Why Does Jesus call himself, "The Son of Man?"

 

Jesus spoke of himself by the title, “The Son of Man,” more often than anything else. He sometimes called himself The Son of God, The Good Shepherd, The Door, The Bread of Life, and The Light of the World. He has many titles, but The Son of Man was his favorite.

I think it is my favorite too because he knows what it is like to be a human being on this planet. He understands our weaknesses. He is our brother during this great war between good and evil.

Jesus said, “But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins...” He said to the paralytic, “I tell you, get up, pick up your mat, and go home.”

And immediately the man got up, picked up his mat, and walked out in front of them all. As a result, they were all astounded and glorified God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”   Mark 2:10-12

Jesus said, “For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon!’  The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at this glutton and drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”   Luke 7:33-35

“You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.”   Matthew 26:2

"Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.   Matthew 24:30

“So, if they tell you, ‘There He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it.  For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.”   Matthew 24:26,27

“For the Son of Man will come in His Father’s glory with His angels, and then He will repay each one according to what he has done.”   Matthew 16:27

“Truly, truly, I tell you, the hour is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.  For as the Father has life in Himself, so also, He has granted the Son to have life in Himself. And He has given Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man.”  John 5:25-27

Jesus says God the Father has life in himself and has given that to him also. And he has given authority to Jesus to be the judge of all humankind. The reason? Because along with being the Son of God, he is the Son of Man, and it is this that gives him the insight to judge us. He was a human being like us and felt what it is like to be us. Therefore, he can judge correctly.

The Pulpit Commentary says this:

“Verse 27. - And he gave him (i.e. the Son, the God-Man) authority to execute judgment, because he is Son of man. He has vindicated his power to confer life upon the dead by asserting the possession by "the Son" of the Divine Sonship. He now adds, so far as the relation to man is concerned, his fitness and authority to administer justice, to preside over the entire juridical process, to lift the scales, to determine the destiny of the human race. The fitness is seen in this, that he, "the Son," is "the Son of man." The one term, "THE SON," entirely covers the twofold Sonship. The proof of his humanity is assumed to be complete. The fact of it is the ground that he who knows what is in man should be the Judge of men.

By personal experience of man's temptations and frailties; by knowing every palliation of our sins, every extenuation of our failures, every aggravation of our weakness; by gazing through human eyes with human consciousness upon our mysterious destiny, he is competent to judge; whereas by being Son of God as well as Son of man, he is entrusted with power to execute the judgment of the Eternal.

The principle involved is based upon perfect justice. The honour thus conferred on the God-Man is infinite, the consolation thus held out to man unspeakable. We are being judged by Christ, not by impersonal law. The entire incidence upon every individual of the Law is in the hands of the Redeemer. The Saviour, the Life-giver, the Voice which quickens the dead, assigns the judgment. We must be careful, in any inference we draw from this grand utterance, to avoid all suspicion of schism or rivalry between the Father and the Son. 

The Son is not more merciful than the Father. For the Father of the Old Testament pities his children, and knows their frame (Psalm 103:13, 14), and the Father of Jesus Christ loves the world, and counts the very hairs of our heads. The Son will not exercise this judgment with less regard to the claims of eternal justice than the Father; but his knowledge of humanity is, by the nature of the case, a guarantee of such application of the justice of God to the case of every individual, that man's knowledge of himself will be able personally to justify and verify it. The Divine judgment will go forth from the heart of man himself.”

 

Why Read the Bible?

Photo by: Ken Horn:   https://www.flickr.com/photos/hornkl/3024796815

“In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God and was God.” Genesis 1:1

Two definitions for “word:”

“The expressed or manifested mind and will of God.” Merriam-Webster Dictionary

“A speech sound, or series of speech sounds, that symbolizes and communicates a meaning...” Merriam-Webster Dictionary

“By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth.” Psalm 33:6

“By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.  Hebrews 11:3

“For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.”  Psalm 33:9

This is what makes God be God. No one else in heaven or earth can speak a word and create something.

“Remember what happened long ago,

for I am God, and there is no other;

I am God, and there is none like Me.

I declare the end from the beginning,

and ancient times from what is still to come.”   Isaiah 46:9,10

 

“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.   Hebrews 4:12

God’s word is alive and active: His words in the Bible are alive because as we read them the Holy Spirit takes the words and imbues them with energy or life itself. Then puts these words in our minds. He makes the words meaningful and relevant to our lives. We can sometimes think, “This is beautiful. This is interesting. This is something I always want to remember.” Later on, God will remind us of these words which will help us in our lives.

