Jesus as the Son of Man in Mark

Over the past two millennia scholars have been debating over what was meant by the expression “the Son of Man” which was used so frequently by the itinerant Rabbi from Nazareth known as Jesus. The expression occurs 81 times in the Gospels 77 of which come from Jesus (with two additional ones in indirect speech). Despite being used so frequently by Jesus an explicit explanation is never given in the Gospels (or in any book of the New Testament) as to what Jesus meant by the designation of “the Son of Man.” Nevertheless if Jesus did use the term himself as a self-designation examining it would perhaps allow one to gain more insight into Jesus’ self-understanding. Image: Carl Bloch Christ and Thorns w/out Soldier 1880. Courtesy of Hope Gallery Inc.