The Coming of the Son of Man

The season of Advent is a time of prayerful waiting and preparation for Christians to prepare them for the coming of their Saviour Jesus. Much of that spiritual preparation is a re-imagining of the birth of Jesus and an re-enacting of the stories of that birth recorded in by the Gospel writers Matthew and Luke. But there is another dimension to the traditional teaching of the church down through the centuries in this season of Advent, and that is the waiting for the second coming of the Son of Man at the end of time. The Nicene Creed, formulated in 325 CE and still regarded as a definitive expression of Christian faith today, states the belief succinctly: 'He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.'

In the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, there are freguent references to the coming of the Son of Man. For example, at his trial before the Sanhedrin, Jesus tells the high priest: 'From now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven' (Matthew 26.64); and the memorable parable of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25.31-46 begins with a similar description: 'When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory.'

So what are Christians to make of this language and these ideas today? Does this belief in a second coming enhance faith in a meaningful way today, or is it a rather an embarassing piece of theological debris, floating around like some of the obsolete satellites that continue to orbit our planet? Here are some guidelines:

There is no doubt that these references to the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven go back to Jesus himself. It is likely that Jesus interpreted his own messianic ministry and the vindication that God would give to it in the language of Daniel 7.13: 'Then I saw one like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. And he came to the Ancient One and was presented before him. To him was given dominon and glory and kingship, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away, and his kingship is one that shall never be destroyed.' This is how Jesus understood his role and it is helpful for us today to engage with that.

The language is part of the religious imagining of the Judaism of Jesus' time. It expresses a confidence to know what heaven is like, and what is to happen at the end of time. Such language still works on the religious imagination. Just as William Blake's iconic painting of The Ancient of Days makes an extraordinary impact on the eye, so also these evocative words of scripture conjure up images and ideas at sub-conscious levels that can be conducive to strengthening faith. It is a mistake to interpret such language literally, popular though such efforts may be in using these passages from scripture to write about the final consummation. There is a greater integrity to allowing the language to work symbolically.

For the truth that this belief in the coming of the Son of Man is this: that in Jesus there is such truth about God that that truth is not only contained within time, but it supercedes and is beyond time. Love, sacrifice, beauty, and wisdom lie at the heart of meaning. There is no escaping our accountability before such truth. So let us ponder on these words of scripture and see in them the hope and victory of God.