Son of man

From Wiki Maria Valtorta
Youth of Jesus, James Tissot, Brooklyn Museum

For the Jews of the time, ben adam ("son of man" in Hebrew)[1] simply means "a man", "a human being". He is a man like others. In the New Testament, it is always Jesus who uses the expression to speak of himself (except for Stephen's vision in.[2] It is not a title given to him from outside (like "Son of David" or "Rabbi"), but a self-designation. It is used more than 80 times in the Gospels.[3]

Theological Significance[edit | edit source]

By this expression, Jesus therefore insists on his humanity similar to that of other men: a humble condition.[4] But it also hides his messianic and divine role because the expression "Son of man" appears about 107 times in the Old Testament, including 93 times in the book of Ezekiel alone (where God addresses the prophet: "Son of man, arise…[5]). It is also present in Job, Psalms, Numbers, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Daniel,[6] where it takes on the very particular meaning of a heavenly messianic figure. Jesus thus introduces his Mission of suffering.[7] He also introduces his future and eschatological glory, for it is the "Son of man" who will come back at the end of times.[8]

"Son of man" (a man like any other) is therefore not a denial of the divinity of Jesus, but a way to emphasize that he truly lived as we do: he experienced hunger, fatigue, suffering, and death. Thus, by this expression that Jesus uses for himself, we are reminded that the Savior chose the human condition in order to make possible our reconciliation with God.[9]

In the work of Maria Valtorta[edit | edit source]

This relation to humanity, as well as the union of the two natures in Jesus (Hypostatic Union), are central points in the work of Maria Valtorta because they constitute the Redemption. Jesus explains it:
"I was, I am, the Son of the Most High God. But I was also the Son of man. I want this double nature of Mine, equally complete and perfect, to emanate very clearly from these pages.[10]

My word, which has accents that only a God can have, bears witness to My Divinity. My necessities and passions, and the sufferings that I show you and I suffered in My flesh of a true Man, and that I propose to you as an example for your humanity, as I teach your spirits with My doctrine of true God, bear witness to My Humanity.

Both My most holy Divinity and My most perfect Humanity, in the course of ages, through the breaking up action of “your” imperfect humanity, have resulted disparaged and distorted in their explanation. You have made My Humanity appear unreal, inhumane, as you have made My divine figure look small, denying so many parts of it, because it was not convenient for you to recognise them or that you could no longer recognise with your spirits impaired by the tabes of vice and atheism, of humanism, of rationalism.

I am coming, in this tragic hour,[11] a prodrome[12] of universal misfortunes, to call My double figure of God and of Man back to your minds, so that you may know it for what it is, you may recognise it after so much obscurantism, with which you have concealed it from your spirits, and you may love it and go back to it and save yourselves by means of It. It is the figure of your Saviour and he, who knows it and loves it, will be saved.[13]

In "The Gospel as Revealed to Me"[edit | edit source]

Jesus calls Himself Son of man[edit | edit source]

In one of his first teachings to the Apostles, Jesus explains the role of his humanity.
"I solemnly tell you that I am not perfect by Myself, if you think I am prophet. No man is perfect. But I am perfect because He Who is speaking to you is the Word of the Father: part of God. His thought that becomes Word. I have Perfection in Myself. And you must believe Me to be such if you believe that I am the Word of the Father. And yet, see, My friends, I want to be called the Son of man because I lower Myself taking upon Myself all the miseries of man, to bear them as My first scaffold, and cancel them, after bearing them, without suffering from them Myself. What a burden, My friends! But I bear it with joy. It is a joy for Me to bear it, because, since I am the Son of mankind, I will make mankind once again the child of God. As it was on the first day." [14]

God sent his Son to be Son of man[edit | edit source]

During the preparatory retreat for apostolic life, Jesus revisits the meaning of the Ten Commandments. On this occasion, he explains the privileged relationship of God with man and thus motivates Redemption.
"Man is thus the favoured creature of God.[15] Even if he is now guilty, he is still the dearest creature to Him. That is witnessed by the fact the He sent His own Word, not an angel, not an archangel, not a cherub, not a seraph, but His own Word, clad with human flesh,[16] to save man. He did not deem that flesh unworthy[17] to make Him liable to suffer and expiate, Who being a Most Pure Spirit Himself, could not have suffered and expiated the sin of man.[18]

