For the son of man. Son of man
29.01.2017 Through the labors of the monastery brethren 7 674
The Apostle Paul has the following words from his letter to the Corinthians: “The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, because he considers them foolishness; and cannot understand, because this [must] be judged spiritually. But the spiritual one judges everything, but no one can judge him. For who has known the mind of the Lord so that he can judge him? But we have the mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2:14-16).
How important it is for a person to acquire the mind of Christ, the consciousness of Christ, the desired fruit of a Christian’s zealous fulfillment of the Gospel commandments. This is necessary in order to correctly judge everything that happens in ourselves and in other people, in the world around us. If we go in this direction in our lives, we truly follow Christ, Who said: “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6), and do not deceive ourselves, mistakenly following the will of our fallen mind, human fashion, culture, or some high idea.
“Only in Christ does man obtain eternal life for himself.”
In today’s Gospel there are the words of the Savior: “now salvation has come to this house, because he (the publican Zacchaeus - the one whom the Jews considered a sinner, a pagan, not worthy even of fellowship with him), the son of Abraham, for the Son of Man came to seek and save what was lost "(Luke 19:10). How difficult it is for a person who does not have the consciousness of Christ, or better yet, the heart of Christ, to embrace the love of God! We often ourselves, from our own mind, from our inner passionate disposition, set the boundaries of God’s love, dividing people into those worthy and those not worthy of their mercy. Forgetting that for God the entire human race, all of Adam, is in a state of fall and destruction, alienation from truth and salvation. Each of us carries within us passions, sinful ulcers and mental illnesses that require God’s healing and healing. “This word is true and worthy of all acceptance,” the holy Apostle Paul, who was once a persecutor of the first Christians, humbly writes about himself, “that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the first” (1 Tim. 1:15).
In this earthly life, with the beginning of his own birth from non-existence, every person is called by God to the main goal of his life - to meet Christ. To a meeting that could change his life, to a meeting that could change a lot in this world, in the destinies of other people. This meeting can become a source of joy and happiness not only for himself, but also for many other people around him.
What can help a person achieve his meeting with Christ? In our Gospel episode, unfortunately, only a soulless tree provided this help to man. “And behold, someone named Zacchaeus,” the Gospel says, “the chief of publicans and a rich man, sought to see Jesus who He was, but he could not follow the people, because he was small in stature, and, running ahead, climbed a fig tree to to see Him because He had to pass by her. When Jesus came to this place, he looked, saw him and said to him: Zacchaeus! come down quickly, for today I need to be in your house” (Luke 19:2-5).
And what about the people who were next to Zacchaeus? What did they do to make him see Christ? Did they help him? No. Not only did they deliberately become a high, blank wall separating Zacchaeus from Christ, who forced Zacchaeus to climb a tree. To all this they added grumbling and condemnation in relation to the actions of Christ, thereby completely revealing their inner state of soul, their callousness, unmercifulness and lack of compassion towards the sinner, towards their offender. “When everyone saw this,” the Gospel says, “they began to murmur and said that He (Christ) had come to a sinful man” (Luke 19:7).
The fact remains: in the episode with Zacchaeus, the soulless tree showed more humanity towards the sinner than a person akin to him and one in nature. The nature of the tree became a support, a help to a person rushing towards God, seeking a meeting with Him. People have become an obstacle, a hindrance to their neighbor. We can say that in this episode people and the tree exchanged their natural qualities. People with souls became soulless, and the tree took on the role of a neighbor, compassionate and helping a person to come to a meeting with God. A reasonable person, through obedience to sin, has become unreasonable in his actions and, going against his neighbor, at the same time, goes against his Creator, who endowed him with reason and soul. The tree, unreasonable and soulless by nature, unwittingly fulfilled the will of its Creator, serving Him in the salvation of man.
The Holy Scriptures often contain comparisons between people and trees. For example, an excerpt from the Gospel of Mark, where Christ heals a blind man. “(Christ) comes to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man to Him - the Gospel says - and ask that (He) touch him. He, taking the blind man by the hand, led him out of the village and, spitting in his eyes, laid his hands on him and asked him: does he see anything? He looked and said: I see people passing by, like trees. Then he again laid his hands on his eyes and told him to look. And he was healed and began to see everything clearly.” (Mark 8:22-26. An interesting spiritual revelation was given to this man by the Savior, before his healing from sensory blindness. It is unlikely that the incarnate God-Word would have needed to touch the blind man twice for healing, if there were no hidden meaning in this. Having touched it for the first time, Christ allowed the blind man to look at the world around him with a different vision - not sensory, but spiritual. It is the only one that gives a person true knowledge of the world around him. In this spiritual contemplation, he saw all people as if in one common nature. without the admixture of external colors, diversity of forms, activities and what makes this world of people so many-sided, often contradictory for us in ordinary life and incompatible in unity “I see people passing by like trees” (Mark 22:24), said. blind man. For him at that moment they became like one species, one genus, having no differences from each other in nature, having the same physical properties, created by one Creator, equally in need of His providence and care, growing on the same earth. , feeding on the moisture and sunlight they share. And as was shown in the following Gospel parable, the Divine plan, which once revealed to them their existence in this world and God’s care for them, obliges them, in return for this gift, to bear worthy fruits to their Creator. “And the Lord (the Lord) spoke this parable: A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit on it, and found none; and he said to the vinedresser, “Behold, I have come for the third year looking for fruit on this fig tree, and have not found it; cut it down: why does it occupy the land? But he answered him: Master! leave it this year too, while I dig it up and cover it with manure, and see if it bears fruit; if not, then next [year] you will cut it down” (Luke 13:6-9).
A person needs to gain true knowledge about the world around him, at the same time he needs to find another way for this knowledge. We must try to understand this world not through the prism of our selfish needs, lusts, or selfish interests that pit people against each other, where a person, in his negative attitude towards another person, opposes himself to him, separates himself from him as someone else and hostile to him. Doing this either on racial or national grounds, or on social status, or for ideological reasons, or simply as an animal by the instinct of survival in this life, and so on. Acting in this way, a person places his external principles above the Divine plan for man, goes against the Logos (or meaning) of his own nature, invested by God in each of us from the beginning of the creation of man. We must try to look at this world as the holy Apostle Paul describes it: “Having put off the old man with his works, and having put on the new man, who is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him who created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, nor circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free, but Christ is all and in all. Therefore, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering, bearing with one another and forgiving each other if anyone has a complaint against anyone: just as Christ has forgiven you, so have you. Above all, [put on] love, which is the sum of perfection” (Col. 3:9-15). After all, if people do not resist their own logos, the divine commandments, then they can easily come here on earth in their common life aspiration to eternal unity in love with God and with each other.
