Why did Jesus say authority was given to him to execute judgement because he is the "Son of Man"? Wouldn't "Son of God" make more sense?
Jesus used the terms "Son of God" and "Son of Man" inter-changeably in many places in scripture, to convey that he is both God and man. In the context of John 5:27, wouldn't it make more sense for Jesus to say that the "Son of God" has the authority to judge?
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Asked March 21 2014
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Colin Wong
Supporter
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Sung Park
Your question is a thoughtful one since "the Son of God" title seems to be more befitting for someone with the authority to judge. The title "Son of God" was not often used during the biblical times. We find "son of man" used several times referring to the prophets in visions (Ezek. 3:4; Ps. 8:4) Of all the titles, Jesus himself most frequently referred to himself as "the Son of Man." When Jesus himself used this title, he wasn't necessarily emphasizing his humanity (although there is intentional double meaning in the title which he liked) but rather as the title which comes from the OT Daniel 7:13 where Daniel see the vision of the Ancient of Days: "I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him." You can also see Jesus referring himself as "the Son of Man" in Matthew 24 in the apocalyptic context as the one coming in glory and power. (v. 30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, 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.) Apostle John writes in Revelations 1:13 which is the similar image found in Daniel. There are books written on this topic as you can imagine.
Drea Drea
The following is today's Devo on the Charles Spurgeon's app: "The Son of man." John 3:13 How constantly our Master used the title, the "Son of man!" If he had chosen, he might always have spoken of himself as the Son of God, the Everlasting Father, the Wonderful, the Counsellor, the Prince of Peace; but behold the lowliness of Jesus! He prefers to call himself the Son of man. Let us learn a lesson of humility from our Saviour; let us never court great titles nor proud degrees. There is here, however, a far sweeter thought. Jesus loved manhood so much, that he delighted to honour it; and since it is a high honour, and indeed, the greatest dignity of manhood, that Jesus is the Son of man, he is wont to display this name, that he may as it were hang royal stars upon the breast of manhood, and show forth the love of God to Abraham's seed. Son of man—whenever he said that word, he shed a halo round the head of Adam's children. Yet there is perhaps a more precious thought still. Jesus Christ called himself the Son of man to express his oneness and sympathy with his people. He thus reminds us that he is the one whom we may approach without fear. As a man, we may take to him all our griefs and troubles, for he knows them by experience; in that he himself hath suffered as the "Son of man," he is able to succour and comfort us. All hail, thou blessed Jesus! Inasmuch as thou art evermore using the sweet name which acknowledges that thou art a brother and a near kinsman, it is to us a dear token of thy grace, thy humility, thy love. "Oh see how Jesus trusts himself Unto our childish love, As though by his free ways with us Our earnestness to prove! His sacred name a common word On earth he loves to hear; There is no majesty in him Which love may not come near."
joyce whaley
The scripture stated here is accurate; Jesus is the Son of Man to execute judgment. Basically the Lord Jesus is saying that he fulfilled all the prophecies in the scriptures that were handed down before his coming. He reconciled the world back to himself/God (2 Corinthians 5:19) as the Son of Man. He did everything the first Adam and all of those great men and women of God could not do in their flesh, power and might. JESUS DID IT ALL IN HIS FLESHLY BODY not his glorified body. So when he does judge this world he will judge knowing what can and cannot be done in this body through our mere limitations, for the scriptures clearly states (Philippians 4:13) “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.”
Faith Cross
I believe that Jesus often referred to himself as "The Son of Man" as an identification that He was the Promised One, The Messiah. He was the Promised Seed of Abraham refered to in Gal 3:15-16, He was the Immanuel born of a Virgin from Isaiah 7:14, the Rod of Jesse from Isaiah 11:2, Lion of Judah, Son of David. All of these references pointed to a human being, the off spring of other humans who had lived on the earth. In every way, and from all of the prophesies that they knew so well, he was saying that He was their Messiah. But to be human (Son of Man) and also have the authority of God to judge the earth, which made Him Son of God, He could only be one person; their promised Messiah.