This was how John saw Jesus in a vision, “He held in His right hand seven stars, and a sharp double-edged sword came from His mouth. His face was like the sun shining at its brightest.”

God's Word judges our thoughts and attitudes.

This is a marvelous work of the Word of God. When we read the Bible, we can become convicted of what we are doing wrong. But not only doing, what we are thinking! If the Bible says we are to love our enemies and we know we don’t, then the words of God convict us we are in the wrong.

Our attitudes can be destructive. If we have an attitude of pride for ourselves and contempt for others, we don’t even have to say a word, that attitude can be seen through our body language. We can sneer, roll our eyes, turn and walk away etc. There are so many ways our attitudes can hurt people and God doesn’t miss a trick.

 Our Words have power too:

“You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”  Matthew 12:34

Solomon wrote, “Life and death are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”   Proverbs 18:21

This has been shown to be true in this world of sorrow. People lie on the witness stand, they bully people online, they gossip or spread lies either online or to other people.

These kinds of words have caused people to die for a crime they didn’t commit. They have caused people to commit suicide. They have caused people to become depressed, angry, and vengeful.

Jesus said to the religious rulers of his day, “Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.

The good man brings good things out of his good store of treasure, and the evil man brings evil things out of his evil store of treasure. (God’s words are like a treasure you store in your mind.) But I tell you that men will give an account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”   Matthew 12:33-37

Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers says:

(36) Every idle word that men shall speak.—The teaching, though general in form, still looks back to the hard, bitter words of the Pharisees which had been the starting-point of the discourse. Our Lord does not speak, as we might have expected, of “every evil word,” but of “every idle—i.e., useless and purposeless—word,” the random utterances which, as being more spontaneous, betray character more than deliberate speech. Such an “idle word” had been the passing taunt, “He casts out devils by Beelzebub.” It is not said, however, that for every such random speech a man shall be condemned, but that he shall give an account for it. It will enter into that great total which determines the divine estimate of his character, and, therefore, the issues of the great “day of judgment.”

On the other hand, our words can help heal a person who is going through a difficult time. We can bring happiness, gratitude, love and all the good things to others with our words.

Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.  Psalm 19:4

A gentle answer deflects anger, but harsh words make tempers flare.  Proverbs 15:1

The words of a wise man's mouth are gracious; but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself.   Ecclesiastes 10:12

A person finds joy in giving an apt reply-- and how good is a timely word!   Proverbs 15:23

Like apples of gold in settings of silver Is a word spoken in right circumstances.   Proverbs 25:11

God’s words are always life. He himself embodies life and love. We can trust his words.

‘Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.”   Psalm 119:105

What I Learned from My Post About My Mother's Illness.

A few weeks ago, I posted “My Mother’s Illness and Death: The Unkindness of the Medical Establishment.” I learned something about myself today. I hadn’t forgiven those nurses who hurt me.

I’m a believer in Jesus, and of course forgiveness was one of the main things he talked about. Through the years, he has helped me forgive many, many people who have hurt my feelings. But for some reason it never crossed my mind to forgive these people.

But God showed me that the reason I keep thinking about what the nurses said to me and what they thought of me was because I lacked forgiveness and love for them. Yes, my eyes were opened by God.

I am not a person who talks freely with strangers. Sometimes I get angry at myself for not explaining myself better. Like when nurses would call from the hospital for information on my mother, I realized later I had left out a lot of details. I know this happens because my brain freezes when people talk with me. Especially people with authority.

After talking with me about Mom’s heart and back, one nurse asked me what I gave her for pain. I said, two Tylenol. When I hung up, I thought, “Was she asking about the heart pain or the back pain. Two Tylenol wasn’t enough for the back pain. I used to give her Codeine for that.

One nurse called and asked if my mom was sleeping much. I said, “No, the last week she was only sleeping 2-3 hrs. at a time.” Later in the conversation he said, “Well, shall I write down 4-6 hours?” I knew that was wrong but said, “Okay.” I have no idea why I said that. Maybe just to please him.

So, about forgiveness. I talked with God about it and said, “Okay. I forgive them. I pray you will put that in my mind and heart. I pray I will love them as you do.”

I think it was pride that kept me from forgiving at the outset. I felt shamed by these nurses, even though I knew I was doing a good job looking after my mom. And I still I feel shame for that and the fact they didn’t like me and thought I was awful for not taking Mom home.

Whether the shame will go away or not, I don’t care. I’ve lived with shame since I was a little child. I just want to do what Jesus told everyone to do. Love and forgive.

Helpful Quotations.

I’ve read some things lately that have touched my heart and I thought I would share them:

“Running from suffering makes one suffer more and more, from even the small things, until you hate your own life.”  