The consciousness of Christ or the mind of Christ, as mentioned at the beginning of the sermon, does not divide people, it represents the entire human race as one whole and one in nature, called in Christ to enter into eternal bliss with God. Man is created in such a way by nature that if he breaks the bonds of love within his soul with others like himself through his hatred, resentment, condemnation and the like, then he automatically loses his connection with God. He loses his inner world, creating his own hell here on earth, with which he goes into eternity if he does not repent. “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,” writes the Apostle Paul, “... for you serve the Lord Christ. But whoever does wrong will receive according to his iniquity; [with Him] there is no partiality” (Col. 3:23-25).
People often complain to God that evil is increasing in the world. They complain about their hard life, about sorrows, about human injustice in the world, as if God alone is responsible for everything that happens around them. But today’s Gospel passage reveals another reality to us. It turns out that people simply do not know how to forgive insults, do not know how to forget evil, do not know how to love, covering up their inability with human morality or justice, or even their religiosity. That's why evil in the world is multiplying, that's why there are more evil people, that's why evil is invincible. It is like a virus in our minds, ignoring the divine commandments, drawing strength and multiplying in human laws and principles. We forget, or rather, we do not want, as St. Seraphim of Sarov said, to do what Christian morality requires of us: “So, if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink: for by doing this you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Rom. 12:20-21).
In today's Gospel, the Lord showed us an example of how to reach human hearts, how to fight evil so that goodness can increase in our world. To do this, you need to try to see in every sinner the image of God, a soul similar to your own, damaged by sin, without dividing people into worthy or unworthy, into your own or strangers. With our kind disposition towards a person, we open his soul to grace, which transforms a person, untying his bonds of sin, filling a person with a different joy, a different meaning of life, and different interests. This is what happened to Zacchaeus. His meeting with Christ, which human malice wanted to prevent, a just contemptuous attitude towards the sinner, his offender, became the beginning of a new life for Zacchaeus, in which he stopped oppressing and causing grief to other people, and made amends to all those who suffered from him. “Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord: Lord! I will give half of my property to the poor, and if I have offended anyone, I will repay him fourfold. Jesus said to him, “Now salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham, for the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10-11).
Imitating Christ, the saints also acted in their lives, defeating evil with good. The life of the Monk Macarius the Great describes the following incident: “One day the Monk Macarius went from the monastery to Mount Nitria with one of his disciples. When they were already approaching the mountain, the monk said to his disciple:
Walk a little ahead of me.
The disciple went ahead of the monk and met a pagan priest hastily walking towards him and carrying a large log. Seeing him, the monk shouted:
Do you hear, do you hear, you demon! Where are you going?
The priest stopped and beat the monk severely, so that he barely survived. Grabbing the thrown log, the priest ran away. A little later he met the Monk Macarius, who said to him:
Save yourself, hard worker, save yourself.
Surprised by such words of the monk, the priest stopped and asked him: “What good have you seen in me that you greet me with such words?” “I see that you are working,” answered the monk. Then the priest said:
I was touched, Father, by your words, for through this I see that you are a man of God. Here in front of you another monk met me, who scolded me, and I beat him to death.
And with these words the priest fell at the feet of the monk, hugging them and saying:
I will not leave you, father, until you convert me to Christianity and make me a monk.
And he went along with Saint Macarius. After walking a little, they came to the place where the monk lay beaten by the priest and found him barely alive. Taking it, they brought it to the church located on Mount Nitria. The fathers living there, seeing the pagan priest together with the Monk Macarius, were very amazed. Then, having baptized him, they made him a monk, and for his sake many pagans converted to Christianity. Abba Macarius gave the following instruction on this occasion:
An evil word,” he said, “makes the good evil, but a good word makes the evil good.”
If we do not have the strength to love our neighbors, to open their souls to God, then at least we will not condemn them, because we are sinners too. If we cannot become a spiritual tree, that support on which sick souls seeking God can climb, then at least in the crowd of people we will not stand as a wall, despising those who are small in spiritual stature, closing God from them, but we will yield to them their place, not appreciating their dignity, but always considering themselves lower than others, always remembering the words of the Savior: “for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 14:11).” Amen.
Hieromonk Ignatius (Smirnov)
St. John Chrysostom
Art. 11-14 For the Son of Man came to save the lost. What do you think; If a certain man had a hundred sheep, and one of them went astray, would he not leave the ninety and nine in the mountains and go looking for the lost one? and if he finds her, amen I say to you, for he rejoices over her more than over the ninety and the nine who did not go astray. This is not the will of your Heavenly Father, that one of these little ones should perish
For the Son of man came to save the lost. Following this, he presents a new proof, stronger than the first, and adds a parable in which he shows that the Father himself wants us not to despise our lesser brothers. What do you think, He says, if a certain man had a hundred sheep, and one of them went astray, would he not leave the ninety and nine, and go to the mountains in search of the lost one? And if he finds it, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety and nine who have not gone astray. This is not the will of your heavenly Father, that one of these little ones should perish (vv. 12-14). Do you see how many incentives the Lord presents to us, forcing us to care about our lowly brothers? So, do not say that such and such a blacksmith, shoemaker, farmer is a stupid person and therefore worthy of contempt. To prevent you from being exposed to this evil, see how Christ convinces you with many proofs to moderate yourself and take care of those people. He placed the child in the middle and said: wake up like children, And: Whoever accepts such a boy, accepts me less(v. 5) . And whoever seduces will be subjected to the most severe punishment; and saying: If he doesn't eat, let the village millstone fall on his neck and drown in the abyss of seas(v. 6), was not satisfied with this, but added: woe to the man to whom temptation comes(v. 7), and commanded such to leave, even if they were for us instead of hands and eyes. Then, for the sake of the angels, to whom these lesser brothers are entrusted, he forces us to honor them, and with his own will and suffering encourages us to do this (because when he says: The Son of Man came to save the lost, then points to the cross, just as Paul says about his brother: for him Christ died, - Rome. XIV, 15), and by the will of the Father, because He does not want anyone to perish from little ones. And finally, he uses the general proof that the shepherd, having left the sheep he has preserved, looks for the lost one, and when he finds it, he rejoices greatly at finding it and saving it.
Conversations on the Gospel of Matthew.
St. Filaret (Drozdov)
“The Son of Man has come to seek and save the lost”. Who is this dead man? Is this the same person? Without a doubt, not just one, but many. It is impossible to think that the Son of God became the Son of man for the salvation of only one person.
How many were lost whom He came to save! And are there other people beyond these who have not perished, who do not require salvation from Him? The Apostle Peter says to this: “there is... another name under heaven given among men, by which it is fitting for us to be saved”(Acts IV. 12). And the Apostle John “testifies that the Father has sent the Son of the Savior to the world”(1 John IV. 14). If the Apostles testify that every person can be saved only in the name of Jesus Christ; that God the Father sent Him to save the whole world; He Himself says that He came to save "deceased": then shouldn’t we conclude that under the name "deceased" should we mean every person, the whole world? That's right.
