at he should see
yet greater things: "And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto
you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending
and descending upon the Son of man."

"THE SON OF MAN."

In the promise and prediction made by Christ to Nathanael, we find the
significant title--The Son of Man--appearing for the first time,
chronologically speaking, in the New Testament. It recurs, however,
about forty times, excluding repetitions in parallel accounts in the
several Gospels. In each of these passages it is used by the Savior
distinctively to designate Himself. In three other instances the title
appears in the New Testament, outside the Gospels; and in each case it
is applied to the Christ with specific reference to His exalted
attributes as Lord and God.[322]

In the Old Testament, the phrase "son of man" occurs in ordinary usage,
denoting any human son[323] and it appears over ninety times as an
appellation by which Jehovah addressed Ezekiel, though it is never
applied by the prophet to himself.[324] The context of the passages in
which Ezekiel is addressed as "son of man" indicates the divine
intention of emphasizing the human status of the prophet as contrasted
with the divinity of Jehovah.

The title is used in connection with the record of Daniel's vision,[325]
in which was revealed the consummation, yet future, when Adam--the
Ancient of Days--shall sit to judge his posterity;[326] on which great
occasion, the Son of Man is to appear and receive a dominion that shall
be everlasting, transcendently superior to that of the Ancient of Days,
and embracing every people and nation, all of whom shall serve the Lord,
Jesus Christ, the Son of Man.[327]

In applying the designation to Himself, the Lord invariably uses the
definite article. "_The_ Son of Man" was and is, specifically and
exclusively, Jesus Christ. While as a matter of solemn certainty He was
the only male human being from Adam down who was not the son of a mortal
man, He used the title in a way to conclusively demonstrate that it was
peculiarly and solely His own. It is plainly evident that the expression
is fraught with a meaning beyond that conveyed by the words in common
usage. The distinguishing appellation has been construed by many to
indicate our Lord's humble station as a mortal, and to connote that He
stood as the type of humanity, holding a particular and unique
relationship to the entire human family. There is, h