Okay, the final one. Let’s have a look at this one. The son of man is actually the fulfilment of prophecy.
Specifically, the fulfilment of the prophecy of Daniel chapter 7 verses 13 to 14.
A very interesting scripture. Someday, perhaps we’ll do a longer study on this particular passage and its application in the New Testament. But in the context of the scripture, I’m just going to read to you, Daniel has been given a vision, a revelation of coming world empires. The vision shows empires as beasts rising up out of the sea interpreted as coming empires from the time of Daniel: Babylon, Greece, Persia, and Rome.
In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions of his head while on his bed. Then he wrote down the dream, telling the main facts.
2 Daniel spoke, saying, “I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the Great Sea. 3 And four great beasts came up from the sea, each different from the other. 4 The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings. I watched till its wings were plucked off; and it was lifted up from the earth and made to stand on two feet like a man, and a man’s heart was given to it.
5 “And suddenly another beast, a second, like a bear. It was raised up on one side, and had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. And they said thus to it: ‘Arise, devour much flesh!’
6 “After this I looked, and there was another, like a leopard, which had on its back four wings of a bird. The beast also had four heads, and dominion was given to it.
7 “After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong. It had huge iron teeth; it was devouring, breaking in pieces, and trampling the residue with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. 8 I was considering the horns, and there was another horn, a little one, coming up among them, before whom three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots. And there, in this horn, were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking pompous words. Daniel 7:1-8
All these empires are going to rise and oppress Israel.
Daniel also sees a vision of the Lord seated in heaven. Then, he sees the final one, the beast or the antichrist, being thrown into the lake of fire.
Next, we have the Son of Man prophecy. Initially, the case is set against the background of human kingdoms, human empires which are going to rise and fall away. Now, he’s talking about an empire which going to rise and not fall away, which will be an eternal empire, the Kingdom of our God.
So let’s read then Daniel chapter 7 verse 13. Daniel 7:
13 “I was watching in the night visions,
And behold, One like the Son of Man,
Coming with the clouds of heaven!
He came to the Ancient of Days,
And they brought Him near before Him.
14 Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom,
That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion,
Which shall not pass away,
And His kingdom the one
Which shall not be destroyed.
Daniel sees one like the Son of Man. The Son of Man again, the glorified man.
It is interesting to note that in Ezekiel’s passage, if you read a few verses before it, you see that Ezekiel also sees a man in heaven, a glorified man in heaven. The same one, I would say, as Daniel sees here, the son of man coming with the clouds of heaven.
26 And above the firmament over their heads was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like a sapphire stone; on the likeness of the throne was a likeness with the appearance of a man high above it. 27 Also from the appearance of His waist and upward I saw, as it were, the colour of amber with the appearance of fire all around within it; and from the appearance of His waist and downward I saw, as it were, the appearance of fire with brightness all around. 28 Like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the brightness all around it. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. Ezekiel 1:26-28
Daniel says He’s coming with the clouds of heaven. The clouds of heaven can be interpreted on two different levels:
- The Shekhinah, the Glory of God. The Glory of God which filled the Temple at the time of the dedication in Solomon’s time, which is the sign that the Glory of God is present where this One is. The Shekhinah is only a sign of the dwelling of God when it appears on earth. It’s the dwelling of God on earth with humans. So the Shekhinah is the Glory of God when Jesus comes. He’s coming with the Glory of God, with all the power of God at His disposal.
- The cloud can also be the cloud of witnesses which is the angelic host and also those who’ve been redeemed and are coming back with Jesus in glorified bodies, the redeemed of the ages coming with the Lord Jesus.
He comes before the ancient of days that’s God. So he is God, but He comes bringing all this before God as He comes to the earth for the second time. And then He’s given dominion that all nations should serve Him.
It says here is a dominion which will not pass away.
The kingdoms which Daniel has been looking at in the previous verses are all kingdoms which have passed away. There’s no more Babylonian Empire, no more Greek Empire, no more Roman Empire. They’ve come and they’ve gone.
This Kingdom is going to last forever. And only a kingdom which is built by God can last forever. All human kingdoms are going to pass away. The British Empire has passed away. The European Union will pass away. The kingdoms of this world will pass away and become the Kingdom of our God and of his Christ, His Messiah. And he shall reign forever and ever. Only the kingdom of God can last forever.
15 Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” Revelation 11:15
So, only someone who is Head of the Kingdom of God, who is the Son of Man can be an eternal person, or, in other words, be God. Only God can have such a Kingdom.
And clearly the One who appears in this form is not a man in the human sense. He is the Son of Man. He’s also the divine person who is Yeshua Jesus the Messiah who came to earth and dwelt amongst us, was crucified, rose from the dead, ascended to heaven, and is coming again in power and glory.
Significantly, Jesus quotes this particular verse from Daniel on two occasions in the New Testament. In Matthew 24:30 when it says,
29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Matthew 24:29-31
In the context of Matthew 24, this comes at the end of the Tribulation period and it’s the final thing which happens when Jesus returns in power and great glory. The Son of Man coming in power and coming on the clouds of heaven fulfilling the prophecy of Daniel chapter 7 verse 13.
