"The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him ..." (Matthew 26:24)

"The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born." (Matthew 26:24)

Why is Jesus referring to himself in the third person?

In the verse before this the NIV translation states that Jesus said:

"The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me." (Matthew 26:23)

Comparing that statement with the next one (Matt. 26:24), notice that Jesus changes from speaking in the first person to speaking in the third person.

In the first sentence (Matt. 26:23) he refers to "me," and now he refers to the "Son of Man" and "him" in the third person, almost as if he is speaking about someone else. What is going on here?

This would be akin to someone sitting down at the dinner table and saying "can you please pass the peas to the person sitting in the end seat - he is hungry." That would be very odd if the person saying this was sitting in the end seat. In that case, the normal thing for the person at the dinner table to say is simply, "please pass me the peas - I am hungry."

So what do we make of Jesus' sudden change from speaking of himself in the first person to suddenly speaking of himself in the third person?

In fact, we find that Jesus spoke in the third person in practically every statement where Jesus refers to the "Son of Man." 

Why only when Jesus makes this reference does he switch to the third person? The answer lies in the true meaning of "Son of Man."

What does 'Son of Man' mean?

Read Jesus' statement carefully... "...woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man..." Here "man" and "Son of Man" are being used in the same sentence. Does it even make sense? Every male human is a son of a man. Why would it be so bad for a "man" to betray a "Son of Man"? What is a "Son of Man" anyway?

The phrase "Son of Man" is a mistranslation. "Son of Man" is translated from the Greek phrase, υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου. The first word, υἱὸν can indicate a relationship of offspring within the context of a physical family, but Jesus is not referencing a physical family: If he were, he'd be referencing a physical father.

Rather, the appropriate meaning of υἱὸν in this context, according to the Greek lexicon is "one of the posterity of any one" and "one who depends on another or is his follower." Thus, the appropriate translation of υἱὸν can be boiled down to either "follower," dependent, "disciple," or "servant." 

In this context - relating to man or mankind - the most appropriate choice is "servant."

The Greek word τοῦ indicates possessive, and is appropriately translated to "of".

The Greek word, ἀνθρώπου can be translated to "man" as well as "mankind" or "humanity" according to the lexicon. "Mankind" or "humanity" is most appropriate within the context.

Thus, the appropriate translation of υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου: Servant of humanity

This is consistent with Jesus' other statements elsewhere that he has come as a service to all of humanity. This humble identification of himself is also consistent with how Jesus spoke of being sent by God:

"I am with you for only a short time, and then I go to the One who sent me." (John 7:33)

Jesus also spoke of himself as a servant to others, and he also instructed his disciples to serve others:

"Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant." (Mark 10:43)

Jesus also illustrated this sense of service as he washed his disciples' feet.

Is 'Son of Man' a role?

Evidence that this is a role rather than an individual exists clearly in the Old Testament. This humble self-reference as the servant of humanity was not limited to Jesus. Other messengers of God also referred to themselves in this same way:

"O Lord, what is man that you care for him, the Son of Man [servant of humanity] that you think of him?" (Psalm 144:3)

While some have tried to misinterpret David's statement as referring to Jesus, the verses surrounding this make it obvious that David is referring to himself as the servant of humanity - pleading humbly as to why God would even consider him.

Job also humbly referred to himself as a servant of humanity when he prayed:

"how much less man, who is but a maggot - a Son of Man [servant of humanity], who is only a worm!" (Job 25:6)

God also referred to Ezekiel as the servant of humanity:

"He said to me, "Son of Man [servant of humanity], stand up on your feet and I will speak to you."" (Ezekiel 2:1)

and

"He [God] said: "Son of man [servant of humanity}, I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against Me; they and their fathers have been in revolt against Me to this very day." (Ezekiel 2:3)

In this last verse, we see that God referred to Ezekiel as the servant of humanity as He was sending him to teach to the Israelites on His behalf. This is the quintessential servant of humanity: Sent by God to help (as a service to) humankind.