Conversation on the consecration of the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos, Searcher of the Lost. 1854
Right John of Kronstadt
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost
Why should one be especially careful not to tempt any of those who believe in the Lord (Matthew 18:6)? Because the Son of God Himself appeared on earth in the flesh precisely in order to find and save the lost.
Diary. Volume I. 1856.
Blzh. Hieronymus of Stridonsky
Blzh. Theophylact of Bulgaria
Evfimy Zigaben
For the Son of Man came (to seek and) save the lost
I came, he says, into the world, or became human, to save those who died before. And if I cared so much, then how will you despise them? Then he offers a parable that shows the greatness of His love.
Lopukhin A.P.
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost
Many exegetes recognize verse 11 as a later addition, borrowed from Luke. 19:10. In their opinion, the insertion of this verse obscures the connection of the 10th verse with the 12th, which without the 11th verse is completely clear. Morison, however, says that the evidence for the non-authenticity of this verse does not exceed the evidence for its authenticity, and the latter is found in most of the ancient manuscripts, unicial and italic, ancient Latin and Syriac translations and the Vulgate.
Explanatory Bible.
From a theological point of view, one of the most important characteristics of the Messiah contained in the Synoptic Gospels is the expression “Son of Man.” Let us immediately note three points that are extremely important. As for the gospel tradition, here we see that Jesus preferred to call Himself that way, and this is the only name that He freely used. Secondly, it should be noted that no one else ever called Jesus that way. And thirdly, that there is no evidence in the Acts of the Apostles or in the Epistles that the early Church called Jesus the Son of Man. Outside the Gospels, this expression occurs only once: it is used by Stephen while experiencing his vision (Acts 7:56). As for the Gospels, in them Jesus calls Himself this way more than 65 times, and it is surprising that in the early church this name never became a designation for Jesus.
As for the church fathers, they understood this expression primarily as an indication of the human nature of the incarnate Son of God. Jesus was the God-man, the Son of God and the Son of Man. Many old commentaries and articles, appropriating the theological meaning of this name, interpret it primarily in relation to the human nature of Jesus Christ, with the fact that He became identical with man. However, such an interpretation is erroneous, since it does not take into account the meaning of this expression and the historical background in which it was used.
One of the expressions that can be made in relation to the Gospel image of Jesus is that Jesus could not have used this title in relation to himself in any case, since it did not exist in Aramaic, the native language of Jesus (for linguistic reasons such an expression was impossible). One cannot but agree that the Greek ho huios tou anthr?pou does not sound at all and is in fact a translation of an Aramaic expression, which is nothing more than simply “man”. This is clear from the Old Testament itself. For example, in the Book of Numbers we read: “God is not man, that He should lie, nor the son of man, that He should change” (Num. 23:19). “Lord, what is man, that you know him, and the son of man, that you pay attention to him” (Ps. 143:3). This feature was carefully studied by Dalman, who came to the conclusion that although such a name was not common, it could be used in poetry and prophecy with its characteristic sublime style as an indication of the Messiah.
If the linguistic element retains any significance, it is truly strange that nowhere in the Gospels is it used as a paraphrase for humanity, especially when we consider that in the plural form, "that is, the sons of men" it occurs in the Gospel of Mark (Mark 3:28). Dalman's conclusion that the expression “Son of Man could be a title designating the Messiah” has found wide acceptance in modern biblical scholarship.
Another remark is that in the mouth of Jesus the mentioned name is used only as a replacement for the first person pronoun, and therefore means nothing more than “I”.
There are several places that give reason to think about precisely this use (cf. Matt. 5:11 with Luke 6:22). However, Dalman again points out that it was not customary among the Jews to speak of himself in the third person, and if Jesus did so, the word He used was so unusual that it required special explanation.
An example of how an ordinary expression turns into a special term is the German word "Führer". In fact, it simply means leader, leader, conductor, conductor, but in relation to Hitler it became a special designation indicating the head of the German Reich.
In connection with the name we are considering, several issues need to be discussed. What concomitant meanings might it have had for Jesus' contemporaries? This is very important because it is clear that Jesus would not have used it without considering the meaning and nuances it conveyed to His hearers. How did Jesus use this title? And finally, what content did He put into it and what did he want to communicate?
Historical background of the name
We have already seen that in the Old Testament the title "son of man" is not unusual and simply designates humanity. Often, when explaining certain evangelical expressions, researchers use this usage. In the book of the prophet Ezekiel, the name “son of man” is used as a kind of special name by which God addresses the prophet. Some scholars believe that the background for Jesus' use of this expression is contained in this book, but this approach does not in any way explain the eschatological use of this name in the Gospels.
We believe that in this case the Old Testament background is the vision of the prophet Daniel, in which he sees four wild beasts emerging from the sea one after another. These images symbolize the successive change of world empires. It goes on to say: “I saw... one like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven, he came to the ancient of days and was brought to Him. And to Him was given dominion, glory and a kingdom, that all nations, nations and languages should serve Him; His dominion is an everlasting dominion.” which will not pass away, and His kingdom will not be destroyed" (Dan. 7:13-14). In the following verses interpreting this vision, “as the Son of man” is not mentioned. Instead, it speaks of “the saints of the Most High” (Dan. 7:22). , who were first oppressed and slain by the fourth beast, but who then receive the Everlasting Kingdom and rule over all the earth" (Dan. 7:21-27).
At least one thing is clear: in the book of the prophet Daniel, the expression “son of man” is something less than the name of the Messiah. We are talking about an image that resembles a man, as opposed to the four beasts that have already appeared in the vision. In addition, it must be said that, when interpreting this vision, commentators differ on three points:
1. Should the "Son of Man" be considered as a separate person, if it is a symbol representing the saints of the Most High?
2. Does He come to earth or only to God?
3. Is He merely a heavenly image, or does He suffer and receive vengeance? It is clear that he is identical with the saints whom he represents, but this does not exclude the possibility that he is also a separate person. Although the text does not say that he comes to earth, which is almost obvious. He indeed comes to God with the clouds of heaven, however, after the kingdom is given to the saints, so that they reign over the whole Earth. It can be assumed that this is because the Son of Man, who received this kingdom in heaven, brings it to the saints on Earth.
Many researchers believe that this image combines both suffering and subsequent vengeance, since at first the saints were oppressed, but then they were avenged. However, the picture is not clear at all, for when the saints suffer on earth, the Son of man receives the kingdom in heaven, and apparently then brings it to the oppressed saints on earth. We conclude that the Son of Man spoken of by Daniel is the heavenly, messianic, eschatological figure who brings the kingdom to earth to the saints who have suffered oppression.