From The Seven Story Mountain, by Thomas Merton.

I found this to be true in my own life. I kept running from my inner pain and the more I ran, the worse I got. I did come to hate my own life, because it was a life of misery of pain in my past and pain in the now and thinking there would only be pain in the future. This attitude makes you open to death and suicide. You know there will always be bad things happening in the future and feel helpless and hopeless.

Tauren Wells sings about this in his song, Until Grace. I too thought my life was cursed:

I knew I was broken but there was no one that I could tell,
Praying felt like I was throwing pennies in a wishing well
And I started believing I was cursed to carry this weight
I was listing the reasons of why I should walk away

[Chorus: Tauren Wells & Rascal Flatts]
Until grace called my name
Oh, I didn't know I could be free
Until grace found me

Until grace broke these chains
Oh, I didn't know I could be free
Until grace found, Your grace found me.

God has taught me through other Christians that I must live one day at a time, so when I start thinking about sad events I go to him and tell him how I feel. He always helps and comforts me.

Another quote I found meaningful is this:

“In our culture, ‘Love’ is soft. In God’s kingdom, love is a battle cry.”

I wish I could tell you where I heard this, but I forgot to write that down.

To love our enemies, to love those who make fun of us or hurt us is a battle. A spiritual battle. It goes against our culture and our human nature, which is about protecting ourselves. Certainly, we don’t have to hang around people who are physically or verbally abusive, but we do have to forgive and love them. God’s love, not human love. His love is higher than ours.

The last quote is another one where I don’t remember where I found it; I will try to do better at that.

“I am not a solid rock, but I am standing on one.”

I love the imagery of that and it is true I am not a solid rock. I’m like the sand or bending reeds in the wind. But I need not be afraid because I am standing before God on Jesus the rock. The one who made the universe and loves me.

 

My Mother's Illness and Death: The Unkindness of the Medical Establishment. (To be blunt, people.)

My Mom.

I was listening to a podcast last night and a lady was being interviewed who had a child who had been born very small with some defects. She said a nurse said to her something like, “Been eating wrong foods?”

As if the mother wasn’t devastated already by her child’s illness, which turned out to be a medical condition having nothing to do with the mother. It brought back to me all the disheartening things nurses said to me during the years I looked after my mother.

My mother passed away on June 29^th. She was almost 93 and died of congestive heart failure. She had been ill for a long time. She was misdiagnosed a few times, but I don’t expect perfection from doctors. I know they are doing the best work they can. I asked the doctor a year ago if my mom might have congestive heart failure, but she said no, it was acid reflux.

The true diagnosis wouldn’t have made much difference anyway. And I’ve very glad she didn’t die of colon cancer which emergency doctors were 99% sure she had. They didn’t want to take a biopsy as it is a painful procedure and my mom was in her nineties. So, I lived with that scare for a long time. Altogether, my mom lived with us for five years and I’m so happy we had that time together.

But there were two things about my mother’s illnesses and hospital stays that made our journey much harder. The worst was that because of Covid-19 I wasn’t allowed in the hospital to visit her. They said I could come at the end, but it was too late when it happened. They told us a nurse was with her and I am grateful to that nurse.

Mom’s last day at home was a hard one. I just couldn’t get her breathlessness under control with her nitro sprays and she hadn’t been sleeping longer than 2-4 hours. My husband was working from home because of the virus so he was taking care of her in the day and I stayed up all night. But he would be going back to work the next week and I felt I just wasn’t competent enough to keep Mom comfortable any longer. We called an ambulance and they took her.

The emergency people called me and said I could pick Mom up in the morning and I said, “No.” Believe me, they were very upset, but I know my rights and they had to take care of her if I couldn’t.

Four days after putting her in a ward, the doctors agreed I couldn’t take care of her. Well, thank you.

By the time Mom was in the hospital ward her dementia was pretty bad. They said she didn’t ask for the family, for which I am grateful. It hurt my heart to think she might be asking why I wasn’t there.

But she just asked where she was every morning and seemed content with the answer. I believe she didn’t really know who my husband and I were the last week she was home. She rarely spoke and didn’t say my name anymore. She would forget what happened in a TV show a few seconds after watching it. She forgot all the visits from relatives in the last few years. She couldn’t read anymore because she couldn’t remember what she just read.

Yet, she was happy. That may sound strange, but it is true. We just watched TV together and she said she enjoyed each show. Before she forgot who I was, she thanked me over and over for taking care of her. Mom was almost always a sunny and grateful person and knew God. I know I will see her again.

The only problems I had was when I was questioned by nurses who visited and nurses at the hospital and nursing home she had to stay in while recovering from hip surgery.

