Mike said the following...
Jesus taught that at the end of time—the establishment of God's kingdom—a judgment would occur that would welcome the righteous and exclude the corrupt. Thus the need to repent. Again, he's talking to Jews. The winnowing would be conducted by a shadowy figure referred to as the "Son of Man," a cosmic judge explicitly sent from heaven at the end of time. The term "Son of Man" likely comes from Jewish apocalyptic texts such as the Book of Daniel, and would probably not have been widely understood by all Jews at the time. There is some possible connotation of divinity (though probably not full equality with God) in the term, but this is debated among scholars.
What scholars? What are your sources? Where does this come from? Here's what the Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us.
464 The unique and altogether singular event of the Incarnation of the Son of God does not mean that Jesus Christ is part God and part man, nor does it imply that he is the result of a confused mixture of the divine and the human. He became truly man while remaining truly God. Jesus Christ is true God and true man.
http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p122a3p1.htm
What about "The Son of Man"? Here's what we know...
Pope John Paul II tells us...
2. The title " Son of Man " comes from the Old Testament from the Book of the Prophet Daniel . Here is the text that describes a night vision of the prophet: “Looking again in the night visions, behold, on the clouds of heaven, one appears, like a son of man ; he came to the old man and was presented to him, who gave him power, glory and kingdom; all peoples, nations and languages served him; his power is an eternal power , which never sets, and his kingdom is such that it will never be destroyed ”( Dn 7, 13-14).
And when the prophet asks for the explanation of this vision, he receives the following answer: “The saints of the Most High will receive the kingdom and possess it for centuries and centuries. . . then the kingdom, the power and the greatness of all the kingdoms under heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Most High "( Dn 7, 18.27). Daniel's text is about a single person and the people. We immediately note that what refers to the person of the Son of man is found in the words of the angel in the Annunciation to Mary: “he will reign forever. . . and his kingdom will have no end "( Lk 1, 33).
3. When Jesus calls himself "Son of man" he uses an expression coming from the canonical tradition of the Old Testament and also present in the Jewish apocrypha. However, it should be noted that the expression "Son of man" (ben-adam) had become in the Aramaic of Jesus' time an expression simply indicating "man" ("bar-enas"). Jesus, therefore, by calling himself "son of man", almost succeeded in hiding behind the veil of common meaning the messianic meaning that the word had in the prophetic teaching. It is no coincidence, however, that if utterances on the "Son of man" appear especially in the context of Christ's earthly life and passion, they are also not lacking in reference to his eschatological elevation.
The well respected Catholic Answers website adds the following...
The employment of the expression in the Gospels is very remarkable. It is used to designate Jesus Christ no fewer than eighty-one times-thirty times in St. Matthew, fourteen times in St. Mark, twenty-five times in St. Luke, and twelve times in St. John. But the most remarkable thing connected with “the Son of Man” is that it is found only in the mouth of Christ. It is never employed by the disciples or Evangelists, nor by the early Christian writers. It is found once only in Acts, where St. Stephen exclaims: “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God” (vii, 55). The whole incident proves that it was a well-known expression of Christ’s.
The early Fathers were of the opinion that the expression was used out of humility and to show Christ’s human nature, and this is very probable considering the early rise of Docetism. This is also the opinion of Cornelius a Lapide. Others, such as Knabenbauer, think that He adopted a title which would not give umbrage to His enemies, and which, as time went on, was capable of being applied so as to cover His Messianic claims-to include everything that had been foretold of the representative man, the second Adam, the suffering servant of Jehovah, the Messianic king.
https://www.catholic.com/encyclopedia/son-of-man
But wait, there's more... Fr Kenneth Doyle tells us that the title, Son of Man, had a dual purpose: to lay claim to Christ’s unique nature, which was both human and divine.
Pope John Paul II (on April 29, 1987) devoted one of his weekly audience talks to explaining what Jesus meant when he called himself “Son of Man.” That title is used in the four Gospels, always within the sayings of Jesus; and depending on the context, it can refer either to Christ’s humanity or to his divinity.
At certain times, the pope pointed out, Jesus seems to be highlighting the fact that “he took his place with that same name as a true man among men, as a son of a woman, Mary of Nazareth,” one who shares entirely our earthly condition and suffering.
An example comes in Matthew’s Gospel (8:20) where Jesus says, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.”
In other passages, though, Jesus uses the title with clear reference to the prophecy of Daniel (7:13-14), which was viewed by all as messianic: “I saw coming with the clouds of heaven one like a son of man. … He received dominion, splendor and kingship; all nations, peoples and tongues will serve him.”
When Jesus cures the paralytic who has been lowered through the roof, for example, he ascribes divinity to himself by first saying to those looking on, “But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth …” (Mk. 2:10).
Even more patently, when on trial before the Sanhedrin he was asked, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” Jesus answers, “I am; and you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power and coming with the clouds of heaven” (Mk. 14:61-62).
https://catholicphilly.com/2013/03/catholic-spirituality/jesus-is-the-son-of-god-so-why-does-he-call-himself-son
Fr Dave Endres summs it up.
Surprisingly, the term that might appear to highlight Jesus’ humanity emphasizes His identity as Son of God and Messiah. But it does so in a veiled way by both revealing and concealing who He is – as He often did as recorded in the Scriptures. It allows Him to suggest, but avoid, using the terms others applied to him – Messiah, the Christ, or Son of God – and which we believe are correct names for Jesus. Yet He does not avoid using the term “Son of Man.” He says of himself, “You will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven” (Mark 14:62), and “No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man” (John 3:13).
These lofty notions of “Son of Man,” however, do not preclude other meanings. The Gospels depict Jesus as humble and reserved. The use of the more subtle term, “Son of Man” (as compared to Son of God), is not surprising. The phrase helps indicate Jesus’ self-understanding of His relationship to humanity: as suffering servant as found in the Book of the Prophet Isaiah and in the Gospels, for instance, when Jesus predicts: “The Son of Man must suffer greatly” (Mark 8:31; Luke 9: 22)
“Son of Man” helps highlight the identity of Jesus as one who has come to give up His own life and in doing so give life to others. For as Jesus said in the Gospel of Mark: “The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many” (10:45).
https://www.thecatholictelegraph.com/a-question-of-faith-what-did-jesus-mean-when-he-called-himself-son-of-man/56186
Here's that talk by Pope John Paul II. It's well worth your time to read it.
http://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/it/audiences/1987/documents/hf_jp-ii_aud_19870429.html
There you have it. Not as confusing as you lead us to believe. It's really pretty simple. Jesus Christ, the Son of Man is true a God and true Man. Both divine and human. And yes, Jesus believed himself to be the Son of Man.
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