In the parables of Enoch (En. 37-71), the expression “son of man” becomes the name of the pre-existent heavenly personality, who, having descended to earth and sat on the throne of judgment, condemns the sinners of this Earth, frees the righteous and reigns, full of glory, while the righteous are clothed with the garments of glory and life and enter into blessed fellowship with the Son of man forever.
It is not entirely clear how this image of the heavenly Son of man can be used as a background to the New Testament. It appears that the material constituting the book of Enoch consists of five parts, and fragments of four of them were found among the writings of the Qumranites, but no fragments of parables were discovered. Given this, many scholars have decided that Proverbs could not have existed before the Christian era and therefore cannot be used to interpret the New Testament concept of the Son of Man. Despite the fact that all this looks convincing, one gets the impression that Proverbs still cannot be considered as an example of Judeo-Christian literature, since they are completely devoid of any features characteristic of literature of this kind. Based on this, we are left to conclude that although Proverbs is dated later than the rest of the material of Enoch, it is a Jewish composition that testifies to the way in which in New Testament times the image of the Son of Man presented in the book of the prophet Daniel was interpreted in some Jewish circles. We have no evidence, however, to indicate that Jesus knew these parables. At best, we can only use them to understand the mentality of the Jews of Jesus' day - that mentality in which the expression "Son of Man" became the messianic name for the pre-existent heavenly Being who comes to earth with the Kingdom of God, filled with glory.
" Sonhuman" VsynopticGospels
The Synoptics use the expression "Son of Man" in three aspects: the Son of Man during His ministry on Earth; The Son of Man in His Passion and Death; and the Son of man in eschatological glory.
A. Earthly Son of Man
Mk. 2:10 = Matt. 9:6=Luke. 5:24 The power to forgive sins.
Mk. 2:27 = Matt. 12:8=Luke. 6:5 Lord of the Sabbath.
Mf. 11:9 = Luke. 7:34 The Son of Man “eats and drinks.”
Mf. 8:20 = Luke. 9:58 The Son of Man “has no place to lay his head.”
Mf. 11:32 = Luke. 12:10 The word against the Son of Man will be forgiven.
[Matt. 16:13] (Mark 8:28 omission) “Who do people say that I, the Son of Man, am?”
Mf. 13:37 The Son of Man sows good seed.
[OK. 6:22] (Matthew 5:11 omission) Persecution of the Son of Man.
OK. 19:10 The Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost.
OK. 22:48 "Judas! Will you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?"
B. The Suffering Son of Man
Mk. 8:31 = Luke. 9:22 (Matthew 16:21 omission) The Son of Man must suffer.
Mk. 9:12 = Matt. 17:12 The Son of Man will suffer.
Mk. 9:9 = Matt. 17:9 The Son of Man will rise from the dead.
Mk. 9:31 = Matt. 17:22 = Luke. 9:44 “The Son of Man will be delivered into the hands of men.”
Mk. 10:33 = Matt. 20:18 = Luke. 18:31 The Son of Man will be handed over to the high priests, condemned to death, and resurrected.
Mk. 10:45 = Matt. 20:28 The Son of Man came to serve and to give His life.
Mk. 14:21 = Matt. 26:24 = Luke. 22:22 The Son of Man cometh, as it is written of Him: but woe to the betrayer.
Mk. 14:41 = Matt. 26:45 The Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners.
Mf. 12:40 = Luke. 11:30 “The Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.”
C. Apocalyptic Son of Man
Mk. 8:38 = Matt. 16:27 = Luke. 9:26 The Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.
Mk. 12:36 = Matt. 24:30 = Luke. 21:27 “Then they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds with much power and glory.”
Mk. 14:62 = Matt. 26:64 = Luke. 22:69 “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
OK. 12:40 = Matt. 24:44 "For at an hour when you do not think the Son of Man will come"
OK. 17:24 = Matt. 24:27 “For as lightning flashes from one side of the sky and shines to the other side of the sky, so will the Son of Man be on His day.”
OK. 17:26 = Matt. 24:37 “And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man.”
Mf. 10:23 “You will not have time to go around the cities of Israel before he comes
[the Son of Man may not have this verse."
apocalyptic character]
Mf. 13:41 "The Son of Man will send His angels"
[Matt. 16:28] (Mark 9:1) "There are some...who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom"
Mf. 19:28 "Shall the Son of Man sit on the throne of His glory"
[Matt. 24:39] (Luke 17:27 omission) “So will be the coming of the Son of Man.”
Mf. 25:31 "When will the Son of Man come on the throne of His glory"
OK. 12:8 (Matthew 10:32 omission) “Everyone who confesses Me before men, the Son of man will also confess him before the angels of God.”
OK. 17:22 “The days will come when you will wish to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see.”
OK. 17:30 "So it will be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed"
OK. 18:8 “But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
OK. 21:36 “Watch therefore at all times and pray, that you may be counted worthy to escape all these future disasters and to stand before the Son of Man.”
The links in parentheses appear to be of editorial origin. The Gospel of Mark contains statements of all three types, while Source O reports only one statement concerning the suffering of the Son of Man. The sources that formed the basis of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke contain statements about both the earthly Son of Man and the apocalyptic one. There is a fairly wide distribution across all Gospel sources.
The question of whether these sayings go back to the time of Jesus, or whether they were included in the gospel tradition at various stages of its history, is answered differently. Let us name five main types of interpretation. According to the "conservative" wing of biblical scholars (represented by such names as Woz, Turner, Mowinckel, Taylor, Kuhlman, Marshall, Grönheld) all three types of sayings, if not each of them separately, have their author Jesus and characterize his mentality . From the point of view of A. Schweitzer, which Jeremias now supports, only eschatological statements are genuine (and Jesus was expected to be the heavenly Son of Man at the coming end of this age). From the point of view of Bultmann, joined by Bornkam, Todt, Hann and Higens, only statements of an apocalyptic nature seem genuine. However, when speaking about the Son of Man, Jesus did not mean Himself, but some other apocalyptic figure, another apocalyptic person who will judge people at the end of this age based on what connection they had with Jesus (Luke 12: 8). Recently, several radical researchers, rejecting the authenticity of all statements, attributed their authorship to the Christian community. among them may be mentioned Tipla and Perrine. Several scholars, and first of all E. Schweitzer, insist on the authenticity of those sayings that refer to the earthly Jesus, but at the same time they are very skeptical about the form in which the sayings of the other two groups have come down to us. While admitting the authenticity of several apocalyptic statements, Schweitzer interprets them in the sense of a future rapture. In his view, Jesus expected God to lift Him up from His suffering and humiliation and testify for or against those who would appear before the throne of God on the day of final judgment. It must be said that M. Black approves of Schweitzer’s position.
