Tuesday 29 June 2021

Psalm 125

Background

The title 'the Son of Man’ is one of the most enigmatic in all of scripture. The key usage is found in Daniel 7:12-14. There the traditional translation of the Aramaic phrase bar enash has been 'Son of Man', although 'human being' is perhaps closer to the mark. In the New Testament the phrase 'the Son of Man' refers exclusively to Jesus. So why is Jesus using that title here? Several nuanced possibilities spring to mind:

• Among his disciples Jesus is purposefully self-identifying with the politically potent messianic meaning of the designation ‘Son of Man’ in Jewish tradition, and he asks the question because he wants to understand how, in this specific sense, he is seen by the public at large.
• The public are framing Jesus and his ministry in the specific sense of expectation, judgement and liberation denoted by the title ‘Son of Man’ and Jesus wants to understand more clearly how he is seen by them.
• Jesus is asking a question aimed at unpacking and understanding the general hopes and expectations of the public which are commonly projected onto this figure from Jewish tradition.

Wherever the actual truth lies, what is striking is the link to a deep-rooted popular desire for liberation which 'the Son of Man' carries. Referring back to the repeated trauma of periods of subjugation and exile, it is not a neutral term. In the context of Roman imperial domination it is political dynamite. What sort of Messiah is Jesus going to be and what will the liberation he ushers in look like?

Having asked about the crowds, Jesus makes the question unambiguously personal and direct. He looks into the faces of his disciples and asks them who they say that he is, because he needs to know what exactly is their grasp of his identity and mission.

So his two questions to the disciples enable him to compare the expectations of others with his own understanding of himself and his purpose. Clearly Peter’s response hits the mark: "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God."  (v. 16) It is as though Peter is taking the title 'Son of Man', and the heady hopes and dreams it freights, and is taking it all to its logical conclusion regarding his personal experience of Jesus, in whom he meets the love of God face to face.

To Ponder:

• What hopes, dreams and expectations does Jesus signify for you?
• Who are you prepared to say that Jesus is?
• What might persuade the public at large to see Jesus in these terms too?
  
  

Prayer

God who gives me confidence and enables me to find my voice, help me to share my faith with those who most need to experience the liberating kindness of your love.