So Jesus is referring to himself here, not as "me" but as someone sent by God. One of God's messengers, who has come to save humanity by teaching God's message.

This is why Jesus speaks of himself in the third person as he makes this reference as the servant of humanity: Because he recognized its scriptural context - as a role rather than a specific person.

We might compare this to being a first mate on a ship. The first mate has a specific job to do, and this job is defined by the captain. If one of the ship-mates were to disobey the commands of the first mate, the first mate would not say, "you should never disobey me." This would sound very arrogant and not appropriate. Rather, the first mate would say, "you should never disobey the first mate." While the first mate would still be referencing himself when he says this, he is subordinating himself within his role, and speaking of his role rather than himself personally.

This is exactly what is going on with Jesus' statement above. He is subordinating himself to his role as God's representative, who has come to save humanity.

What is God's representative?

This is akin to the situation of a visiting ambassador to a foreign country. If anyone within the foreign government mistreats the ambassador, it might be a personal affront against the ambassador himself, but the bigger problem is that the mistreatment is an offense against the government the ambassador represents. This is due to the fact that the ambassador is not there on his own. He is a representative of his government and leader of that government.

In the same way, because Jesus was sent by God and is God's representative, to betray him is to offend God. It is a most egregious offense, as Jesus indicates.

Jesus also refers to himself in the third person as he says "The Son of Man [servant of humanity] will go just as it is written about him." Jesus is pointing again to the fact that he is serving God within a particular role, and he knows he will be persecuted for his service to God.

Jesus realizes that this is part of his service, as was written because he took on this role of being sent by God to serve humankind by teaching us about God, and how to serve God:

“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment." (Matt. 22:37-38)

"... the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners." (Matthew 26:45-46)

When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing. Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!" (Matthew 43-46)

Why did Jesus pray three times?

Before this, Jesus prayed to the Supreme Being not just once, but twice during that evening.

Then he made a prayer to God a third time. Why three times?

From those first two prayers, we understand that Jesus was struggling with what was going to happen to him. It is obvious from this third prayer, where he prayed the same thing, that Jesus was struggling with this issue. What is the issue?

The issue was that Jesus was struggling with his decision. He knew he could have walked away into the woods and avoided arrest.

Indeed, Jesus had avoided arrest previously:

Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp. (John 10:39)

So Jesus understood that he could have evaded the arrest. It was nighttime and he could have easily left Jerusalem and went off into the wilderness. He had done this before.

But as we know from the rest of the story, Jesus did not run off this time. He struggled with his forthcoming persecution. But in the end, he wanted to serve the Supreme Being, even at the cost of his physical body being tortured and severely persecuted. He was still determined to do God's will:

"My Father ... may Your will be done" (Matthew 26:42)

Was Jesus looking forward to this event?

Was Jesus a masochist? Certainly not. The reality that he first put his head to the ground and asked God to prevent this from happening tells us clearly that Jesus was not looking forward to suffering.

But if it was God's will, he was willing to suffer on behalf of his teachings, his mission, his Lord God, and for those who might hear his teachings. His sacrifice was not so people could sin without consequence. He was not a "sacrificial lamb" so people could do what they want for six days a week and then be cleansed on the seventh.

Rather, Jesus was being persecuted at the hands of the institutional temple leaders and the Romans. It was these demoniac persons who were responsible for Jesus' persecution. Jesus was merely accepting his fate, and wanting to stand up for his teachings.

This - standing up for his teachings - was Jesus' gift to humanity. We remember Jesus today because of his total devotion and dedication to his teachings.

Did Jesus really feel 'betrayed'?

It seems by this statement that Jesus was quite bitter about being betrayed. If that is true, then we must ask, why didn't Jesus just leave Jerusalem and avoid being arrested?

Jesus had, in fact, avoided arrest many times during his travels. He would hear that he might be arrested, so he would leave that town and move on to the next area. Or he would leave and go up to a mountain.

