Once again we hear echoes in the New Testament Gospels. On one occasion, Jesus is asked if he is the “Coming One” (Matt 11:3, NKJV). He replies that the “blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them” (Matt 11:5 = Luke 22:7). The implication is that, yes, Jesus is the Coming One, the Messiah (cf. Matt 11:2). When Jesus stills the storm, the disciples ask, “Who then is this, that even wind and sea obey him?” (Mark 4:41), which is consistent with the Qumran scroll’s declaration that the “heavens and earth shall obey (God’s) Messiah.”8
Several other Jewish texts from the intertestamental period speak of the expected Messiah. According to the Psalms of Solomon (mid-first century BC), Israel’s messianic king (twice called “Lord Messiah”) “will gather a holy people who he will lead in righteousness; and he will judge the tribes of the people that have been made holy by the Lord their God” (17:26) and “he will be a righteous king over them, taught by God” (17:32; cf. 17:4, 21, 28, 30, 36–37, 40, 42). According to 4 Ezra (first century AD), “the Messiah whom the Most High has kept until the end of days, who will arise from the posterity of David” will come and will judge the wicked and deliver the righteous (12:32–34).
In Enoch 37–71 (a major section called the Parables of Enoch) we find several references to the “Son of Man,” the “Chosen One,” and even two references to “Messiah” (1 Enoch 48:10; 52:4). The Son of Man references are clearly based on the vision of Daniel 7 (cf. 1 Enoch 46:1–6). The Son of Man becomes the “Chosen One” (48:6) and probably should be identified with the “Messiah.” The Messiah will sit on a throne and judge the kings of the earth. The Messiah envisioned in Enoch is reminiscent of the king in Jesus’ parable of the sheep and the goats (Matt 25:31–46). Referring to himself, Jesus begins his parable by saying “when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne” (Matt 25:31). This language alludes to the description of the Son of Man in Daniel 7, which speaks of “thrones” (v. 9), a “son of man” (v. 13), “myriads” (i.e., angels, v. 10, NASB), and “glory” (v. 14). Just as the Son of Man/King in Jesus’ parable will gather all the nations and judge them (Matt 25:32), so the messianic Son of Man of 1 Enoch will judge the kings of the earth (e.g., 1 Enoch 46:5). The Son of Man will even sit on God’s throne (1 Enoch 51:3; cf. 1 Chr 29:23).
There is no question that many Jews expected the appearance of the Messiah, though not everyone defined this figure or his mission the same way. That the Messiah would be an exalted figure seems clear, but whether he was expected to be in some sense divine is doubtful.9 How did Jesus understand himself? Did he think of himself as in some sense divine?
The Implicit Claims of Jesus
Earlier in this chapter we briefly described the Jewish tendency and expectation of “messianic modesty” when it came to identifying oneself as an agent of God. As an illustration, we may cite the oft-quoted declaration of the prophet Amos: “I am no prophet, nor a prophet’s son” (Amos 7:14). The modesty of Amos almost borders on lack of candor, given what he says next: “The LORD took me from following the flock, and the LORD said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel’” (Amos 7:15). Amos was indeed a prophet; he simply did not presume to call himself a prophet.
We find a similar tendency in Jesus. What he says about himself tended to be indirect and allusive. For this reason, scholars speak of an “implicit Christology,” in which Jesus’ exalted identity is implied, not declared, and so must be inferred from actions and sayings. For example, Jesus frequently refers to himself as “Son of Man.” This epithet reflects Aramaic idiom and apart from any special context simply means a man, a mere mortal. Yet every time Jesus uses this idiom, it is definite: the son of man. In fact, if the text is translated literally, it could be rendered the son of the man (Greek: ho huios tou anthropou). The appearance of this self-reference in the definite form every time leads interpreters to wonder if a specific son of man figure or passage of Scripture was in the mind of Jesus. Because the Son of Man is sometimes linked with “clouds of heaven” (Mark 14:62) or “glorious throne” (Matt 19:28), many scholars suspect that Jesus was alluding to the mysterious heavenly figure of Daniel 7 who approaches God and receives authority and kingdom.10 If so, then this is a very powerful example of implicit Christology (and in a couple of cases it becomes a rather explicit Christology).
Let’s pursue the Son of Man self-reference a little further. On one occasion, Jesus tells a man that his sins are forgiven. When some of the scholars who are present object, saying that only God can forgive sins, Jesus replies, “the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” and proves it by healing the man—on the spot and in front of everyone (Mark 2:10). Most readers and hearers of this story will assume that Jesus has acted with divine authority by forgiving someone’s sin (and not merely, as a priest might, declaring that God has forgiven the man’s sin). But there’s more. The odd qualifying phrase, “on earth,” appears because the Son of Man obtained divine authority from God in heaven (Dan 7:9–14) and now on earth he exercises that authority. So although Jesus makes no explicit claim to divinity or to exalted status, his claim that he possesses the authority to forgive sin implies divine authority or authorization. Moreover, to claim to be the Son of Man who has this authority on earth clearly implies that Jesus understands himself as the heavenly Son of Man figure who stands before God described in Daniel’s vision (and this is why Son of Man is capitalized).
In another context, Jesus is accused of being in league with Beelzebul (Mark 3 = Matt 12 = Luke 11), which is another name for Satan. This accusation is leveled against Jesus because of his remarkable success in healing and exorcism. What I find quite amazing is the comparison Jesus makes between himself and Satan, who is described in a parable as a “strong man”: “But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man; then indeed he may plunder his house” (Mark 3:27). Here Jesus has implied that he has bound the strong man, that is, Satan. In doing this, Jesus is now able to cast out Satan and thus set free people under Satan’s control. The claim is quite astonishing, for the power of Satan rivals that of God’s most powerful angels (see Dan 10:13).
The debate between Jesus and his critics also appears in a longer, fuller context in Matthew 12, where some Jewish scholars request a sign from Jesus (Matt 12:38). Jesus tells them that the only sign they will be given will be the sign of Jonah (Matt 12:39). Reference to Jonah leads Jesus to declare,
“The men of Nineveh will arise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the South will arise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.” (Matt 12:41–42)
What Jesus implies by these comparisons is quite remarkable. He claims that his preaching is such that one must conclude that “something greater than Jonah is here” and that his wisdom, which includes the power to heal and cast out evil spirits, is such that one must conclude “something greater than Solomon is here.” Jonah’s preaching and his call to repentance saved Nineveh, a great city, from certain destruction. Yet, the preaching of Jesus is much greater, in that it has the power to save a much greater number. The wisdom of Solomon was such that the Queen of the South travelled a great distance to hear it. Yet, the wisdom of Jesus is much greater. Remember, the prophetic power of Jonah and the wisdom of Solomon were themselves divine empowerments. What is present in Jesus is even greater. These claims may only be implicit, but they are highly suggestive of an exalted self-understanding.
The reactions of people to what they see or sense in the presence of