It must be said that when scientists evaluate the reliability of certain statements about the Son of Man, their assessment is influenced by dogmatic considerations. The researcher's view of the essence of the historical process is the criterion of what seems true or false about Jesus. “In the question of the Son of Man, the fundamentally important question is not the problem of the authenticity of this or that group of statements, but the question of the nature of the historical process.” In the modern scientific world, it is generally accepted that the gospel image of Jesus is the image of a man endowed with transcendental self-awareness and, as the early Christian church believed, who claimed that on the day of judgment he would appear as the eschatological Son of Man. However, scientists believe that “history” is a story about people, not about divine beings. There is no place in history for an incarnate deity, and therefore the image we have in the Gospels is born of the Christian community and is the fruit of the Christian faith.
A slightly different approach can be observed among those researchers who believe that Jesus did not claim to be the eschatological Son of Man, since a normal person would not make such a claim. Moreover, the use of this name to describe earthly ministry presupposes a completely unambiguous statement, which some researchers have paid attention to: a statement about a certain pre-existent heavenly messiah who suddenly appears among people in the form of a man. Teeple, for example, puts it this way: “If Jesus really believed that in His present ministry He was the Son of Man, something incredible must have happened in His mind. He had to believe that He Himself as the Son of Man existed in heaven from the beginning centuries, then descended to Earth, and then again ascended to heaven and returned to Earth again." The very statement that such a thought must seem incredible to Jesus reflects the premises according to which one concludes what can be true in history and what cannot be so.
Another point that influences the objectivity of the assessment is the emphasis on the so-called formal consistency. Its essence is this: if one set of statements is genuine, then it thereby excludes the authenticity of another group of statements. “If by the Son of Man we understand only the unearthly transcendental Messiah... then it cannot be explained how, already during His earthly ministry, Jesus could call Himself the Son of Man with all the rights that flow from this.” However, ideas about the earthly and apocalyptic Son of Man do not necessarily exclude each other friend, and this is proven by the fact that in the Gospels both concepts are brought together. Therefore, there is no a priori reason why they could be considered to exist separately in the mind of Jesus. The idea that the Son of Man represents some eschatological person other than Jesus (this is the dominant view in German theology) is very problematic, since there is not the slightest evidence that Jesus expected someone greater than himself, then Much evidence suggests the opposite.
We argue that the only valid criticism is that in all Old Testament sources Jesus, and only Jesus, used the title Son of Man to designate Himself. As for the supporters of form criticism, they insist on the criterion of so-called dissimilarity, the essence of which boils down to the fact that only those statements can be confidently considered genuine that have no parallels either in Judaism or in the early church. If this principle is applied to statements about the Son of Man, then it will be necessary to recognize that the idea that He will appear on earth humiliated in order to suffer and die has no parallel either in Judaism or in the early church. The Church often spoke about the sufferings of Jesus Christ, but never about the sufferings of the Son of Man. The fact that Jesus alone uses this title "seems to prove conclusively that it was beyond any doubt the title by which Jesus designated Himself." This is a pretty strong argument, but most critics, including Bornkam, fail to recognize its persuasive force. If Jesus really spoke of Himself as the Son of Man in His earthly ministry, then the only serious argument against the authenticity of eschatological statements is their possible incompatibility with those statements that deal with the earth. Moreover, this is consistent with the principle of dissimilarity if we correlate the idea of the eschatological Son of Man with the idea of Him as already performing His humble service on Earth. Thus, there is good critical justification for proponents of the unbiased inductive method to regard all three types of statements as genuine.
The Earthly Ministry of the Son of Man An example of this section is what we find in the Gospel of Mark. Peter's confession of Jesus' messianic nature at Caesarea Philippi marks a turning point in Jesus' self-revelation to His disciples. Before Caesarea, He spoke of Himself as the Son of Man in the earthly dimension, but after that two new points appear: the Son of Man must suffer and die, but then He will come in His eschatological status to judge and rule in the eschatological Kingdom of God.
In Mark we find two uses of this title at the beginning of Jesus' ministry. Responding to the criticism He received after forgiving the sins of the paralytic, Jesus says, “...the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” (Mark 2:10). The phrase found in this statement is often interpreted as a synonym for the word “humanity,” but not as a messianic name, however, given the meaning of the context, it must be said that such an interpretation is hardly possible. Forgiving sins is still the prerogative of God, not man. In essence, here Jesus was accused of blasphemy, since only God can forgive them (v. 7). As the Son of Man, Jesus here insists that he has the power to forgive sins. You should also pay attention to the expression “on the ground”. There is supposed to be a contrast between heaven and earth, but not between the divine prerogative exercised in heaven and the authority of Jesus on earth. The contrast rather suggests that there are two aspects to Jesus' authority. He possesses it as the heavenly Son of Man, but now brings it down to earth, exercising His power among men.
Jesus contrasts his behavior with the behavior of John the Baptist. John came as an ascetic, but Jesus, being the Son of Man, came as an ordinary man who eats and drinks (Matthew 11:19 = Luke 7:34).
Next we see that the Pharisees condemn Jesus for not keeping the traditions of the scribes regarding the Sabbath. Defending what He does, Jesus says: “The Sabbath is for man, and not man for the Sabbath; therefore the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27,28). Whatever this statement may mean, there is no reason to say that mankind as such has any sovereign power over the Sabbath, and that, therefore, every man can make his own rules for its observance. Being the Son of Man, Jesus says that He has the authority to interpret those regulations regarding the Sabbath that were established by the scribes. The point is that the Sabbath is not something self-sufficient, but was created for man. In this context, the title “Son of Man” suggests certain connotations regarding the human nature of Jesus. The messianic ministry of Jesus includes a certain participation in the nature of man, and therefore everything that concerns humanity as such comes under the power and authority of the Son of Man. It is absolutely inconceivable that Jesus believed that humanity had sovereignty over the Sabbath. The words of Jesus that “the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath” are very important. In this particular case, the authority that the Son of Man has extends even to the commandment to keep the Sabbath.
Speaking about blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, Jesus associated Himself with the power that operates in Him. One can speak against the Son of Man and be forgiven, but if a person is spiritually blind that he is unable to distinguish the Spirit of God from the power of Satan, and is therefore ready to attribute to the devil the power that operates in Jesus, he has reached such hardness that he can never be forgiven (Matt. 12:31-32). In this case, Jesus does not seek to contrast the work that He did as the Son of Man with the work of the Holy Spirit; He rather described two stages in the gradual darkening of the human heart. You can speak against Jesus, against the Son of Man, and still receive forgiveness. Jesus recognized that His messianic purpose was such that people could easily take offense at Him (Matt. 11:6). But if a person got to the point where he began to see the source of Jesus' power in Satan, he lost the possibility of salvation.
