Walking the path

(2-minute read)

Jesus identified with the titles: Son of God and Son of Man. Jews in the 1st century used the word son slightly differently than we use it today. On Jewish New Year, in a male child’s 12th year of life, a father would lay his hands on his head and pronounce that he was now a man and that his sins were on his own head. This new man would typically work for his father in the family business. At around age 30, if he had learned the trade, acted responsibly, and learned to make decisions like his father, his father would lay hands on him again and proclaim, “This is my son.” The son would then take over the family business, with the father assisting and advising. When Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, God laid his hands on Jesus and proclaimed, “This is my beloved son in whom I’m well pleased.”

Similarly, the title Son of Man meant that Jesus had learned to be what man was intended to be when created. His using this title upset the religious men of his day. They felt they had made laws on how a man should act to please God. Jesus sometimes would use this title as he ignored the rules they had created.

If we want to know how God would think in a situation, we look to the example of Jesus. If we want to know how man is supposed to act correctly in a particular case, we look to the example of Jesus.