The Son of Man

“Ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man” (John 1:51).

This chapter abounds in striking names and titles for our Lord: the Word, the Light, the Only-begotten of the Father, the Christ, the Lamb of God, the Master, Son of God, and King of Israel. But the one with which this marvellous chapter closes is as wonderful as any: The Son of Man. It occurs more than eighty times in the Gospels, and is always applied by our Lord to Himself.

It is a glorious title, full of hope to every member of the family of mankind. To be Son of David, or Son of Abraham, would limit Him to a family or race; but to be Son of Man is to have a relationship to every man, woman, and child.

The nature of our Lord Jesus is infinite in its extent. On the one hand it touches the heights of Godhead, on the other the depths of manhood. At one end is the title, Son of God; at the other, Son of Man. And there is not one of the human family too frail or sinful to pass upward through the power of the blessed Lord, from the lowest depths of degradation to the furthest heights of blessedness.

Whatever we need most, we can find in Him. He Himself is the all-sufficiency for all human need; the supply of every lack; the answer to every inquiry. Do we need purity? He does not simply give us purity, but He is in us “that Holy Thing.” Do we want life? He does not merely impart it, but He Himself is our life. Do we require strength? The Lord is the strength of our life.

I know not how many wounded and incomplete hearts may be reached by these words. But it may be that hundreds who will read them have been painfully conscious of heart-ache and heart-need; waiting for someone who never comes; watching for a light which never breaks; bemoaning a lack which lies at the bottom of the heart, but is never satisfied. The Son of Man said, “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled” (Matthew 5:6). This filling can come from no human or earthly source; in Christ alone can we be replenished and satisfied.

—F. B. Meyer, condensed