Why Jesus’ Favorite Title Is a Divine Claim

Did Jesus ever actually claim to be God? Or was that a later invention, added by the Gospel of John and absent from the earlier Gospels? These are two of the most common—and most misleading—claims made in modern skepticism.

You’ve probably seen the argument before: that Jesus never said, “I am God,” and that Matthew, Mark, and Luke present a purely human Jesus, while John’s Gospel—written decades later—“elevates” Him into a divine figure. According to this view, belief in the deity of Christ wasn’t something Jesus or His earliest followers taught, but something that evolved over time.

But what if this isn’t just mistaken—it’s backwards?

What if Jesus was making divine claims all along, and what if His favorite way of doing so was through a title that appears in all four Gospels—a title deeply rooted in Jewish Scripture and full of divine significance?

That title is “the Son of Man.”

“When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he…”
— John 8:28

“Before Abraham was, I am.”
— John 8:58

In one of the most dramatic confrontations in the Gospel of John, Jesus doesn’t just imply His identity—He declares it. His words in John 8 drive His audience to pick up stones, not because He taught something confusing, but because they understood exactly what He meant: He was claiming to be God.

At the center of this claim stands a phrase Jesus used more than any other to describe Himself: “the Son of Man.” To many modern readers, this title sounds humble, maybe even evasive—a way of emphasizing Jesus’ humanity rather than His deity. But in the Jewish context of the first century, this phrase would have echoed with divine thunder. “Son of Man” was no ordinary title. It was a claim to cosmic authority, drawn directly from the Hebrew Scriptures.

In this post, we’ll explore what “Son of Man” meant in Jewish theology, how John and other Gospel writers use it, and why its presence in all four Gospels dismantles two popular but deeply flawed assumptions:

1. That Jesus never claimed to be God.
2. That the idea of Jesus’ divinity only developed in the Gospel of John and not earlier.

The Meaning of “Son of Man” in Jewish Context

The title “Son of Man” finds its deepest roots in Daniel 7:13–14, where Daniel has a vision of heaven:

“I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man… And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion…”

This “Son of Man” figure:

• Rides on the clouds (a divine prerogative – see Psalm 104:3),
• Is given universal authority, and
• Is worshiped by all nations (the Aramaic word pelach is used for worship of deity in Daniel 7:14).

Ancient Jewish interpreters understood this figure to be far more than a mortal. In 1 Enoch, a text known to Second Temple Jews, the “Son of Man” is portrayed as a preexistent, heavenly being who will execute judgment on behalf of God.

As Michael Heiser and others have pointed out, this “Son of Man” language was blasphemous in Jewish ears—unless it was true. By identifying Himself with this figure, Jesus wasn’t calling Himself a humble human. He was claiming to be the Divine Redeemer-King foretold by Daniel.

The Son of Man in John’s Gospel

Let’s return to John 8.

Jesus says, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he.” The phrase “lifted up” (Greek: hypsōthēte) points to His crucifixion, but also His glorification (John 3:14–15, John 12:32). He ties it together with the phrase “you will know that I am” (egō eimi)—an unmistakable echo of Exodus 3:14, where God reveals His name to Moses: “I AM WHO I AM.”

In John’s Gospel, “Son of Man” always points upward—to Jesus’ heavenly origin, divine authority, and eventual glorification:

• John 1:51 – Jesus is the “ladder” to heaven, the link between earth and God.
• John 3:13–15 – The Son of Man comes down from heaven and must be lifted up like Moses’ serpent.
• John 5:27 – The Son of Man has been given authority to execute judgment.
• John 6:62 – “What if you see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?”
• John 12:23 – “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.”

These are not metaphors for humility. These are cosmic declarations.

What Do Scholars Say?

Here’s what scholars across the theological spectrum say about John’s use of “Son of Man”:

Bart Ehrman (liberal):
“In the Gospel of John, Jesus makes bold claims… He claims to be equal with God… The ‘Son of Man’ sayings are tied to his glorification.”¹

J.D.G. Dunn (left of center):
“In John, ‘Son of Man’ sayings are overtly connected with divine prerogative, especially in connection with his ‘lifting up’… a clear allusion to exaltation and divine glorification.”²

Raymond E. Brown (moderate):
“The ‘Son of Man’ in John is the vehicle of divine revelation and glorification, bridging the human Jesus with the heavenly realm.”³

D.A. Carson (conservative):
“Son of Man is Jesus’ self-designation for His role as the exalted heavenly figure of Daniel 7… John leaves no ambiguity: Jesus claims divine identity.”⁴

Andreas Köstenberger (conservative):
“In John’s Gospel, ‘Son of Man’ is not merely messianic. It is deeply theological, loaded with divine authority and preexistence.”⁵

Even those who deny the historical Jesus claimed to be God (like Ehrman) admit that the Gospel of John presents Him as openly divine, using “Son of Man” as one of the main vehicles for that claim.