As for the other statement (the chronology of which is rather difficult to establish), it is best understood in the context of messianic dignity. To the scribe who wanted to follow him, Jesus says: “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head” (Matthew 8:20; Luke 9:58). If the words look rather faded, if the expression “Son of Man” is understood only as a synonym for the word “I”; if we assume that this name indicates the status of Jesus as the heavenly Messiah, it is immediately filled with a deep meaning: “I, endowed with the messianic dignity of the Son of Man, am forced to live in humiliation, which is in no way consistent with this dignity.”
The consciousness of messianism is also expressed in the following words: “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10).
All these statements confused the Jews. Whether or not the parables of Enoch reflected the Jewish mentality of Jesus' day, the Jews were familiar with Daniel's vision of "one like the son of man," and if Jesus used this title to identify Himself in His earthly ministry, it was clear that it He unequivocally declares Himself to be a heavenly pre-existent, human-like being. The use of this name in this context implies a very decisive and unexpected statement, going so far as to confess His divine nature. The ability to remain the heavenly Son of Man, remaining in humble humiliation, and at the same time retain the dignity of the heavenly pre-existent Man - this is the essence of the messianic mystery.
Suffering Son of Man.
Once the disciples were convinced that Jesus was indeed, in some sense, the messiah who would fulfill the prophetic hopes of Israel, Jesus began to say something new: “And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, being rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and on the third day rise again" (Mark 8:31). It was precisely for this thought, that is, that the Son of Man must die, that Peter began to reproach Jesus; the idea of a dying son of Man or a dying Messiah did not fit into his mind at all and looked like something contradictory in its essence.
This situation poses another question regarding the hopes that the Jews of Jesus’ time cherished. The question is: is there any connection between the ideas of the Messianic Son of Man and the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53? There is no doubt that at times Judaism has interpreted this great prophecy in a messianic sense. At this point, we don't really care what this chapter means in its own historical context; we are only interested in finding out how the Jews understood it. Jeremias argues that the concept of a suffering Messiah dates back to pre-Christian times. However, in Judaism, His suffering is the result of a struggle with enemies, and not the suffering of an atoning death. There is no doubt that the image of the Son of Man, which we meet in the parables of Enoch, has something in common with the image of the servant who appears before us in the 53rd chapter of the book of the prophet Isaiah. However, one very important feature - redemptive suffering for the sake of someone else - is completely absent from the mentioned parables. Therefore, we must agree with those researchers who find no connection between the Messiah and the Suffering Servant and pre-Christian Judaism.
Mark goes on to write that Jesus told His disciples more than once that He would be delivered into the hands of men and sentenced to death. He spoke of His death as the death of the Son of Man, but not the Messiah, but this only exacerbated the problem facing the disciples. If the Messiah is a king from the tribe of David who defeats his enemies with the breath of his mouth, then the Son of Man is a heavenly supernatural being. How can it die?
The most striking statement about His death is contained in the 10th chapter of the Gospel of Mark (Mark 10:45), which says that dying for humanity is His (as the Son of Man) messianic mission. “For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). "Here is the theme of the eled Yahweh hymns, and is an allusion to Isaiah 53 (Isaiah 53:5)... Jesus deliberately combined in Himself the two main concepts of the Jewish faith, barnasha and eled Yahweh." The idea of atonement (lytran) seems to indirectly allude to the sin mentioned in the 53rd chapter of the book of the prophet Isaiah (Is. 53:10). And in the word “many” one hears an echo of those many that are mentioned more than once in Isaiah (Is. 53:11-12). James has a widely held "conservative" view of Jesus' use of the title "Son of Man." He takes an expression that is found in the book of the prophet Daniel (and which was not very widely used in contemporary Jewish hopes) and radically reinterprets it. The Son of Man is not only a heavenly pre-existent being; weak and humiliated, He appears among people as a man in order to fulfill the mission of suffering and death entrusted to Him. In other words, Jesus puts the content that was supposed in the image of the Suffering Servant into the concept of the Son of Man.
Apocalyptic image of the Son of Man
Having announced His suffering, Jesus at the same time announced His coming in glory. After Caesarea Philippi, legends about His coming as the coming of the Son of Man in glory begin to appear relatively often. This idea was well known to His listeners, since they also knew Daniel's prophecy. However, the idea that the heavenly Son of Man would first live among men as a man and then be subject to suffering and death was something completely new.
Perhaps the most striking apocalyptic statement is the one that we have already discussed - Jesus’ answer to the high priest’s question about whether He is the Messiah or not? No matter how He answers ("I" Mark 14:62 or "You said" Matt 26:64), the result is the same. In announcing His Messiahship, He immediately defines what He means: “from now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven” (Matthew 26:64). Jesus is the Messiah, but the Messiah is as the heavenly Son of Man, and not as an earthly king from the tribe of David. In fact, He Himself is telling the accusers that one day the situation will change. Now He stands before their judgment seat, but the day will come when they, His judges, will stand before His court, and He, the heavenly Son of Man, will become the eschatological judge.
After the publication of Glesson’s book “The Second Coming,” many scientists accepted his point of view, according to which Jesus, answering the high priest, does not speak about coming to earth, but only about ascension and coming to God. However, one cannot ignore the argument regarding the order of words in this sentence: first we are talking about the Son of Man, “who sits at the right hand of power”), and about the parousia (coming).
Conclusion
So we can conclude that by using the expression “Son of Man”, interpreted in His own historical and religious context, Jesus was claiming not only messianic dignity, but also a corresponding messianic role. In fact, the confession of Himself as the Son of Man implicitly implied something more than just messianic dignity, since it carried within it semantic overtones indicating a supernatural nature and supernatural origin. Jesus did not call Himself the Messiah, since His mission was fundamentally different from what arose in ordinary consciousness when this word was used. He called Himself the Son of Man, because, sounding very sublime, this name gave Him the opportunity to fill it with new content and meaning. He did this by connecting the role played by the “Son of Man” with the role of the Suffering Servant. Once the disciples were convinced that Jesus was indeed the Messiah, albeit something else, He explained to them in more detail what the purpose of the Son of Man was. First He must suffer and die, and then He will come in glory (as predicted in Daniel 7) to usher in the coming of the Kingdom of God, which will also come in power and glory. Using this title, he proclaimed his heavenly dignity and, perhaps, even his very pre-existence, and at the same time said that He was the One who would one day announce the coming of the Kingdom in glory. However, to fulfill this, the Son of Man must become the Suffering Servant and go to his death.
At some points, Jesus' teaching about the Son of Man and the teaching about God's Kingdom have a direct analogy. We have already seen that the Kingdom of God is the full and perfect realization of God's reign, full of glory, which can only be experienced in the coming age. However, before the Kingdom of God comes in glory, it, that is, the royal reign of God, has already made itself known among people in an unexpected way. The kingdom works among them in mysterious ways, and although this wicked age still continues, it has begun its secret work, almost unnoticed by the world. His presence is seen only by those endowed with spiritual perception. This is the secret of the Kingdom: for the first time in the ministry of Jesus Christ, the secret Divine plan was revealed to people. The coming apocalyptic Kingdom, filled with glory, has mysteriously already arrived to influence people before it appears in the open.
