From the last Post, we may note the roles of the Son of Man as the mediator between God and the Universe as well as the Judge of the whole world. God the Father does not judge anyone as He has given full authority to the Son who himself need not judge anyone as each one is already judged by his or her attitudes to life. This is because anyone who pays heed to what Jesus says and puts trust in Him Who sent him into the world has already passed from death to life. In other words, Jesus Christ is the criterion of judgement God has set up for judging the world whereby each one is automatically judged according to the level of conformity with this all-important criterion (John, 5: 22-26).
Jesus declared further his role as the Son of Man thus:"As Son of Man, he has also been given the right to pass judgement. Do not wonder at this, because the time is coming when all who are in the grave shall hear his voice and come out: those who have done right will rise to life; those who have done wrong will rise to hear their doom. I cannot act by myself; I judge as I am bidden, and my sentence is just , because my aim is not my own will, but the will of him who sent me" (John, 5: 27-30). Here again, just like in the cases of Nathaniel and the High Priest, Jesus invokes a future event to prove the validity of the present claim he makes about himself. This method is suitable in theology where faith is involved not only in present realities, but also in the future fulfillment of what we believe. Faith is of things both present and future on the basis of the past events standing as sources of confirmation of our belief, faith itself being a gift of God. It is of events both taken place already and not yet fully realized for which we wait with hope conducting ourselves in love during the intervening period that is our life in this world. The verification required by the empirical sciences for the validity of their hypotheses very often has to be satisfied with falsification as Albert Einstein said: "No amount of experimentation can ever prove me right ; a single experiment can prove me wrong". Jesus was convinced that the future verification of an event is legitimate whereby our present claims may be validated as we have seen from the above instances. This is so because the reality here is composed of not only the past and present but also essentially of the future too. Complete trust and faith in the person of Jesus is a prerequisite for the believers to carry conviction in his teachings. The Son of Man, therefore, encompasses in himself not only the present reality of being a man, but also his past and the future as a unique expression of the unity of God and humanity in his own person. Thus through the reality of the Son of Man we may see the face not only of man but also that of God as well. Our search for God as well as for genuine humanity ends with the presence of the Son of Man among us that should encourage us to represent true humanity in our own persons so that the genuine face of God will shine through us.
Another scene to be expected at the end of the world brings out the nature of the Son of Man, especially when we deal with the whole of humanity, i.e., the Last Judgement (Matthew, 25: 31-46). The Last Judgement will be based not on our allegiance to particular religions, races, cultures and ritual practices, but solely on our relationship with other human beings. This basis is laid by Jesus through his death on the cross for everyone born human irrespective of all other considerations because of his identification with humanity as Son of Man. Son of Man, therefore, cannot be monopolized by any group including the Church which is his Body both visible and invisible. A narrow portrayal of the Son of Man by even the Church because of its faulty self-understanding does a dis-service to the cause it would like to uphold. The cause for which the Church stands is to proclaim the good news of salvation wrought by God in and through Jesus Christ. The title 'Son of Man' rightly understood encompasses in itself the whole of humanity as well as divinity whereby men and women come to themselves protected from all threats constantly knocking at their doors. To be genuinely human we need the Son of Man as our anchor and guide without whom we shall be thoroughly ruined and remain helpless victims of forces beyond our control. As noted earlier, the Son of Man being the criterion of judgement set up by God Himself, all members of the human family would be able to pronounce judgement on themselves that would be corroborated and approved by the Son of Man.
Jesus declared further his role as the Son of Man thus:"As Son of Man, he has also been given the right to pass judgement. Do not wonder at this, because the time is coming when all who are in the grave shall hear his voice and come out: those who have done right will rise to life; those who have done wrong will rise to hear their doom. I cannot act by myself; I judge as I am bidden, and my sentence is just , because my aim is not my own will, but the will of him who sent me" (John, 5: 27-30). Here again, just like in the cases of Nathaniel and the High Priest, Jesus invokes a future event to prove the validity of the present claim he makes about himself. This method is suitable in theology where faith is involved not only in present realities, but also in the future fulfillment of what we believe. Faith is of things both present and future on the basis of the past events standing as sources of confirmation of our belief, faith itself being a gift of God. It is of events both taken place already and not yet fully realized for which we wait with hope conducting ourselves in love during the intervening period that is our life in this world. The verification required by the empirical sciences for the validity of their hypotheses very often has to be satisfied with falsification as Albert Einstein said: "No amount of experimentation can ever prove me right ; a single experiment can prove me wrong". Jesus was convinced that the future verification of an event is legitimate whereby our present claims may be validated as we have seen from the above instances. This is so because the reality here is composed of not only the past and present but also essentially of the future too. Complete trust and faith in the person of Jesus is a prerequisite for the believers to carry conviction in his teachings. The Son of Man, therefore, encompasses in himself not only the present reality of being a man, but also his past and the future as a unique expression of the unity of God and humanity in his own person. Thus through the reality of the Son of Man we may see the face not only of man but also that of God as well. Our search for God as well as for genuine humanity ends with the presence of the Son of Man among us that should encourage us to represent true humanity in our own persons so that the genuine face of God will shine through us.
Another scene to be expected at the end of the world brings out the nature of the Son of Man, especially when we deal with the whole of humanity, i.e., the Last Judgement (Matthew, 25: 31-46). The Last Judgement will be based not on our allegiance to particular religions, races, cultures and ritual practices, but solely on our relationship with other human beings. This basis is laid by Jesus through his death on the cross for everyone born human irrespective of all other considerations because of his identification with humanity as Son of Man. Son of Man, therefore, cannot be monopolized by any group including the Church which is his Body both visible and invisible. A narrow portrayal of the Son of Man by even the Church because of its faulty self-understanding does a dis-service to the cause it would like to uphold. The cause for which the Church stands is to proclaim the good news of salvation wrought by God in and through Jesus Christ. The title 'Son of Man' rightly understood encompasses in itself the whole of humanity as well as divinity whereby men and women come to themselves protected from all threats constantly knocking at their doors. To be genuinely human we need the Son of Man as our anchor and guide without whom we shall be thoroughly ruined and remain helpless victims of forces beyond our control. As noted earlier, the Son of Man being the criterion of judgement set up by God Himself, all members of the human family would be able to pronounce judgement on themselves that would be corroborated and approved by the Son of Man.
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