The Son of Man in Dan. 7, Judaism, and the Gospels [Part 3]

 

The "son of Man" sayings of Jesus are generally placed into the following 3 categories:

- The earthly sayings (Matthew 8:20; 11:19; 13:37; Luke 19:10)

- The sayings which speak of His suffering (Matthew 12:40; 17:12; 20:28; 26:24; Mark 9:12-13; 10:45; 14:21)

- the sayings which speak of the Son of Man in the future [the "future sayings"] (Matthew 10:23; 13:41-43; 16:27)

There is a lot of scholarly debate as to whether or not the Son of Man sayings are authentic. Rudolf Bultmann, for example, views the eschatological [future] sayings as being authentic, but, as far as I know, dismisses the rest as inauthentic. Many who hold this view may argue that the Son of Man sayings were invented by the early church in some way. However, there are some problems with this idea:

"The idea that this expression was solely the product of the early church faces two significant questions that bring a post-Easter church view into doubt. (1) Why was this title so massively retrojected, seemingly being placed on Jesus’ lips in an exclusive way unlike any other major title, such as ‘Lord’, ‘Son of God’ and ‘Messiah’? (2) If this title was fashioned by the early church and was created as the self-designation of Jesus, why has it left almost no trace in non-Gospel NT literature, unlike the other titles?" (Raymond Brown, The Death of the Messiah, Vol 1, pg. 507)

"I am simply unable to believe that the so-called earliest Palestinian community (that is, in reality, his closest disciples) made him the resurrected Son of Man after the appearances, and then quickly suppressed the cipher because it was unsuitable for mission proclamation, while at the same time being extremely careful to insure that in the gospels tradition only Jesus speaks of the Son of Man, never his disciples, just as the Messiah title was strictly held at a distance from him in the production of the dominical sayings. Radical critical exegetes seem to me to be too trusting here. In a similar context, A. Schlatter speaks of the ‘conjecture that creates “history”’." (Martin Hengel, Studies in Early Christology, pgs. 59-60)

"It is curious that many scholars doubt the authenticity of “Son of Man” when it clearly matches the criterion of dissimilarity. The phrase is scarcely used outside the Gospels, and so we do not have an example of a term that was a favorite in the writings of the early church. If the church placed the title on the lips of the historical Jesus, we have difficulty understanding why it is lacking elsewhere in the NT.....If one accepts the standard solution to the Synoptic problem, then the term also fits the criterion of multiple attestation. It occurs in Mark fourteen times, in the Q material eleven times, in the special M material six times, in the special L material seven times, and in the Gospel of John thirteen times. The remarkable variety of contexts in which the term occurs constitutes significant evidence supporting authenticity," (Thomas R. Schreiner, New Testament Theology, pg. 223)

For more information on the criteria of authenticity, see this article. 

Some think that the Son of Man and Jesus are two different figures, generally appealing to Luke 12:8 to find support for such a view. However, commentators have seen the clear flaw in this argument:

"Some argue that the Son of Man and Jesus are distinct figures in this passage. but such usage would make this an exception to Jesus' pattern of using the term in reference to himself." (Darrell L. Bock, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, 2 vols, source)

"For the attempt to distinguish Jesus and the Son of Man in this verse, see comments on 9:26." (Robert H. Stein,  New American Bible Commentary: Luke, pg. 348)

Obviously, we need to see what Stein says on Lk. 9:26:

"Attempts have been made to distinguish between Jesus and the Son of Man in this verse because the Son of referred to in the third person (cf. also Luke 12:8; 22:69; Matt. 19:28), but no Evangelist interpreted these sayings in this way. It is better to interpret the Son of Man sayings in the third person as referring not to two different persons but rather to two different states: Jesus' present lowly condition and his future glory and exaltation." (Robert H. Stein, New American Bible Commentary: Luke, pg. 280)

Hopefully, this article provided you with a brief overview and some of the evidence in favor of the authenticity of the Son of man sayings of the Lord Jesus Christ.