After the surgery, they thought Mom was well enough to come right home or go for physical therapy at the nursing home. Well, she looked awful and was in constant pain so I told them to take her to the nursing home and I would meet her there.

I left that evening and I thought she would be okay. I came back in the morning and she said she had to go to the bathroom. I helped her in there and waited. A nurse came in and asked where Mom was and I told her. “No one is supposed to help her to the bathroom but us,” she said. I said, “Oh, okay.”

When Mom called out, the nurse went in and asked if she went. Mom told her no, she couldn’t. The nurse put her hands on her hips and said (not nicely), “This is the third time! If you don’t go the next time, I’ll have to use a suppository on you!” She was scolding her. A 90-year-old woman who had just had surgery! I took Mom home.

We got a hospital bed and all the stuff she needed and I took care of her with my husband’s help. Then a few weeks later, I twisted my foot around one of the legs of the hospital bed, which took up almost all the space of her bedroom. I couldn’t even stand on it, so I called an ambulance to take my mother. My husband was working and I had no one to help me take care of my mom. At this time, she was only sleeping for about 20 minutes at a time and I was exhausted.

When she was taken to the hospital the admitting person was angry. She called me and said, “This hospital is for sick people!” Well, my mother was sick and I couldn’t care for her so that’s why I sent her there! They kept calling me to come pick her up but I couldn’t! I know that in Canada they had to take care of her if no one else could, they just didn’t believe anything I said. It was horrible.

Mom was in a ward for four weeks and was injured twice while there. One time a nurse gave her twice the dosage of sleeping pills. Her organs started shutting down, but she pulled through. The other time, she fell out of bed because apparently some people choke to death trying to get out between the rails on the bed. So, Mom’s head had a hole in it from hitting the edge of the dresser and blood was everywhere. It makes me wonder why the nurses criticize family members when they make mistakes too. I could have sued over both incidents, but I would never sue people who are trying to heal people, even if they make terrible mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes.

 I took Shock Wave Therapy for my foot, which healed in 4 weeks. But I still had no one to help me with mother and she wasn’t walking yet.

I came to see Mom almost every day. The nurses thought she was being lazy and hard to get along with because she didn’t want to do any exercises or have them do anything to her. She just wanted to sleep. I kept telling them she was sick, but they didn’t believe me. But they had never seen her when she was well. They didn’t know how different she looked.

 It turned out later she was sick with a bladder infection. I then asked a nurse if Mom was getting her vitamin B12 shots. She told me Mom only needed pills not the shots. I told her that was wrong and she lost her temper at me and walked away. Later her feet had bruises on them and a doctor there told me it was because of a lack of vitamin B12.

One nurse told me I needed to push my mother to exercise etc. I said she is 91 and tired; she needs rest and more sleep. The woman was so mad she turned and walked away too. This was how they treated me the whole time.

Later, Mom started to walk with a walker and was sleeping through the night, so I felt I could take care of her again. When I took her home, I let her sleep as much as she wanted. She slept 20 hours a day at first and slowly she slept less and less until she was down to 9 to 10 hours a day. She recovered, which the doctors did not expect.

The next year went very well until she started getting the signs of congestive heart failure. I was so glad I could take care of her by myself the last two years. I know I did an excellent job, no matter what the nurses said and hinted at.

When she was in the hospital for the last time a nurse called me and asked if my mother had been walking with a walker. I told her no, she had told me she couldn’t walk anymore so I had been wheeling her around the apartment in a small travel chair (it is like a small wheelchair). The nurse said, “Well, she is walking.”

Hey, I’m glad she was walking, but it didn’t really matter here at home. She said she couldn’t walk and that was good enough for me. Frankly, it is hard to get over the unkindness of the nurses I dealt with. I’m sure there are also good and kind nurses somewhere.

I hope my experience was unusual, but I also wish there were classes given to medical workers on how to talk with families of patients.

 

 

 

 

Hear God's Words on Justice.

Photo by: "Carlos Delgado; CC-BY-SA" 

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before you.   Psalm 89:14

Some people wonder where God's justice is in this world. The problem God has is he must work through his people to have justice on the earth. This is earth, not heaven, where justice reigns. Evil people outnumber the godly people and therefore there is injustice and horrible crimes committed every day. God does reach out himself to save many people's lives, but he can't turn this world into a heaven. Not yet. Evil must be played out to its bitter end so it never rises up again in the universe.

Isaiah, a prophet of God, wrote about the people of his time who questioned God. They asked him, “Why have we humbled ourselves and fasted but you have not noticed?” They didn’t understand why their prayers went unanswered.

