Son of Man in Luke

There is some kind of connection between Daniel 7:11, the Enoch tradition, the sign of Jonah and the son of man sayings in Luke. There is a common idea of the “sign” or witness of judgment that may best be expressed by Luke in these verses: “When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, ‘This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign shall be given to it except the sign of Jonah. For as Jonah became a sign to the men of Nin'eveh, so will the Son of man be to this generation. The queen of the South will arise at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them; for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. The men of Nin'eveh 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.’”

I previously stated that the Sign of Jonah is a can of worms in view of the complexity of problems it raises. The central problem is the lack of agreement between Matthew and Luke in their respective explanations of the meaning of the Sign of Jonah. Luke 11:30 reads: “For as Jonah became a sign to the men of Nin'eveh, so will the Son of man be to this generation.” I now realize that Luke is telling us that it is the function and role of the Son of man to be the eschatological judge.

I also stated that the Sign of Jonah is about repentance and eschatological reversals. Luke understood. Luke refers to the future reversal of social roles in the Magnificat at the beginning of his gospel. The Parable of the Prodigal Son is the final part of the unique Lucan triad, the parables having in common the theme of lost and found or recovered. For those who have studied the various implications, it is the story of the ultimate outcast, a person reduced in status to feeding pigs, expressed in the language of economics. Darrell Bock has said the message is that “absolute reversal results from repentance. . . .”

The Lucan Jesus identified himself as the "Son of man." I now realize that Luke is telling us that it is the function and role of the Son of man to be the eschatological judge at the end of days. I also suspect that when Paul says in Romans 2:16 “on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus” he in fact is discussing the Lucan understanding of the function and role of the Son of man as the eschatological judge at the end of days. According to Paul, Jesus “judges the secrets of men” by “searching the hearts of men.” This same idea is expressed by Luke as the beginning of his gospel: “Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, ‘Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed.’”

In Luke, the Sign of Jonah = the Son of man = the eschatological judge at the end of days. Paul concurs.

The “Sign of Jonah” is no longer a can of worms nor is the “Son of man” phrase an intractable problem in biblical studies.

Copyrighted 2006

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Gospel of Luke