is yours and Jesus Christ who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be clutched but he emptied himself, taking on the form of a servant and being born in the likeness of man. Being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even unto death on a cross.”
He came into our world. He shared our humanity. He was whipped and scourged and spat upon, crucified. He lowered himself and he did it for us. That is why he is called, “the Son of Man,” “bruised our iniquities, wounded for our transgressions.” He shared our humanity. He came, you see, to represent us.
I think we understand the concept of representation. We use and experience representation in many ways, in our culture and in our world. Last weekend Barb and I were in Kansas City. I was doing a wedding for some friends there. We planned to fly home last Saturday, and I planned to be here last Sunday, but of course there was the big blizzard here in Denver. DIA was shut down. Barb and I tried to get a later flight on Saturday, and there were none. We tried to come home on Sunday and there were no flights coming into Denver from Kansas City. We weren’t able to come home until Monday.
Sunday afternoon we were holed up in our hotel room and it was sleeting rain outside. I decided I wanted to see the Bronco game and it wasn’t on TV. Barb and I went down to the street to a sports bar. It was about a half block away. We took our umbrella. We went into this sports bar. It was a smoke-filled place and there were a lot of people. A lot of them were drinking more than they should and the food was lousy. They had TV sets all over the sports bar. They only had two games on. They had the Kansas City game. The Chiefs were playing the Rams. Then they had the Bronco game. The Broncos were playing the Bills.
All these TV sets, but just those two games. The people in that sports bar wanted the Broncos to lose. The people in that sports bar wanted the chiefs to win. Whenever Kansas City in their game scored, the place just went crazy. I mean everybody just jumped up and they were giving high fives to each other. They were throwing their fists in the air, and they were going “yes!” They were just wild, and the noise was unbelievable. Barb had brought some books thinking she was going to read. It never happened.
But you see, they were Kansas City Chiefs fans. They felt somehow like the Kansas City Chiefs were actually representing them. Isn’t that a weird phenomenon? I mean my guess is there’s not anyone in that sports bar who knew a player on the Kansas City Chiefs and yet somehow they are identified with the Kansas City Chiefs and when the chief scored, they scored. When the Chiefs won, you could tell that they felt like they won. Surely if the chiefs had lost, they would have felt like they last because somehow the chiefs represented them. That’s how it is in the world of spores all over the nation and all around the world. Teams represent cities. Teams represent people, and people identify vicariously.
We understand representation. There are more significant forms of representation in our world. There is political representation in our nation and that’s founded on democracy. From the United States Congress to the state legislature, we have representatives. They are those who represent us at federal levels of government, state, city and county. All kinds of people in our lifetime will represent us. Some we choose. Some we don’t.
The Bible says the first person to represent you was named Adam. The first people representing us were named Adam and Eve. It doesn’t matter whether you believe in evolution or whether you don’t. The Roman Catholic Church has officially endorsed macroevolution. The Southern Baptists have officially renounced evolution. But, you see, on this, and I must say I would be closer to the Baptist at that point, but on this, Baptist and Catholics agree. There came a moment of divine inbreathing, Genesis, chapter 2, verse one, “and the image of God was imparted, and they were made in the image and likeness of God” and they were given volition, moral autonomy and thereby culpability. They actually had a shot at righteousness! They had a shot at holiness! It was within their capabilities, and they blew it in what theologian’s call “the fall.”
The world today is fallen. We are born fallen and people are separated from God as you saw dramatized this morning and as Evan sang. People are separated from God, and they know something is wrong. They’re looking for happiness and purpose and fulfillment and cannot find it. They try materialism and they try hedonism. They try a little ascensionism, but somehow something is missing because we’re all fallen. You might say, well you know what gave Adam and Eve the right to represent us? But you know we’re falling apart from Adam and Eve. I mean, we haven’t represented ourselves so well. Each and every one of us had times when we had some loving some compassionate opportunity and we just didn’t do it. We’ve had times when we did things that were wrong in the sight of God, and we foreknew it and did it anyway. We are fallen. We desperately need someone to represent us morally someone to represent us in righteousness and so the Son of Man came. The Bible calls him the “second Adam.” He has represented us perfectly. He lived the life Adam was meant to live. He lived a perfect, sinless, holy life. Then he went to the cross and substitutionary atonement, representing you and representing me there, dying for you and dying for me.
The Bible is so very clear that if we would embrace him as Savior and Lord, if we would acknowledge our need for a savior and receive him as Lord, he washes us white as snow. Having paid the penalty for us, he forgives us, and his righteousness is imputed to us, vested upon us. This is why he came into the world. This is why he came in humility. This is why he participated in humiliation. Why did he allow himself to be spat upon and beaten and scourged, crowned with thorns, crucified. Why? He did it because he loves us so much.
Well, this title has a second meaning. It not only refers to the earthly humiliation of Christ, but it also refers to his heavenly exaltation. Jesus used this title in both of these ways. He used the title to refer to his earthly humiliation and then he used the title to refer to his heavenly exaltation, his glory. To understand this, we need to go back to Daniel in the Old Testament. We need to look at chapter one. We’re told how, through visionary experience, Daniel the prophet was able to look through portals of time. he did this by power and inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
He was able to see future kingdoms arising on the stage of history. He saw four beasts rising out of the sea of humanity and the first beast is identified, back in Daniel, chapter 2, as the Babylonian empire. Most Bible scholars agree that the second beast rising out of the sea of humanity was that Medi-Persian Empire. The third beast, the Greek empire, and the fourth beast, the Roman Empire. Daniel, though he lived before these things, was able to look through time and see the rise of these future kingdoms.