This is God’s answer, “On the day of your fasting you do what you want and exploit all your workers. Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast like this and expect your voice to be heard on high!

Is that the kind of fast I want? Do you call this an acceptable day of the Lord?

This is the kind of fast I desire: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set free the oppressed. It is a day to share your food with the hungry, to provide the poor wanderer with shelter. When you see the naked, to clothe them and not turn away from your own flesh and blood.

If you do this, your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear. Then your goodness will go in front of you and I will bring up the rear. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help and he will say, ‘Here I am!’

If you get rid of the burden of oppression that goes with pointing your fingers and cruel words, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.

The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and strengthen your body. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a stream whose waters never fail.”   Isaiah 58:3-11

But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.   Amos 5:24

This is what the LORD says: Administer justice and righteousness. Rescue the victim of robbery from the hand of his oppressor. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow. Do not shed innocent blood in this place.   Jeremiah 22:3

What I Learned About Racism, Protests and Injustice when I was a Girl in the 1960s.

When I was a young girl I read, Gone with the Wind. I loved Scarlett O’Hara because she was nothing like me. She had spunk and let nothing stop her, whereas I was like a shadow in the corner of a house, observing but unheard. I wanted spunk.

One day, after I finished reading, I ran downstairs to my mother and said, “Mom, It says in this book that slaves were happy. They didn’t want to be free!” She looked at me with pity and told me how evil slavery was and why. She encouraged me to study the subject.

On our next visit to the library, I took out the book called, “Black Boy,” by Richard Wright. I will never forget the impact that book had on me. I was horrified, sad and disgusted by what he had gone through. After that, I read many biographies on how black people had been treated by white people throughout their lives. I wish I could remember the names of the other books but one that I read recently, that was just wonderful is, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” by Maya Angelou.

I grew up in the 1950s and 60s and remember when Martin Luther King and his followers marched in a peaceful protest to Selma, Alabama. My parents subscribed to Life magazine and I poured over the pictures of snarling dogs and water hoses being turned on the protesters. I admired King so much, and even now, when I read a quote online attributed to him, my esteem grows larger.

When I went to high school, (Southern California) I noticed that white students hung around together and black kids and Hispanic kids did the same. It was puzzling to me because in the church school I had attended previously, I had black and Hispanic friends. Now I was in public school and it was certainly different. I will say though, I never heard any of my white friends say or do anything racist. In fact, later on, after I had left school, I met up with an old friend and she had married a black guy. I went to her place and met him and their new baby. The last year of high school my boyfriend was Hispanic. I was crazy about him.

Now, since the terrible death of George Floyd, we are again having peaceful protests. Of course, there has been some acts of violence and looting, which has been the actions of only a few and some have been committed by white protesters. Whenever there is a movement or coalition of any kind there are good people, bad people and crazy people involved. I saw this in churches I attended. My mother noticed it in the feminist movement and the Author’s Association to which she belonged. And we cannot forget politicians. Yes, good, bad and crazy.

A lot of people can’t understand the slogan, “Black Lives Matter.” They say that every person’s life matters and they are right, but they can’t seem to see that when someone is hated and oppressed, it looks to them as if their lives don’t matter to other people. White people don’t generally feel that way. We expect the police and those in the medical field to care about our problems. When they don’t, we tell everyone we know about that policeman or doctor. We feel insulted, get angry and will sometimes complain to those who are in authority over these people.

But what if we knew police and doctors hated us? What if we knew they would get rid of all of us if they could? And what if we knew some of them would like to kill us? What would it be like to live with that all our lives?

I have a friend online who is black. She told me her beloved uncle was in the hospital and very ill. It was possible he could die. Yet she was afraid to go to the hospital and visit him. Why? Because of the way the white doctors and nurses talked to and treated her and her family. She went anyway. I felt so sad for her. It is hard to believe people can be so cruel, and for no reason in the world but their hatred of the color of a person’s skin.

I remember an old Star Trek episode where the crew of the Enterprise came to a world that was in the midst of a terrible civil war. Captain Kirk tried to intervene and bring peace and couldn’t understand the basis of the two sides hatred of each other. Near the very end of the show one man said to Kirk something like this, “Are you blind? Can’t you see? My skin is blue on the right side of my face and his skin is blue on the left side!”

That’s racism in a nutshell: utter stupidity. Victor Frankl once wrote, “There are two races of men in this world but only these two: the race of the decent man and the race of the indecent man.” I believe this to be true.

(I began this blog post thinking I would write about what justice is according to God. But I got carried away with my feelings about what is happening right now. I’ll write the one on how God feels about justice next time. He feels very strongly about it.)