But this time, even though Jesus knew he would be arrested, he stuck around. Jesus actually waited in the place that Judas told the chief priest that he would be. Why did he wait? And why didn't he run?

And why did he greet the guards instead of avoiding arrest? And why did he chastise Peter when he defended Jesus by fighting with the guards who came to arrest Jesus?

The scriptures indicate that Jesus actually instructed Judas to go and tell the chief priest where he would be. So why would he say that Judas "betrayed" him?

The Greek word translated here to "betray" is παραδίδωμι (paradidōmi). This word does not actually mean to "betray" though. Rather, it means, according to the lexicon, "to give into the hands (of another)" or to "cause one to be taken."

So the word itself doesn't mean betrayal. Yes, the act of handing someone over into the hands of another can be seen as an act of betrayal. Assuming of course that the person being handed over didn't approve of it.

It is clear that Jesus is speaking of someone who will be turning him in. This would only be betrayal if Jesus didn't want this to happen.

A more literal translation of Jesus' statement is, from the Lost Gospels of Jesus:

“Go ahead and sleep now and take your rest – but look, the time has arrived for the Servant of Humanity to be arrested into the hands of the wicked." (Matthew 26:45)

Jesus did allow himself to be arrested. But he recognized that he was going to be arrested by a wicked party (the chief priest and his guards).

What is a Son of Man?

The Lost Gospels text above uses the phrase, "Servant of Humanity" instead of "Son of Man."

What the heck is a "Son of Man" and why would anyone call themselves that? Every male human is a son of a man. Yes, this phrase has been ritually repeated for thousands of years. Yet the phrase has little practical meaning.

It is also such irony that the same professional translators and interpreters who have translated the Greek phrase υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου into "Son of Man" have also proclaimed that Jesus is the only son of God (as if God is so impotent that He could only have one son). So which is it? Is Jesus the only "Son of God" or the "Son of Man"? Who is "Man"?

This irony within many translations of the texts of the Bible illustrates a weakness in the process of institutional Bible translation. Due to what we might refer to as institutional peer pressure, translators have utilized the same phraseology in many situations so their translations aren't met with criticism from peers and the various sectarian institutions that dominate the religious world.

This institutional control of Christianity began with the politically organized councils of Nicea selected by the Roman government in the Fourth and Fifth centuries. They were continued through the centuries by the Roman Empire and the Holy Roman Empire, dominated by the Roman Catholic Church.

What furthers this weakness has been the establishment of professional positions within church institutions, driven by the political authority of these institutions. The leaders of these institutions are focused on maintaining authority and power - both personally and for their institutions. This focus removes their ability to truly serve Jesus' interests - and the will of the Supreme Being.

So what does the Greek phrase υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου - incorrectly translated into "Son of Man" - really mean? Let's break it down:

The first Greek word of the phrase is υἱός (huios). Depending upon the context, this word can have two possible meanings: it can mean "offspring" when the context is ones physical family, but there is also another use for the word. It can also mean, as taken from the Greek lexicon, "used to describe one who depends on another or is his follower."

In a historical context, this use was applied to a person who was devoted to another. Among devotional communities, this word - the Greek υἱός and the Hebrew בן (ben) - was applied to someone who devoted their lives to a particular deity. And as that applied to the worship of the Supreme Being, a person who was devoted to God was referred to with this address.

This devotee also considered themselves subservient to the One they were devoted to. They thus also identified themselves as a servant of God. While the strict use of "servant" in the Greek can come from διάκονος (diakonos), διάκονος was used more to describe a slave, or forced servant. Someone who out of devotion voluntarily serves another serves with love and devotion. The emphasis here is devotion, not slavery - although sometimes Jesus metaphorically used διάκονος to emphasize subservience and humility.

Thus the translation of the Greek υἱός and the Hebrew בן in this context would most appropriately be "loving servant." In this application, this would also refer to the loving servant of God.

