Sermon, 2009-09-06, Who Do You Say the Son of Man Is? 1 Show Seinfeld clip – Season 6 Episode 19, “The Jimmy.” DVD 4. **For 10:45 service, set subtitles ON English** Start at time: 00:00:36 Stop at time: 00:02:10 just after George says "All right Jimmy, good talking to ya." Absolutely, do not let it run past 00:02:12. The New York Health Club. Jerry, Kramer and George are getting dressed George: " That guy was amazing, he could dunk & he was my height. What was his name again?" Jerry: "Jimmy" George: "Jimmy, right." Jerry: "I dunno how you could forget . He kept referring to himself in the third person. "Jimmy's under the boards. Jimmy's in the open. Jimmy makes the shot." George: "Ah! your just mad 'cause we beat ya." Kramer: "Jerry it's my fault. I couldn't make a shot. These losses they stay with me. They fester Jerry. Now this is gonna plague me." Jimmy walks in George: "HEY! JIMMY!!! Ha, ha, ha........Great game." Jimmy: "OH yeah.......Jimmy played pretty good." George: "Hey you know , I felt we had like a synergy out there, you know, like we were really helping each other." Kramer: "What d' you got there?" Jimmy: "These?" Kramer: "Yeah" Jimmy: "These are Jimmy's training shoes." George: "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah! I've seen these...they sorta ...they make your legs...stronger." Jimmy: "Oh yeah! Jimmy couldn't jump at all before he got these. Jimmy was like you.” Kramer: "They're Plyometric." George: "Plyometric?" Kramer: "Yeah! They isolate the muscles. The muscle has to grow....or die." George: Where d' you get 'em?" Jimmy: "Jimmy sells 'em." George: "You sell them?" Jimmy: "Oh yeah! But Jimmy's all out right now. Moving to Manhattan set Jimmy back a bit." George: "Hey listen, let me give you my card. It's got my home number on it. I want to buy the first pair when the next shipment comes in." Jimmy: "All right" George: "All right Jimmy, good talking to ya." Jimmy liked to talk about himself in the third person. Rather than saying I or me, he’d call himself Jimmy. Did you ever know someone who did that? Sermon, 2009-09-06, Who Do You Say the Son of Man Is? 2 Actually Jesus did that? Kind of. Jesus didn’t go around saying things like “Jesus doesn’t like hypocrites.” Or “Jesus is gonna rise again someday.” But, when he would talk about himself, he often wouldn’t say “I,” He would refer to himself as the Son of Man. He said things like Matthew 20:28 (All on the same slide) “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Who’s the Son of Man Jesus? You know. Luke 5:24 “But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins....” He said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” Who can forgive sins Jesus? The one who makes people walk? Why that’s . you. Luke 24:7 “The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.” Is that gonna happen to you, Jesus? You are the Son of Man? Actually Jesus refers to himself as the Son of Man 77 times in the New Testament Gospels. He uses Son of Man instead of saying “I.” He doesn’t say, “I must be delivered into the hands of sinful men.” He says “The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men” And he doesn’t refer to himself by any other title or name more than a couple times. This is who Jesus says He is. By an overwhelming margin. So what does He mean by it? Why does he call himself the Son of Man? I had the question posed to me in an email by someone who attends our church, who had a friend who was curious and confused by it. Sermon, 2009-09-06, Who Do You Say the Son of Man Is? 3 And I can understand how a thoughtful person reading the gospels and being introduced to the term and the fact that Jesus used it of himself, might wonder why and what does it mean – especially since it sounds like Jesus is calling himself a man But doesn’t He also call himself God too? It’s like if someone kept calling themselves the yellow one, why would I believe you if you told me he was blue? And here’s the clincher. In fact, Jesus asks his disciples if they know what it means. Matthew 16:13 When Jesus came to Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" Who are you? Jesus? Who is the Son of Man ? Jesus wants us to ask the question. And it turns out that the definition and explanation is fairly easy to understand. But the implications, what it means, and what it relates to is really profound and important. So, today: Who do people say the Son of Man is? 1. It refers to humanity . The term is used a few times in the Old Testament of just a son of a man, as in Psalm 8:4 What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? Numbers 23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man , that he should change his mind. Sometimes in the Old Testament it was how God spoke about humanity in its entirety. Men and the sons of men, us all. But then, at one point, God uses it soften when he speaks to the prophet Ezekiel that son of man came to 2. It refers to a prophet . Sermon, 2009-09-06, Who Do You Say the Son of Man Is? 4 In the book of Ezekiel in the Old Testament, which is one of the latest written books, Son of Man explodes in usage. He uses it over 90 times in Ezekiel. God speaks to Ezekiel directly. And he calls Ezekiel “son of man.” As in Ezekiel 2:1 He said to me, " Son of man , stand up on your feet and I will speak to you." Ezekiel 3:4 He then said to me: " Son of man , go now to the house of Israel and speak my words to them. God uses it constantly in Ezekiel; it’s in almost every chapter of the book. Sometimes it appears 5 or 6 times in a chapter. It’s such a dominant feature of how God speaks to Ezekiel, who is a prophet, that by Jesus’ day “son of man” was associated with an expression for a prophet. Son of Man was an expression for a prophet. God made it into that. But then, the prophet Daniel used it in a special way . In Daniel, which is another book in the Old Testament that’s really interesting, you should read it, Son of Man came to 3. It refers to The Messiah . Look at what Daniel prophesied almost 600 years before Jesus. Daniel 7:13-14 "In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man , coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed. This is a very important verse in the Old Testament. If you haven’t seen this before or don’t know where to find this, you ought to remember this. Sermon, 2009-09-06, Who Do You Say the Son of Man Is? 5 I think Daniel’s talking about Jesus here. But this is well before Jesus’ time. Daniel, who is a visionary prophet has a vision at night, maybe a dream, and he sees one who he says was like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached God and who was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed. So, the Jews who studied the OT said, one day God is going to send us a man, a special man, who will be powerful and who will establish an eternal kingdom. Daniel was a captive slave in the Babylonian kingdom at the time. And the Jews had suffered oppression by other nations all through their history. So, they took this vision to mean, that one day God would send them a rescuer, a Savior, and that man would be worshipped by all people, all nations, and all men. And that person would be a king. And do you know what they did at a king’s coronation in Israel? When a king was crowned? They would anoint Him. Anoint means to have oil poured on you. Look up 1 Samuel 15 where Samuel said to Saul, "I am the one the LORD sent to anoint you king over his people Israel; The king would be anointed, he would have oil poured over his head as a sign of God’s Spirit.