Tim Collinson
I was wondering if it all comes down to Jesus laying aside all authority in his human form, having stripped himself of all total Godhood having and still was one with the Father. Adam before he fell should have had total authority and judgement on the earth (being in fellowship with the Father of course). Jesus died as a human because it had to be a human to take the punishment for humanity. It says that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself. Where Adam failed and brought sin into the world; Jesus fulfilled everything required to undo all that Adam did, therefore in his humanity 100% and also being fully God 100% the Father then gave him all authority and because he (Jesus) is the only mediator between man and God...he alone has right to judge. Also as a man, Jesus faced every trial and temptation in his humanity just as any one does and yet even in his humanity he did not sin. — just my thoughts btw. key verse Philippians 2:5-11 *btw the term son of man was also used for a prophet.* Jesus being called the Son of man was the Prophet that Moses said would come in Deuteronomy 18:15*
Salem Markus Purba
Well, we all know well that God is faithful to his words and all the prophecies God had made through prophets in the Old Testament will be fulfilled. Jesus is faithful as Our Father is, as in Genesis 1:26-28, " Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that moves along the ground." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. So, man was given an authority from God to rule the world when they were created, but these authorities were taken away when man fall into sin (Genesis 3:1-24). Through Jesus, sins of man who believes are taken away and all the authorities of man restored (John 5:24-30; Mathew 28:18-20). Jesus said that the authority was given to him to excecute judgement because He is the "Son of Man",was a confirmation for believers: their sins are forgiven and their authorities restored.
Pastor Shafer
John 5:26-27 (KJV)26 For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; 27 And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. HE WAS BOTH SON OF GOD AND SON OF MAN [so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself] As God this could not be true, but as the Son of man all life-giving powers and all authority to redeem and judge were given by the Father through the Holy Spirit Isaiah 11:1-2 (KJV)1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: 2 And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; Isaiah 42:1-4 (KJV)1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.. Isaiah 61:1 (KJV) The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; Acts 10:38 (KJV) How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him. Matthew 12:28 (KJV) But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.
Bruce Lyon
The question is: "Why did Jesus say authority was given to him to execute judgement because he is the "Son of Man"? Wouldn't "Son of God" make more sense?" Jesus said all authority had been given to him to execute judgement because he was the "son of man" because he wanted to place emphasis that this authority was give to him as a man, a human being. The emphasis is on his being at the time he spoke a human being!
EL Mohel Castorena
The importance is in the term "Son of Man", which is a title,was utilized as a pointer for us who are Jewish to discover him. For at that time we were looking "for the one to come". Yeshua by the fact that he clams this title " The Son of Man" (See Numbers 23:19) asserts the fact of who he is and in Mat 26:63-64 referred to himself as the fulfillment of the ALL-POWERFULL "SON OF MAN" at the right hand of Power who will shortly come and rule. Hence the verse in Mat 26:65 "He has spoken Blasphemy". I am sorry, but no, the 'Son of G_D' would not make more sense.
Billy P Eldred
To answer your specific question, my answer is no. If you were hungry and you stole a can of beans for your family to eat, would you rather a ruler who had never had a hungry day in his life choose your punishment or someone who had been just as hungry as you were? If you were guilty of adultery, would you rather someone who had never been tempted decide whether to kick you out of church or someone who had been tempted? If you needed help, would it mean more for someone to help you who could hire someone to help, or for someone to sacrifice his own time and effort to help you? If you needed someone to die for you, would you appreciate it more if He had to suffer on the cross to pay for your sins? Jesus called Himself the son of man because He was a man. He was tempted as we are tempted. He suffered beyond what we suffer. He DESERVED the Authority to judge us not just because He was the Son of God, but BECAUSE He chose to come to us as a man!