And Jesus applies this particular prophecy to himself and says, ‘I’m going to be the one who’s going to do this and you’re going to see this happen. Not you disciples now because you’re going to be dead long before this happens, but you will be coming back with me because I’m coming with the saints. But you will see this happen sometime in the future at the time of my Second Coming. It’s going to happen.‘
Jesus is going to come again. We do believe that in this church. We believe that there will be a Second Coming of Jesus which will happen literally as the first happen coming happened and it will happen at some time in the future. I believe, in the not too distant future because we see all the signs of the Second Coming happening now.
We see here that Jesus is going to appear and He’s going to come in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
The second time Jesus quotes Daniel 7 is interesting too. If you go to Matthew chapter 26 verses 63-65, in the context of the trial before the Sanhedrin, when the High Priest is trying to find some detail by which he can have Jesus put to death, he has various false witnesses come before him and they give all kinds of contradictory statements which Jesus doesn’t even bother answering.
And Jesus is just standing there silent, not answering the false charges because they’re not even worth considering. And the High Priest then puts him under oath and says,
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!” Matthew 26:63-64
When the High Priest says those words, Jesus has to answer. He’s saying, ‘I’m now putting you in a position where you must answer this question. You can’t just avoid it. I put you under oath by the living God. Tell us if you are the Christ, the Messiah, the son of God.‘ And he uses the phrase there, the Son of God.
Jesus said to him,
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.” Matthew 26:63-64
Then the High Priest tore his clothes saying that Jesus had spoken blasphemy.
65 Then the high priest tore his clothes, saying, “He has spoken blasphemy! What further need do we have of witnesses? Look, now you have heard His blasphemy! 66 What do you think?” Matthew 26:65-66
Can you see there you’ve got the two phrases there, Son of God and Son of Man. The High Priest says, are you the Son of God? Are you the Messiah?
And Jesus says, ‘you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Father.
Jesus is not saying the Son of Man is a different person from the Son of God. He’s saying, ‘Yeah, I am the Son of God actually, but I’m giving you the title now which Daniel gave me: the Son of Man, and you’re going to see me sitting at the right hand of the Father with His power coming on the clouds of heaven.
At some point in the future, this is going to place place again. Those people weren’t going to see it because they are long dead. Whether they see it in the spirit after they’ve died and have a think, ‘Oh no, we got that wrong!’ I don’t know. But Jesus is saying here that this is going to happen. It’s going to happen literally … hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.
And the high priest then tears his clothes. He understands exactly what He’s saying. Jesus is saying, ‘I’m the one who Daniel spoke about. I’m the Son of Man. Now you see me in humility. You see me standing before you, your victim if you like. You’re actually just about to put me on the cross. I’m going to suffer the most horrendous things. But I AM, all this time, I AM still the Son of God. I’m the Son of Man from heaven.‘
‘So watch out what you’re doing‘. They didn’t, of course, but you’re going to see this happen. And the High Priest says Jesus has spoken blasphemy. We don’t need any more witnesses. He has condemned Himself. He’s applied this prophecy of Daniel to Himself. This prophecy of Daniel is clearly speaking about one who is equal with God. And it can’t be this man standing before us. So He has blasphemed. He’s deserving of death.
The High Priest gets the point. Jesus is not only claiming to be the Messiah, but also the Son of Man who is clearly not an ordinary man, but God in some human, some visible human form.
So they handed him over to Pontius Pilate. They actually didn’t have the right to put Him to death. So they had to put up another trial before another jurisdiction, before Pontius Pilate to demonstrate he was conspiring against Rome and all that stuff. Because only the Romans could put him to death. And the Romans had to put him to death because they had to use the form of execution which is crucifixion which would fulfil another prophecy in the Book of Psalms Chapter 22, one that describes exactly a crucifixion taking place with someone having his hands and his feet pierced as happened with crucifixion, as happened to the Lord Jesus.
My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?
Why are You so far from helping Me,
And from the words of My groaning?
2 O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear;
And in the night season, and am not silent.3 But You are holy,
Enthroned in the praises of Israel.
4 Our fathers trusted in You;
They trusted, and You delivered them.
5 They cried to You, and were delivered;
They trusted in You, and were not ashamed.6 But I am a worm, and no man;
A reproach of men, and despised by the people.
7 All those who see Me ridicule Me;
They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,
8 “He trusted in the Lord, let Him rescue Him;
Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!”9 But You are He who took Me out of the womb;
You made Me trust while on My mother’s breasts.
10 I was cast upon You from birth.
From My mother’s womb
You have been My God.
11 Be not far from Me,
For trouble is near;
For there is none to help.12 Many bulls have surrounded Me;
Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled Me.
13 They gape at Me with their mouths,
Like a raging and roaring lion.14 I am poured out like water,
And all My bones are out of joint;
My heart is like wax;
It has melted within Me.
15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
And My tongue clings to My jaws;
You have brought Me to the dust of death.16 For dogs have surrounded Me;
The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me.
They pierced My hands and My feet;
17 I can count all My bones.
They look and stare at Me.