We see something similar in regard to the Son of Man. One day Jesus will come as the heavenly, glorious Son of Man, coming with clouds to judge people and establish His Kingdom. However, before His apocalyptic appearance in this status, Jesus appears as the Son of Man, who lives in a hidden way, incognito, among people, and whose ministry is not to reign in glory, but to suffer and die in humility and humiliation for them. The coming heavenly Son of Man is already present among people, but not in the way, or almost not in the way they expected Him. That is, we are dealing not only with the mystery of the Kingdom of God, but with the mystery of the Messiah.
By calling Himself the Son of Man, Jesus announced Himself as the Messiah, but by using this title in a special way, He indicated that His Messiahship was completely different from what was commonly expected. The title “Son of Man” allowed Him, having proclaimed His messianic dignity, to interpret the messianic ministry in a special way. Thus, it must be admitted that the people were not ready to receive this message because they had a mistaken idea of the Messiah, but it was intended to motivate those who were spiritually ready to respond to the real presence of the messiah, even in His unexpected messianic role .
The church is a place where a person's character is polished, and this process is associated with discomfort and pain, but it is a necessary part of the Christian life. Often we ourselves have to experience temptations and even falls, or see how one of our neighbors has been tempted, but this is not a reason for despondency and disappointment. This is an opportunity to cling to Christ again, ask Him for strength to resist temptation, and learn from Him how we should respond to such situations.
Each of us is called to walk in the way of Christ and follow His example. And this is one of the greatest difficulties we face in our spiritual journey. What should we do when we are spiritually weakened, when sinful habits overcome us and when we do not have the strength to escape from the tenacious hands of the devil? How should we treat those who are pursuing their spiritual journey next to us, who are sinning or who have been subjected to strong temptations and trials from the enemy of human souls?
There is only one way out: Jesus Christ. The Savior was motivated by love, compassion and care. He behaved very delicately towards people. He knew the terrible consequences of sin and its devastating effects on the lives of millions of people whom He created and sustained by His power. And that’s why Luke writes about the mission of Christ: “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10).
The Lord speaks with kindness to our hearts, so that we, too, will treat our neighbors with love and forgiveness, wanting to serve them. Our life should be filled with love. Jesus says, “This is my commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you” (John 15:12).
“Am I my brother’s keeper?” How many times has the enemy of men's souls led us to be quick to condemn and blame our brothers for the mistakes they have made? In such cases, do we follow the advice of the Lord: “Go and expose him between you and him alone; If he listens to you, then you have gained your brother; if he does not listen, take one or two more with you... But if he does not listen to them, tell the church...” (Matthew 18:15-17).
How often, through our words or judgmental behavior, do we say, like Cain, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Gen. 4:9).
Ellen White, under God's guidance, wrote of Christian responsibility among brothers: “This means that if any one neglects the duty which Christ has laid upon him to do all for the correction of the erring and sinning, he becomes an accomplice in that sin. If we could have prevented sins and failed to do so, then we are as responsible for them as if we had committed them ourselves. But we must point out the sin to the one who committed it. We should not make sin the subject of judgment or criticism. Even when sin becomes known to the whole church, we should not dwell on it” (The Desire of Ages, p. 441).
“Everyone must be punished with death for his own crime” (Deut. 24:16). How often do we try to justify sin or the person who causes it. In reality, sin is difficult to explain except that it was a rebellion against God, raised by Lucifer in heaven and then on earth. It is precisely because sin is difficult to explain that it is a personal rebellion against God, and therefore every person must be accountable to the Lord. “Fathers should not be punished with death for their children, and children should not be punished with death for their fathers; everyone must be punished with death for his crime” (Deut. 24:16).
“Enter at the narrow gate.” What a wonderful call Jesus Christ made to His followers: “Enter at the strait gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many go in through it; for strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to life, and few find it” (Matt. 7:13, 14).
Despite the truth that we are all sinners and that the terrible consequence of sin is death, in His grace and compassion for repentant sinners the Lord offers them a way out: “Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:24).
“Not wanting anyone to perish, but that everyone should come to repentance.” Heavenly Father desires to save all people through Christ's sacrifice on the cross of Calvary and the acceptance of the wonderful gift of eternal salvation by faith in Jesus Christ. When people realize the greatest need for salvation, realizing their vulnerability caused by sin, then the Holy Spirit can work on our hearts, the fruit of this work will be repentance! (Phil. 2:13).
“The Lord is not slack in fulfilling his promise, as some count slackness; but he is patient with us, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9). The Apostle Paul, who diligently followed the teachings of Christ, also wrote about our Savior's desire for all people to be saved and to know the truth (1 Tim. 2:4).
Repent sincerely before God and He will give you forgiveness. We need not only sincere repentance, but also sincere confession of our sins before the Lord. We can then experience joy and peace by receiving His forgiveness. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
If we have offended our neighbor, it is necessary to improve our relationship with this person, as the Apostle James recommends: “Confess your faults one to another and pray for one another, that you may be healed: the fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5:16).
Our Lord also demands due reparation. “And when I say to a wicked man: “You will surely die,” and he turns from his sins and does justice and righteousness, if this wicked man returns the deposit, pays for what was stolen, walks according to the laws of life, without doing anything bad, then he will lives and will not die." (Ezek. 33:14, 15).
What a wonderful plan the Lord has offered to us sinners! He encourages us to repent, confess, and make amends. Even though it is difficult from a human point of view, all these steps are a gift from the Lord, and each person can take them with humility.
An excellent example for us is the story of Zacchaeus, when, having repented, he said that he would give half of his property to the poor, and would repay those whom he had offended fourfold. To which Jesus said to him: “Now salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham, for the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:9, 10).
“Behold, now is the acceptable time, behold, now is the day of salvation.” The Lord has a wonderful plan for each of us. He also had a plan for the woman caught in adultery and condemned to death by the teachers of the law and the Pharisees: “But Jesus stooped low and wrote on the ground with his finger... and said to them, He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” Then He looked lovingly at the woman and asked, “Where are your accusers? Has no one judged you?”... She answered: “No one, Lord.” Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.” (John 8:3–11).
Jesus despised adultery, but He also despised self-righteous condemnation. The story of the woman caught in adultery talks about how people set themselves up as judges over other people whom they could not judge if they themselves were innocent.
Repentance is a gift from God, and forgiveness is a wonderful treasure that the Lord gives us! But justice must be done, and we must begin to live a new, sinless life. True repentance improves life and brings it into harmony with God's will.
