“Christ, the Son of Man, the Son of God”
Luke 22:63-71
If You are the Christ, tell us…. [Luke 22:67]; Hereafter the Son of Man will sit on the right hand of the power of God.” [Luke 22:69]; Then they all said, “Are You then the Son of God?” [Luke 22:70]
Here in just a few verses are three titles of our Lord. We are familiar with the name “Jesus Christ.” But His name is only Jesus, which means God is salvation. Christ is His title. Christ means “anointed.” Jesus is the Anointed of God. The Hebrew word is “Messiah.” Jews today are still awaiting a man to come as their Messiah, having rejected Jesus as their Messiah.
Regarding “Son of Man,” this phase is used more frequently to denote Jesus than any other. It was even the dominant phrase that Jesus Himself used. It appears in all four Gospels: thirty times in Matthew, fourteen in Mark, twenty-five in Luke, and thirteen in John. It is also found in Acts 7:56; Hebrews 2:6, and Revelation 14:14.
But why did Jesus refer to Himself almost exclusively as “Son of Man,” when Christians claim He is the Son of God? Does this deny His deity? Geisler commented that “The literal meaning of the words does not necessarily convey the literal meaning of the expression. A lot of projects are ‘in the bag’ that would not literally fit into a grocery sack or duffel bag. An organization’s ‘board,’ is not a wood plank, the original meaning of the word. Context has to help us understand this expression.”
And so, we must go to these Son of Man passages for context to get proper understanding of the expression. A striking one is in Mark 2:10. “But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins – He said to the paralytic, I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” While Son of Man stresses Jesus’ humanity, in this passage it affirms His deity. For only God can forgive sins. And that was why the religious leaders wanted to stone Him, for blasphemy, for He a mere man claimed to be God.
A similar passage comes in our text this morning. “If you are the Christ, tell us” [Lk 22:67]. “Are you then the Son of God?” [Lk 22:70]. And, too, in this context Jesus refers to Himself as the “Son of Man” [Lk 22:69].
It is important that we understand His title: Christ [Messiah]. It is also important that we understand that Jesus is fully Man [Son of Man]; and fully God [Son of God]. The Scribes and Pharisees understood very well what Jesus was claiming. And that was why they wanted to do away with Him.