18 They divide My garments among them,
And for My clothing they cast lots.19 But You, O Lord, do not be far from Me;
O My Strength, hasten to help Me!
20 Deliver Me from the sword,
My precious life from the power of the dog.
21 Save Me from the lion’s mouth
And from the horns of the wild oxen!You have answered Me.
22 I will declare Your name to My brethren;
In the midst of the assembly I will praise You.
23 You who fear the Lord, praise Him!
All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him,
And fear Him, all you offspring of Israel!
24 For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted;
Nor has He hidden His face from Him;
But when He cried to Him, He heard.25 My praise shall be of You in the great assembly;
I will pay My vows before those who fear Him.
26 The poor shall eat and be satisfied;
Those who seek Him will praise the Lord.
Let your heart live forever!27 All the ends of the world
Shall remember and turn to the Lord,
And all the families of the nations
Shall worship before You.
28 For the kingdom is the Lord’s,
And He rules over the nations.29 All the prosperous of the earth
Shall eat and worship;
All those who go down to the dust
Shall bow before Him,
Even he who cannot keep himself alive.30 A posterity shall serve Him.
It will be recounted of the Lord to the next generation,
31 They will come and declare His righteousness to a people who will be born,
That He has done this. Psalm 22
So Jesus was going to fulfil all these prophecies. The prophecy of Isaiah 53 and the rejection of Jesus which was painful, which was also, in one sense, the devil rejecting God but also was God actually overruling it in order that His Word should be fulfilled and that Jesus should be the sacrifice for the sin of the world.
Try and work that one out for yourselves. It’s difficult but it is true.
It also represents His victory because, by going to the cross, by taking the price of our sins, He was going to defeat sin and death and live forever that we might also live forever and be saved through faith in Jesus the Messiah.
And as I said last week, if He, the Messiah, if God was going to be put to death in the person of Jesus the Messiah, He would have to rise from the dead. The last words of Jesus on the cross according to Luke’s gospel was,
“Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” Then he gave up the ghost and died.
44 Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. 45 Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two. 46 And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit.’ ” Having said this, He breathed His last.
47 So when the centurion saw what had happened, he glorified God, saying, “Certainly this was a righteous Man!”
48 And the whole crowd who came together to that sight, seeing what had been done, beat their breasts and returned. 49 But all His acquaintances, and the women who followed Him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things. Luke 23:44-49
In other words, His Spirit left His body. The body was dead. The Spirit was alive.
There is a little bit of debate about where the Spirit went, but for three days, the body lay in the grave. And on the third day, the Spirit came back into the body of Jesus, and He rose from the dead and appeared in bodily form to the disciples, to many people. Paul says that Jesus appeared to over 500 people at once at one point.
So Jesus appeared in bodily form after His resurrection. He rose from the dead. And as it says in Corinthians, Messiah died for our sins, was buried, and rose again on the third day in fulfilment of Bible prophecy in order that we might be redeemed.
And because of this, we can be saved. So, if you look follow this through, this verse from Daniel is crucial in understanding why Jesus went to the cross and also why He rose from the dead, and why He will come again the second time. Above all, it is crucial to understanding why the title of Son of Man is also a title for Son of God.
Jesus is fully God. He’s fully man. He is Son of God, Son of man. He’s deserving of both titles.
Son of Man does highlight his humanity. Also, his humility reminds us of what He’d left behind in order to become man, in order to redeem us, which tells us something about His love for you and me, God’s love for you and me, and how much you and I matter to God. Because if we didn’t matter, then He’d just leave us in the hands of the devil to be lost for eternity.
But because we do matter,
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16
I hope you’ve all received Him as Saviour. If not, now is the day of salvation. Now is the day to be reconciled to God because Jesus is the only One who can do that. He is the sinless One. He is humanity perfected, the One who came from God to reconcile God and man, to bring us into a relationship with the living God.
And finally, he says to us, Matthew 11:28,
28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30
In his great love for us, He left the glories of heaven to become man, to suffer in our place the wrath of God against sin, to rise again from the dead, to ascend to heaven, and send us the Holy Spirit that He might dwell within us while we’re in this body and prepare us for life to be with Him forever in glory.
And he’s coming again in power and in great glory to prepare a place for us in His eternal Kingdom. Praise the Lord!
Let’s just have a moment to be quiet. Maybe just one or two like to reflect on what I’ve said and just give thanks to the Lord for what He’s done for us in Jesus the Messiah.
Lord, we praise you. We thank you Lord for your great love for us. We thank you that you have come to this earth to redeem us. We thank you for all that you went through in order to do that. We thank you that you suffered, that you even suffered by just being here on the earth as you left the glories of heaven to dwell in this sin-stained earth.
We thank you Lord. You suffered the indignity and the horror and the pain of the cross. You suffered the ultimate pain of having the sin of the world placed upon you. We thank you dear Lord.
You did all that for us. And we thank you that you rose again from the dead to give eternal life to all those who believe in you. We give you thanks and praise for your great love for us. In Jesus’ Name. Amen. Amen.
Amen.