Daniel and the Son of Man

Do you know what title Jesus used for Himself most often? You might think He called Himself the Son of God, or Messiah, or even Lord. While Jesus refers to Himself in all these ways, the most common self- reference is as the Son of Man. Interesting? At first glance it might seem as if in calling Himself the Son of Man, Jesus might be identifying Himself as one of us, a human being living among us. But a deeper study of this title actually reveals a completely different image---one coming from a crazy vision given to the Prophet Daniel around 560 years earlier. Daniel lived as a Jewish exile, in a time when Israel and Israel's God seemed small and defeated. In the midst of this, Daniel received a bizarre vision of four crazy beasts arising from the sea; beasts representing the most powerful kingdoms on our planet. The vision ends with the Son of Man coming to God Himself and receiving dominion, glory, and a Kingdom which will never pass away. This prophecy is the promise of a Divine Man coming on the clouds who will rule over all human kingdoms and crushing all enemies. This morning we will see the meaning of the snake-crushing Son of Man as an invitation to lift our eyes to see the glory of Jesus, which gives us great hope.