The Father said to Me: “You shall become man: the Man. I made one. He was as perfect as everything I make. He was destined to a peaceful life, a most peaceful final sleep, a happy awakening and a most happy eternal life in My celestial Paradise. But You know that nothing contaminated may enter our Paradise, because there I-We, one and trine God, have Our throne. Only holiness is allowed to stand before it. I am He Who I am.[19] My divine nature, our mysterious being can be known only to those who are without sin. Now man, in Adam and through Adam, is foul. Go. Cleanse him. I want it. From now on You shall be the Man. The First-Born.[20] Because You will be the first to enter here with mortal flesh deprived of sin, with a soul deprived of the original sin.[21] Those who have preceded You on the earth and those who will come after You, will receive life through Your death of a Redeemer”.[22] Only one who was born can die. I was born and I will die.

Man is the favoured creature of God. Now tell Me: if a father has many children, but one is his darling, the apple of his eye, and that one is killed, will that father not suffer more than he would have suffered if another son had been killed? That should not happen because a father should be just to all his children. But it happens because man is not perfect. God can do so with justice because man is the only creature, amongst all created things, who has a spiritual soul in common with his Creator Father, an undeniable sign of his divine paternity."[23]

Perception of the Son of man[edit | edit source]

It is in the region of Caesarea Philippi that Jesus asks this question to his Apostles: "Who do people say that the Son of man is?" Only Matthew, an eyewitness, reports it in these terms.[24] This is echoed by Maria Valtorta.[25] Mark[26] and Luke[27] phrase it more generally: "Who do the people (the crowds) say I am?" but afterwards speak of the "Son of man". John does not mention the episode. The answer that Jesus receives, as reported in the work of Maria Valtorta, is an opportunity to see how Jesus' humanity is perceived, yesterday as today:
«But the people you approach in a simple friendly way, more than I do, without making them feel uneasy, as I may do, who do they say that I am? And who do they say the Son of Man is?»

«Some say that You are Jesus, that is the Christ, and they are the best. Some say that You are a Prophet, some only a Rabbi, others, and You know, say that You are mad and possessed.»

«But some call You by the same name that You use[28] and they say: “Son of man”.»

«And some say that that is not possible, because the Son of man is a different thing. But that is not always a denial. Because in actual fact they acknowledge that You are more than the Son of man: You are the Son of God. Others instead say that You are not even the Son of man, but a poor man agitated by Satan or deranged by madness. You can thus see that there are many different opinions» says Bartholomew.

«What is the Son of man, therefore, according to the people?»

«He is a man in whom there are all the most beautiful virtues of men, a man gifted with all the requisites of intelligence, wisdom, grace, which we think were in Adam, to which some add the gift of not having to die. You know that there is already a rumor that John the Baptist is not dead. They say that he was only carried elsewhere by angels and that Herod, and above all Herodias, to prevent people from saying that they had been defeated by God, killed a servant, had him beheaded and then showed his mutilated body saying it was the corpse of the Baptist. People say so many things! So many think that the Son of man is either Jeremiah, or Elijah, or one of the Prophets, or the Baptist, who was gifted with grace and wisdom and said that he was the Precursor of the Christ. Christ: the Anointed of God. The Son of man: a great man, born of man. Some cannot admit, or do not want to admit, that God has sent His Son to the earth. You said so yesterday: “Only those will believe who are convinced of the infinite goodness of God”. Israel believes more in God’s severity than in His goodness…» says Bartholomew again.

