Jesus said: "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am", John 8:28

Jesus in the Gospel of John tells us two things when he refers to himself: "Son of man" and "I am": "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am", John 8:28. These statements of Jesus in the Gospel of John must be understood in the context of the teachings of the kingdom of God.

The title "son of man" is a messianic title, which we see in the old testament in the books of the prophets Ezekiel and Daniel: "Son of man, how is the wood of a vine different from that of a branch from any of the trees in the forest?", Ezekiel 15:2"; "As he came near the place where I was standing, I was terrified and fell prostrate. ´Son of man, he said to me, ´understand that the vision concerns the time of the end.´´", Daniel 8:17
The prophets ezekiel and daniel are considered major prophets along with Isaiah and Jeremias. Both Daniel and Ezekiel tell us about the reestablishment of a future kingdom and a new covenant.
Jesus comes to fulfill this new covenant, announced by the major prophets: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.", Matthew 5:17.
Jesus takes up this title of "Son of man" from the major prophets, because he personifies the qualities and perfections of God. The revelation of the kingdom of God that Jesus gives us consists of two parts.
The man seeks the kingdom of God by living according to the spirit, searching the correct and the best. Man becomes "son of God", man seeks the wisdom of God.
And the second part, the kingdom of God comes to us, God becomes "son of man", Jesus personifies the perfections, the qualities of God: "I am the door", John 10:9; "I am the true vine", John 15:1; "I am the Light", John 8:12; "I am the good shepherd", John 10:11.
The affirmations of "I am" reinforce the messianic title of "son of man", because Jesus is the third person of the trinity together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, Jesus is the personification of the kingdom of God. Ultimately Jesus prophesies his own destiny, his crucifixion in John 8:28, either as "son of God" or as "son of man".
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