The Synoptics Also Use “Son of Man” — A Lot

Here’s the surprise many skeptics overlook: the title “Son of Man” is used even more frequently in the Synoptic Gospels than in John.

• Matthew: over 30 uses
• Mark: 14 times
• Luke: 26 times

And these uses are not vague or neutral. They are packed with divine meaning. Here are just a few:

• Mark 2:10 – “The Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” Forgiveness was God’s job (cf. Mark 2:7), and the religious leaders knew it.
• Mark 14:62 – Jesus declares: “You will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” This is a direct allusion to Daniel 7 and Psalm 110.
• Matthew 25:31–46 – The Son of Man judges the nations, separating sheep from goats. He welcomes some into eternal life and casts others into eternal fire. This is divine judgment.
• Luke 12:8–9 – Jesus warns that to deny the Son of Man will have eternal consequences.

These are not minor moments. These are God-sized claims.

Scholarly Support

Richard Bauckham:
“The Son of Man sayings in the Synoptics portray Jesus in the role of divine judge and ruler, precisely the identity given to the Danielic figure.”⁶

Larry Hurtado:
“The Son of Man title in the Synoptics does not water down Jesus’ identity—it intensifies it, associating Him with preexistent glory and divine prerogatives.”⁷

Dale Allison:
“While some ‘Son of Man’ sayings may emphasize suffering, others point clearly to heavenly exaltation, return, and judgment, all derived from Daniel 7.”⁸

Why the Myth That Jesus Never Claimed to Be God?

This myth rests on two faulty assumptions:

1. That “Son of God” means divine and “Son of Man” means human. In truth, it’s almost the reverse. In Jewish literature, “son of man” could mean a mortal—but in Daniel 7, it meant a heavenly ruler receiving worship.
2. That the Synoptic Gospels portray a mere prophet and that only John’s Gospel “evolved” Jesus into God. This ignores the high Christology of the Synoptics—Jesus forgiving sins, calming storms, receiving worship, judging the world, and applying divine passages (like Psalm 110 and Daniel 7) to Himself.

Once these assumptions collapse, the myth goes with them.

Final Blow to the Late Divinity Myth

If Jesus used “Son of Man” to refer to His own preexistence, authority, judgment, and glorification, and if both John and the Synoptics record this consistently, then:

• The claim that Jesus never referred to Himself as God is false.
• The claim that John invented Jesus’ divinity is false.
• The claim that “Son of Man” means only humanity is deeply misguided.

Jesus referred to Himself as the Son of Man over and over. That wasn’t humility. It was the fulfillment of Daniel 7. It was a deliberate, daring, and ultimately deadly claim:
“I am the One who rides the clouds. I am the One who receives worship. I am the One who will return in judgment. I am the One seated beside the Ancient of Days. I am the Son of Man.”

Conclusion

So, the next time someone says, “Jesus never claimed to be God,” point them to the Son of Man.

And when they claim that John’s Gospel alone teaches the divinity of Christ, remind them that Jesus’ Danielic self-identification saturates all four Gospels.

The Son of Man came down from heaven, forgave sins, claimed glory, predicted His return in power, and ultimately said, “Before Abraham was, I AM.”

And they picked up stones to kill Him—not because He wasn’t clear, but because He was.

---

Footnotes

1. Bart D. Ehrman, Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium (Oxford University Press, 1999), 202.
2. James D. G. Dunn, Christology in the Making, 2nd ed. (Eerdmans, 1996), 75.
3. Raymond E. Brown, The Gospel According to John (I–XII), Anchor Bible Commentary (Doubleday, 1966), 367.
4. D. A. Carson, The Gospel According to John, Pillar New Testament Commentary (Eerdmans, 1991), 284.
5. Andreas J. Köstenberger, A Theology of John’s Gospel and Letters (Zondervan, 2009), 240.
6. Richard Bauckham, Jesus and the God of Israel (Eerdmans, 2008), 45–47.
7. Larry W. Hurtado, Lord Jesus Christ: Devotion to Jesus in Earliest Christianity (Eerdmans, 2003), 291.
8. Dale C. Allison Jr., Constructing Jesus: Memory, Imagination, and History (Baker Academic, 2010), 99–102.