«Yes. They feel so undeserving that they consider it impossible that God has been so good as to send His Word to save them. The degraded state of their souls is a hindrance to their believing that» confirms the Zealot. And he adds: «You say that You are the Son of God and of man. In fact in You there is all grace and wisdom as man. And I really think that he who was born of Adam in the state of grace, would have been like You in beauty and intelligence and all virtues. The power of God shines in You. But who can believe that among those who consider themselves gods and judge God by their standards in their infinite pride? Cruel, hateful, greedy, impure as they are, they cannot possibly think that God has gone to such an extreme of kindness as to give Himself to redeem them, His love to save them, His generosity to be at their mercy, His purity to sacrifice His life among men. Since they are so inflexible and captious in looking for faults and punishing them, they cannot believe that.» [29]
This passage illustrates well the versatility of the title "Son of man" in the Jewish popular Consciousness: sometimes understood as a simple great man, sometimes as a prophet, sometimes as a mystery exceeding humanity—but rarely recognized as the incarnate Son of God.
  1. A simple man: The people think that the "Son of man" is a virtuous man, gathering all the original qualities of Adam. Emphasis is placed on his human condition, but in its perfection. Jesus is "true man", born of Mary, without sin. His humanity is real and complete. He can identify with our weaknesses and offer us true redemption. At the same time, he is the "good Adam", the second Adam[30] who repairs man's fall. His life, death, and resurrection open the way to the regained dignity of every human being.
  2. A prophet or a messenger: People identify Jesus with the Baptist, Jeremiah, Elijah, or another prophet. As a man, he becomes the "mediator between God and men".[31] Without this role, Grace could not be transmitted to humanity.
  3. An eschatological and heavenly figure: Some vaguely recognize that Jesus is "more than the Son of man", sensing his divine dimension. But many resist because it seems impossible to them that a God of goodness could humble himself to incarnate. The title refers to the eternal kingship promised in Daniel: the "Son of man" receives a reign that will never end.[32] The humanity of Christ in no way detracts from his divinity and salvific authority.

Notes and references[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ In Aramaic "bar enash". In Greek "ho huios tou anthrōpou".
  2. ↑ Acts 7:56.
  3. ↑ Matthew: 30 times | Mark: 14 times | Luke: 25 times | John: 13 times | Acts of the Apostles: 1 time.
  4. ↑ Matthew 8:20.
  5. ↑ Ezekiel 2:1.
  6. ↑ 7:13-14.
  7. ↑ Mark 8:31 | Mark 10:45.
  8. ↑ Matthew 24:30 | Mark 14:62.
  9. ↑ Cf. Philippians 2:5-8: "Have in yourselves the same disposition that is in Christ Jesus: Christ Jesus, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped. But he emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, becoming like men. Recognized as a man in his appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death—death on a cross."
  10. ↑ The Gospel as Revealed to Me.
  11. ↑ World War II.
  12. ↑ Forewarning sign.
  13. ↑ GRM 603.1/2.
  14. ↑ GRM 54.5. See also Colossians 1:22.
  15. ↑ Cf. Genesis 1:27 | John 1:14.
  16. ↑ Cf. John 1:14 | Philippians 2:6-7.
  17. ↑ The flesh, indeed, is not unworthy: the body, created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27) and incarnated by the Word, possesses intrinsic dignity and serves as a means of Grace.
  18. ↑ Indeed, Catholic theology affirms that Christ has two natures: divine (impassible) and human (capable of suffering). It is not that the "Very Pure Spirit" cannot suffer, but that suffering occurs in his human nature (cf. the Doctrine of Hypostatic Union).
  19. ↑ Cf. Exodus 3:14.
  20. ↑ Cf. Colossians 1:15 | Revelation 1:5.
  21. ↑ Cf. Romans 5:12-21 |1 Corinthians 15:22.
  22. ↑ Cf. Hebrews 2:14-15 | 1 Peter 2:24.
  23. ↑ GRM 126.3. Cf. also 2 Corinthians 6:16 | 1 Peter 1:16.
  24. ↑ Matthew 16:13: "Who do people say the Son of man is?"
  25. ↑ GRM 343.4.
  26. ↑ Mark 8:27.
  27. ↑ Luke 9:18.
  28. ↑ In the Gospel, only Jesus designates Himself this way.
  29. ↑ GRM 343.4.
  30. ↑ Cf. Romans 5:15-19.
  31. ↑ CCC § 480.
  32. ↑ Daniel 7:13-14.

Second part of the Bible, from the coming of Jesus Christ until the Apocalypse.

First part of the Bible from the book of Genesis until before the coming of Jesus Christ. Parallel

In a Christian sense, study concerning God and divine things in the light of Revelation.

Catechism of the Catholic Church (1992).

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