Why Jesus? One like a son of man

Popular theologising takes it that “Son of God” signifies the divine Jesus, “Son of Man” the human Jesus. That is wrong.

“Son of God” carries the idea of a special relationship with God—the relationship that Israel had in the Old Testament or that the king had. This connotation is present in the Synoptic Gospels, but perhaps more important is the idea that the Son will inherit something from God in the future. The corrupt and incompetent tenants managing the vineyard of Israel decide to kill the son sent to them because they think that they will get his inheritance (Mk. 12:7). As Son of God, Jesus will inherit rule over his people and—beyond the horizon of the Gospels—over the nations:

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