All this week on Things Unseen, we've been reflecting on the question that Jesus asked the disciples at Cesarea Philippi.

Who do you say that I am?

And we've thought about the two great titles that Simon Peter used in his answer,

You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.

But at the end yesterday, I mentioned a third title used for the Lord Jesus,

but not one that Peter used.

In fact, and this is actually significant,

it's not a title that's ever found on the lips of any of the apostles, although it appears

frequently in their writings.

In fact, apart from what amounts to a quotation in John, chapter 12 verse 34, only two people

have ever used it.

One is the martyr Stephen, who used it in the moments just before he died.

I wonder if you remember, he said, I see the heavens opened, and the son of man standing

at the right hand of God.

The other person who used it?

Well, of course, it's the Lord Jesus himself. And he used it at

Caesarea Philippi, remember, when he asked the disciples, who do people say that the Son of Man is?

Son of Man is an expression that occurs around, I think, 80 times in the Gospels.

And we could say it's not only Jesus' unique way of describing himself, because basically

nobody else uses the title, it's actually his favorite way of talking about his own ministry.

Now, many Christians have been taught to think that Son of God refers to Jesus' deity, while

Son of Man refers to his humanity.

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