Mike said the following...
It is not at all clear that Jesus believed himself to be the Son of Man; the New Testament is ambiguous on the question.
Actually, it is very clear who Jesus believed himself to be.
Read Matthew 16: 13-20.
It couldn't be clearer. Jesus asks the same question that I have been asking you. Who is Jesus? Simon Peter answers Him. "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven...Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.
Only Jesus Christ, the Son of Man has the authority to put Peter in charge of His earthly Church. To give him the keys to the kingdom. Of course He believed Himself to be the Son of Man! Read it. First He asks them who that the Son of man is. They answered him, then He replied back, "But who do you say that I am? " Of course He knew!
Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesare′a Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do men say that the Son of man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Eli′jah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”[b] 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”[c] 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter,[d] and on this rock[e] I will build my church, and the powers of death[f] shall not prevail against it.[g] 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven,[h] and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.
Next, read John 9
A Man Born Blind Receives Sight
Jesus asks the man if he believes in the Son of Man. The man answered, “And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.” Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.”
9
As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him. 4 We[a] must work the works of him who sent me[b] while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, 7 saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. 8 The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some were saying, “It is he.” Others were saying, “No, but it is someone like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” 10 But they kept asking him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” 11 He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ Then I went and washed and received my sight.” 12 They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”
The Pharisees Investigate the Healing
13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. 14 Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. 15 Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.” 16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And they were divided. 17 So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” He said, “He is a prophet.”
18 The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight 19 and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” 20 His parents answered, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; 21 but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.” 22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus[c] to be the Messiah[d] would be put out of the synagogue. 23 Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”
24 So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, “Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.” 25 He answered, “I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” 26 They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” 27 He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” 28 Then they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. 29 We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” 30 The man answered, “Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. 32 Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” 34 They answered him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?” And they drove him out.
Spiritual Blindness
35 Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”[e] 36 He answered, “And who is he, sir?[f] Tell me, so that I may believe in him.” 37 Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.” 38 He said, “Lord,[g] I believe.” And he worshiped him. 39 Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind.” 40 Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, “Surely we are not blind, are we?” 41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.
Only a Jesus Christ who makes a blind man see by making mud with His spit and healing a blind man by spreading the mud on his eyes would believe that He is the Son of Man. The following commentary sums it up
The man rejected their assertion that the one who cured him was a sinner. The Pharisees then threw him out of the synagogue. When Jesus heard about this, He came to the man and asked him: Do you believe in the Son of Man? This is truly the climax of the story. The man answered: Who is he, sir, that I may believe in him? Jesus told him that is was He. The man then said: I do believe, Lord,” and he worshiped Jesus.
But then there's a postscript here. The article goes on. He's talking about you here, Mike! You can see but you are truly blind. Your biases do not allow yourself to be healed.
At the end of the Gospel this Sunday, Jesus reveals to the blind man whom he had healed that he had come into the world for judgment, to separate the blind who can be healed from those who do not allow themselves to be healed because they consider themselves healthy. We can all be blinded by selfishness and pride. Jesus continues to cure us from this, like He cured the blind man. He does so in the Sacrament of Penance. And His light illumines us in the celebration of the Eucharist.
https://todayscatholic.org/do-you-believe-in-the-son-of-man/
Only a Jesus Christ who 6 times says that we must eat his body and drink his blood for eternal life and then at the last supper raises the bread and wine and says that they are His body and blood would believe Himself to be the Son of Man
John 6:53-54
53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; 54 he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.
Matthew 26: 26-28
26 Now as they were eating,[d] Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” 27 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you; 28 for this is my blood of the[e] covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
Only a Jesus Christ who while dying on the cross tells a criminal (Luke 23:43) He replied, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” would believe Himself to be the Son of Man.
Of course Jesus believed it!
Links to other posts in this series:
1. Answering an Atheist: Introduction
No comments:
Post a Comment