Son of Man Ruler

In the Christmas season we are inherently reminded of Jesus coming to earth as a little baby in Bethlehem born to the virgin Mary and the profoundly humble origin of the plan for salvation. We also need to be reminded of the other characteristics of who Jesus is: revealed as the Word of the Lord in the Old Testament and our Almighty Ruler of the Heavenly Kingdom.  

I sometimes get overwhelmed when I watch or read too much news about what is happening in the world: the violence, wars, greed, and general lawlessness. Similarly, in this passage, Daniel is distressed at the vision of the evil rulers that will come before Jesus as the final ruler. Daniel sees in his vision that “one like a Son of Man” will be given a dominion which is an everlasting dominion where people of every language will serve Him.   

Jesus called himself “the Son of Man”on many occasions. He explained to the Pharisees that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins when He healed the paralytic that was lowered into the room from the ceiling by his friends. He declared to the Pharisees on another occasion the the Son of Man was the Lord of the Sabbath. And toward the end of His ministry on earth, He reminded the disciples that the Son of Man must suffer greatly and die, but rise again on the third day. I believe that Jesus intentionally referred to himself as the Son of Man not only to remind us of His own humanity—that He relates to us—but also to remind us that He is the Son of Man ruler that Daniel saw on His eternal throne.   

Let us be reminded this season that Jesus came to earth not only to be our Savior but also to be our King. There will be other rulers and leaders in the world, but none are as powerful as Jesus, and none are the kind of ruler that Jesus is. The book of Daniel tells us that Jesus is the ruler of a kingdom that will not pass away and will not be destroyed, and that we, as believers will actually “possess” the kingdom forever. Contemplate Jesus as our Ruler this Christmas season.