Consider a few uses of the Greek υἱός and the Hebrew בן (ben) with reference to servants of God.

the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. (Genesis 6:2)

when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. (Genesis 6:4)

Jesus also used the expression:

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God." (Matt. 5:9)

Jesus' followers also used the expression:

"because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God." (Romans 8:14)

"The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed." (Romans 8:19)

"You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus," (Gal. 3:26)

None of these uses are describing physical family "sons" of God. Therefore, they could only be using the second meaning of the Greek υἱός or the Hebrew בן, meaning a subservient, dependent follower, devotee or loving servant: A servant of God.

In fact, if we replace "son" with servant in all of the above verses, we find the meaning of each verse becomes clear. When we look at the objects of each verse, we find that servant is the more appropriate translation because each verse is describing devotion. Each of the subjects in each verse are being described as those who have devoted their lives to God. They are thus servants of God.

Let's show these same verses above with the correct translation:

the servants [or followers] of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. (Genesis 6:2)

when the servants [or followers] of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. (Genesis 6:4)

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called servants [or followers] of God." (Matt. 5:9)

"because those who are led by the Spirit of God are servants [or followers] of God." (Romans 8:14)

"The creation waits in eager expectation for the servants [or followers] of God to be revealed." (Romans 8:19)

"You are all servants [or followers] of God through faith in Christ Jesus," (Gal. 3:26)

Now we can apply this understanding to the Greek phrase υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου - incorrectly translated into "Son of Man."

The Greek word τοῦ means "of." It is possessive.

Then the Greek word ἀνθρώπου (anthrōpos) means, according to the lexicon: "generically, to include all human individuals". This means that ἀνθρώπου would not be appropriately translated to "man", but rather, to 'humankind,' 'mankind' or 'humanity.'

The type of loving servant relationship here is one where the subject is looking out for the welfare of the other, rather than being a follower of the other. We can still consider this being devoted to another, but this devotion is for the welfare of the person. In this context, we can also appropriately translate υἱὸς to "loving servant" or more simply "servant" assuming devotion. Thus when we combine this with ἀνθρώπου meaning "humankind" or "humanity," we get:

The loving servant of humanity, or simply, the servant of humanity - again assuming the service is voluntary and performed through devotion.

Is Jesus a Servant of Humanity?

This is important because Jesus was describing himself as a servant of all humanity. This humble self-description was also illustrated when Jesus washed the feet of his disciples. He was showing them that his mission was - and hopefully the mission of his disciples would be - to serve the welfare of others by teaching to them and giving them God's message. He also indicated this clearly in his teachings:

"The greatest among you will be your servant. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted." (Matt. 23:11-12)

This is not the first time this expression was used by God's humble servants. David also humbly described himself as a "servant of humanity" (also incorrectly translated to "Son of Man"):

"When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the Son of Man [servant of humanity] that you care for him?" (Psalms 8:3-4)

Job also referred to himself as a servant of humanity:

"how much less man, who is but a maggot - a Son of Man [servant of humanity], who is only a worm!" (Job 25:6)

Ezekiel also described that God directly referred to Ezekiel as "Son of Man" [servant of humanity] nearly 50 times during their discussions. Here is the second of those:

He said: "Son of Man [servant of humanity], I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against Me; they and their fathers have been in revolt against Me to this very day." (Ezekiel 2:3)

We can see in this last verse that God is referring to Ezekiel as the servant of humanity as He is sending him out to teach to the Israelites, who were offending God.

And this makes it clear that Jesus also saw himself in the same way: As being sent by God to teach humankind, thus becoming the servant of humanity.

We see this clearly within the context of Jesus' statement above. Jesus is waking up his disciples who were sleeping because he is ready to show them that he is willing to be arrested in order to please God. He is ready to stand up for his teachings. He is ready to serve God and serve humanity by illustrating what real love for God means. He is ready to show everyone just how important loving and serving God really is:

"'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." (Matt. 22:37-40)