Donald Woody
The tile "Son of Man" is the title Jesus takes that identifies His Human side or humanity. Jesus is in fact the very thing that all the Roman emperors claimed to be i.e. men who became Gods. Jesus is God who came as man but did not divest Himself of His Deity/Divinity. That is why His body went with Him physically when He ascended into Heaven. His physical body is current with Him in heaven. Jesus is both God and Man, anyone who denies this is called the an antichrist as mention in the epistles of the apostle John.
Danny Hickman
Supporter
We hear the word judge and we think of someone adjudicating law, passing judgement, someone deciding cases, administering justice. That's not the way "judge" is meant when it refers to the Judges of Israel before they had kings, or of Jesus. Another meaning for the office of Judge is to be an intercessor, one who intervenes, an advocate. This is what is meant by saying that Jesus will judge between the nations and between many peoples. (Isa 2:4, Mic 4:3). It means He will intercede for the nations, He will advocate for many peoples. Jesus isn't a threat to mankind. He is a Savior. He's going to INTERCEDE for His chosen ones, just as He did for the whole world at His advent (Jn 3:16). Those who call on the name of the Lord will be saved Rom 10:13. If it meant that Jesus will administer justice we'd all be doomed. WE BROKE THE LAW, WE'RE GUILTY. That's why He interceded. He gave His life in place of us having to lose our lives. That's an INTERCESSOR, not a critic. So, when He says 'authority was given to Him to execute judgment, He means He has been allowed to INTERCEDE BECAUSE HE IS A MAN. He didn't declare man not guilty. He didn't make a case to His Father for us to be forgiven for what we were guilty of. Jesus, a man, TOOK OUR PUNISHMENT. HE DIED. The wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23). The misunderstanding is that "execute judgment" is thought to mean something AGAINST us. It is ON OUR BEHALF. Samson JUDGED Israel. The same is said of Gideon, Deborah, Jephthah and others. They didn't decide cases between complainants; they advocated for Israel, they "stood in the gap." They interceded between Israel and God, and between Israel and their enemies. They were a "shadow" of who Jesus would be. So no, He wouldn't be eligible to "execute judgment" as the Son of God, the Advocate would have to be the Son of Man. Read it in that context and it testifies to the truth of who Jesus is. He is our Savior, not our prosecutor. He said He didn't come to condemn the world, but that through Him the world would be saved (Jn 3:17). (He qualified that quite nicely in the next verse). He doesn't need to condemn anyone, because unbelievers ARE ALREADY condemned for not believing (vs 18). He makes believers out of unbelievers. EVERYBODY begins as an unbeliever, condemned. He doesn't have to do anything to condemn the ALREADY condemned. So, He saves, the thing He was sent to do. If the church will advertise Jesus as the Savior that He is instead of forecasting terror, the gospel will do the rest.
Pastor Tony Lane
It is now uncommon that a leader has more than one title, I as a leader have several titles. Pastor, Elder, to my church, Father to my children, Husband to my wife. Etc. Jesus is a leader send from God who also is part of the Godhead (The Trinity). What He say is true because of who He is.
Kenneth Heck
The title "Son of Man" is a translation of "Son of Adam." As a true son of Adam in the flesh, he inherits all the authority of the original Adam. This is why he is called the Second Adam, or Last Adam in 1 Cor. 15:45-47. Of course, the first Adam lost much of his original authority at the Fall, but the last Adam (Christ) succeeded in withstanding temptation. Ezekiel was also called "son of man" perhaps because as a priest in exile in Babylon he was given more spiritual authority than a normal prophet would have had in the Jewish homeland.
Jack Gutknecht
The Father has submitted all judgment to the Son (John 5:22) and has given Him the position to execute judgment (John 5:27). Today Jesus Christ is the Savior, however, one day He will sit as the Judge. The title "Child of man" utilized in John 5:27 alludes to Daniel 7:13-14 and is a clear messianic title. It is utilized multiple times in John's gospel and more than multiple times in every one of the four accounts. The Jews would know this title from their perusing of the book of Daniel, and they would realize that by utilizing it, Jesus was professing to be the Savior and the Judge.
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