Daily devotion to the Lord. Ellen White gives us this advice: “Dedicate yourself to God every morning. Let this be your first order of business. Pray like this: "Take me, Lord, I belong entirely to You. I lay all my plans at Your feet. Use me today in Your service. Abide with me, that all my works may be accomplished in You." This must be done every day. Every morning, dedicate yourself to God for the day ahead. Submit all your plans to Him. Be willing to do them or forsake them, following what He in His foreknowledge shows you to do. In this way you can give your life to God day by day, and it will become more and more like the life of Christ” (The Way to Christ, p. 70).
Our Savior assures us of victory. Yes, my dear brothers and sisters, the Savior assures us of victory! “Thanks be to God, who has given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 15:57). What a privilege it is for God's children to engage in the ministry of reconciliation because we have become a new creation. “So we are messengers on behalf of Christ, and it is as if God Himself exhorts through us; In the name of Christ we ask: be reconciled to God” (2 Cor. 5:20).
Let our prayer be the following words: “We pray that you will walk worthy of God, pleasing Him in everything, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to the might of His glory, in all patience and generosity.” with joy, giving thanks to God the Father, who has called us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light" (Col. 1:10-12).
We wish you God's abundant blessings as we await the Second Soon Return of our Lord Jesus Christ! Maranatha!
Nikolay Shneider
“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost.”
(Luke 19:10)
There is, perhaps, not a single word in Holy Scripture that would not be blessed for one soul or another. But there are words that are blessed not only for a select few, they are blessed for thousands of people. These words of Scripture also apply to them. Let's take a closer look at them. “Son of Man” are the first words that shine towards us. What do these words tell us? They speak to us in a wonderful way of the divine glory of Jesus. How so? Do they not speak much more about His human wretchedness and low status? I think not. It never occurred to any of the prophets and apostles to say: “I am a child of man!” Why? Because it's something that goes without saying. However, when Jesus says about Himself that He is the Son (Child) of Man, He does this because for Him it is something special, extraordinary. Unlike us, He was not a son of man from the beginning. He was the Son of God. He was an exact copy of His essence and a reflection of His glory. He is higher than the hymns of countless holy angels.
And this great, mighty, exalted Lord became the Son of Man. What condescension, what mercy! What a fall it was for Him from the heights of heaven and glory to the eternal wretchedness of the earth! What was it like for Him when He left the company of His Opt and holy angels in order to communicate with lost sinners! All the greatness of the sacrifice that the Lord Jesus made for our salvation is contained in these words - Son of Man.
But these words speak not only about the sacrifice of the Son of God. They also talk about the Father's sacrifice. What did it cost Him to give His Only Begotten, beloved Son into the hands of sinners! He knew what people would do to Him. He knew that they would ridicule Him and mock Him, they would scourge Him and nail Him to the cross. In his soul, He already heard the threatening knock of the hammer on Calvary, which wounded the Father’s heart. And yet He made a great sacrifice. “It is not His Son that is so dear to Him, no, He will give Him for us, so that through His removed blood He will save us from eternal fire!”
What an abyss of mercy these words speak of - the Son of Man! They allow us to see the enormous love and mercy of God, who so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son. Of this Son of God who became man we hear today: “He has come.” We are so used to this that we no longer perceive it as something special that the great wonderful Son of God has come to us. How the devout people of the Old Testament yearned for Him! How they sighed and waited: “Watchman! How long is it night? “Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down!” “When the Lord brought back the captivity of Zion, we were as if we were dreaming.” “Who will give salvation to Israel from Zion! When the Lord will bring back the captivity of His people.” So with longing they looked out for a time of prosperity and a Savior. They only knew that He would come.
And we know - He has come! We no longer need to stand like the Jews in Jerusalem at the Western Wall and sigh. We can sing at Christmas: “Christ the Savior is here!” See how today we can say in a world lost in sin: the Savior has come. Now you no longer need to languish in sin, now you no longer need to serve vice. The Savior has come! He took power away from sin and Satan.
Oh, this good news! He came to search. And this became the main goal of the Lord’s life. That's why He left heaven, that's why He came to our poor Earth. He wanted to search. He searched throughout His entire life. He went across the whole country. And everywhere He looked for souls who wanted to enter His Kingdom, the Kingdom “where joy and peace reign.” And just as this was the goal of His life, so, dying, He yearned for it. He spread His nailed hands over the entire lost world and exclaimed: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing!” Even at this moment He was still looking for the souls of Annas and Caiaphas, Pilate and Herod in order to save them. Through the centuries He walked, always only thinking about one thing - the salvation of souls. This is how He passes through the life of each person individually. At every opportunity He comes and seeks.
How often He came to you, from the first days of your life! Maybe it was at your confirmation too. He extended his hand to you. And then, in the dangerous, temptation-filled years of your youth, He came to you again and again. He accompanied you always. Again and again He knocked on your door. Didn't you feel it? He looked for you even in adulthood. In joy and suffering, in happiness and misfortune, He looked for you. He looked for you when you were sitting in church and listening to the pastor's word. He was looking for you when they offered you a leaflet about Christianity on the train. Isn't it true that He looked for you in different ways?
I am convinced that no life is so poor as that which cannot produce proof of the seeking love of a good shepherd. Have you allowed Him to find you? How sad it is that many people avoid Him for a long time. Maybe you too? Oh, how many people avoid God! They feel that He has intentions towards them, that He wants something from them, and they run from Him. But why? Yes, because they do not know at all what He really wants from them. They think that He will reproach them for all their sins, and that then an insignificant, miserable life will begin. And that's why they avoid Him. How wrong they are! Anyone who thinks this way has no idea about the love of Jesus.
Some people, when they hear that the Savior is looking for them, take to their heels. They don't want Him to find them. They don't know what He wants from them. He came to find us and make us happy. If translated literally, it means to save. We need salvation because our unbelief threatens us with eternal oblivion. Jesus wants to free us from this terrible danger in which every unconverted person finds himself. This is His intention. And you don't need to run away from it. When He saves us, He will make us happy. The word "happy" has two meanings: "free" and "cheerful." He frees us from sin and the burdens of the past. He frees us from the power of darkness in which we are by nature. Thanks to this we rejoice. We rejoice: “Jesus, the Lamb, took the burden of my sin and cast it far away. He died for me on a bloody pillar. My soul, glorify the Lord!”
Many people believe that this happiness will come only after death, but it can be experienced here too. Here now we will be happy, but whoever is not happy here will never be. This happiness of today is so wonderful that it is worth turning for it alone. Because this happiness implies confidence in the forgiveness of sins, peace with God, confidence in the existence of eternal life and the wonderful valuable gifts of the Lord. Following the happiness of this world will come the bliss of another, which no eye has seen, no ear has heard, which has not entered into any human heart, but which God has prepared for those who love Him. Then we will be able to abide with the Lord, whom our heart loves, in an eternal, happy union, because sin will not have the opportunity to disrupt and darken the peace and joy of our being. “In heaven my heart will be blessed forever!” Amen.
