The Son of Man in the Teaching of Jesus

This study first examines the concept of the Son of man against its Jewish background and then details the most important Son of man sayings attributed to Jesus in the first three Gospels. The book concludes that some of the sayings originated not in the creative thought of early Christians but in the preaching of Jesus himself.

This monograph develops the view that the Synoptic Gospels suggest that Jesus expected vindication of his earthly mission after his death by receiving a status of exaltation in the presence of God. This would involve the exercise of the functions of judging and ruling associated with the Jewish concept of the Son of man. A variety of alternative explanations has been offered concerning the origin and meaning of this title as it appears in the Gospels. The earlier part of this book examines the most important of these against their Jewish background. The second part examines in detail the most important Son of man sayings attributed to Jesus in the first three Gospels. The author concludes that some of these sayings which refer to the Son of man in his future exaltation and glory alone contain authentic words of Jesus in which the term has a messianic sense; and that the Son of man christology in the gospels originated not in the creative thought of early Christians but in the preaching of Jesus himself.