Then he looked further in time, and he looked all the way to the consummation. He saw the end of the age. He saw ten nations arising and alignment. They had, in some sense, grown out of the fourth beast. They had, in some sense, grown out of the ancient Roman Empire. Perhaps these ten nations were to come from the culture, the heritage, the language, the peoples of the ancient Roman Empire. Perhaps these ten nations were to occupy the geographical land space of the ancient Roman Empire, but in some sense this 10-nation alignment at the close of the age came from the fourth beast. Then out of this 10-nation alignment there arose, and individual Daniel calls the “little horn.” Bible scholars agree that this is the Old Testament expression of the Antichrist.
Then suddenly the scene shifts, and Daniel looks into heaven, and he sees the Lord God almighty in throne. He sees the ancient of days surrounded by ten thousand times ten thousand. Suddenly he sees on the clouds of heaven an individual called the Son of Man. This individual called the Son of Man comes and is presented before the ancient of days to him is given all power and glory and honor. Then Daniel sees the casting down of kingdoms of men and to the Son of Man is given the eternal kingdom and he reigns and rules forever and ever. There is no doubt that oftentimes when our Lord Jesus Christ used this title, the Son of Man, he is referring to the imagery of Daniel, chapter one, and to his heavenly glory.
You know, on August 6, 1890, at the Auburn state prison in NYC, a man named William Kimmler who was a convicted axe murderer, became the first human being to be executed by the use of the electric chair, August 6, 1890. The news spread all over the world to all nations. In Africa, in Abyssinia or Ethiopia, there was a king named Menelik the second. he prided himself on his alleged descent from Solomon, the biblical Solomon, and from the queen of Sheba. He also prided himself on his courting of western technology. He believed himself to be on the cutting edge of innovation.
When he heard about the electric chair, he had to have the electric chair in Ethiopia. He wanted to execute Ethiopian criminals in the latest fashion. He wrote the United States of America and Menelik the second purchased twelve electric chairs, just like the one used at the Auburn state prison. There was one problem. In 1890, Ethiopia had no electricity. So, what was Menelik the second to do? What was he to do? Well, he took one of those electric chairs and it is a fact of history, he used it as his imperial throne. He did this for 23 years. He sat, every day, on the electric chair. Near the conclusion of his reign, he was asked how it felt to sit every day on an electric chair and he said that he felt like it made him a better ruler. He said it reminded him each day that death is near, and life is short.
Every king and kingdom need to be reminded of that because the Bible says, “all flesh is like grass and all of its glory like the flower of the grass and the grass withers and the flower falls.” The Babylonian empire is no more. Nebuchadnezzar the great who built the hanging gardens of Babylon, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, long ago faded from the earth. The Medi-Persian Empire is no more. No one has heard of Cyrus the great. The Greek empire is no more. Though Alexander the Great remains historically renowned, that Kingdom has long since faded from the earth. The Roman Empire is no more. Nobody says “hail Caesar” anymore. The British Empire is only a dim light when compared to its past glory and I promise you, if time tarries, this nation will fade. United States of America will fade overtime. it’s the way of things. A brief glimpse of history proves that.
But, you see, there’s one kingdom that lasts forever and it is the kingdom of the Son of Man. This was announced at the birth of Christ, that of his kingdom and of its increased, there would be no end. Today, 1.7 billion people called Jesus Christ Lord, and his kingdom grows because he is the heavenly Son of Man. One day he will come again, and every eye will see him. He will be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels. As the lightning shines from the east to the west, Jesus said so shall the coming of the Son of Man be.
I noticed this week in the Denver Post that The Associated Press has released a survey result. Apparently 265 million Americans today believe that Jesus Christ will come back in their lifetime—265 million. And 21 million Americans say they have an urgent need to share Jesus with people because they know the time is short. I have an urgent need to share Jesus with people and it’s not because I think the time is short, although it may very well be short. Certainly, Christ is coming again. But you see, we’re all going to stand before the Son of Man whether we’re the final generation or not. He’ll judge the living and the dead. In that day when you stand before him, the issue is not going to be Yin and Yang or good and bad karma. It’s not going to be good works or deeds done in righteousness. Before a holy God, all of our righteousness is as filthy rags. When you stand before the Son of Man, the only issue is going to be, did you recognize the need for a Savior, and did you embrace Jesus as savior and Lord?
There are really only two options. You can stand there on that day, and you can represent yourself and that’s a scary thing. are you can stand there, and you can be represented by the Son of Man who lived a holy life for you and who died for you. So, this is the invitation of the gospel, to receive Christ as Lord and savior. When he comes again, he will receive his people unto himself. Jesus, when the Son of Man comes from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him shall be gathered all the nations and he will separate them one from the other as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will say to those on his right hand, “come and be blessed of my father inherit the kingdom prepared for you from before the foundation of the world.” But to those on his left hand, he will say “depart from me.”
This morning as we closed the service, we want to give you an opportunity to receive Christ as Lord and savior we want you to know that as you leave, out in the welcome center in the lobby, there will be people there who would love to talk to you. We’ll have people ready to pray with you down front after the service if you would like to pray with somebody. I’m going to give you a chance as we close in prayer for you to just to invite the Son of Man to be your representative, your savior and Lord. I want you to know to that in the grace notes there is a visitor’s card. If you’re a visitor, we’d like you to fill it out. There’s a little box there that you should check. If you would like to talk to somebody about a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ loves you and has come to rescue you. Let’s close with the word of prayer.