Son of Man (part 4)
When Jesus refers to himself as the Son of Man he is claiming to have great authority. The context in which he uses the phrase gives us insight into the intended use of his authority.
Mark is my favorite gospel, and this is one of my favorite
passages in Mark. Perhaps because it so clearly explains what it meant for the
disciples to follow Jesus.
In Mark 8:31 – 9:1, we see Jesus describe what the role of
authority will look like when “the Kingdom of God arrives in great power!”
For the author of Mark this is critically important for his readers to understand. This is what it means to follow Jesus and to lead others in the fashion that Jesus does.
For the author of Mark this is critically important for his readers to understand. This is what it means to follow Jesus and to lead others in the fashion that Jesus does.
"Then Jesus began to tell
them that the Son of Man must suffer many terrible
things and be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of
religious law. He would be killed, but three days later he would rise from the
dead. As he talked about this openly with his disciples, Peter took him
aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things.
Jesus turned around
and looked at his disciples, then reprimanded Peter. “Get away from me, Satan!” he said. “You are seeing
things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”
Then, calling the
crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your
selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you
give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save
it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your
own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my message in these adulterous and
sinful days, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in
the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
Jesus went on to say, “I tell you the truth,
some standing here right now will not die before they see the Kingdom of God
arrive in great power!”
Following Jesus had its risks. The disciples only had to look
as far as John the Baptist to realize this. But there is more to this passage
than simple risk.
This passage follows immediately after Peter declares that
Jesus is the Messiah. That is why I think Jesus “began to tell them” what it
meant to be the Son of Man plainly and without metaphor.
To better see how the “Son of Man” phraseology helps us
interpret Jesus’s words let’s look at what N.T. Wright writes about this passage:
”’The son of man’ in Daniel 7 represents God’s people as they
are suffering at the hands of pagan enemies. He will eventually be vindicated after
his suffering, as God sets up the kingdom at last. Jesus is both warning his
followers that this is how he understand his vocation and destiny as Israel’s
representative, and that they must be prepared to follow in his steps. “
In this passage we also see that even Peter, one of Jesus’s
closest followers, is capable of missing the point of the authority and
leadership that has been given him.
How much more does this come as a challenge for us to not only think but to live from God’s viewpoint in a world where servant leadership is seen as unproductive at best and more often as simply foolish?
Check out my upcoming book at www.adhogan.com
How much more does this come as a challenge for us to not only think but to live from God’s viewpoint in a world where servant leadership is seen as unproductive at best and more often as simply foolish?
Check out my upcoming book at www.adhogan.com
