THIS passage has always presented difficulty and controversy because of the interpretation the Roman Catholic church places on it to establish the authority of the Pope, but before we discuss the words of Jesus where he speaks of the rock on which he will build his church, there is much spiritual knowledge which it is profitable for us to learn from this passage.

The conversation and teaching of Jesus here sprang out of the query Jesus made to his disciples as to who people said he was. Here first of all we must notice that Jesus asked "Who do people say the Son of Man is?". We can see that Jesus is speaking of himself because when he repeats the question to his disciples asking them who they thought he was the question is simply "Who do you say I am?" So Jesus introduces us to himself as the Son of Man, and we have to inquire what this title is telling us about Jesus. Jesus did not use words carelessly, and we can tell from the use of this title for Jesus in the New Testament, that the title 'Son of Man' is significant concerning nature of Jesus and his mission when he lived on earth.

So what is Jesus saying to us about himself by speaking of himself as the Son of Man? I have always found this difficult, but I have arrived at an understanding which I believe is in accord with the revelation in the Bible.

Jesus is expressing in this title that he is truly human. Although he was God incarnate, by this title he is expressing that he was also truly human with all the experiences of being human, sin excepted. The doctrine of the person of Christ is beyond explanation. It can only be defined according to the revelation which God gives in the Bible. This revelation is that Jesus had two complete natures - human and divine. These natures were complete. He was fully human and fully God. At the same time he was one person, even though the two natures were not intermingled in any way so that either the divine nature absorbed the human, or vice versa. The experience of Jesus as two natures but one person is beyond our imagining or understanding, but the New Testament clearly states that he had experience which was completely human as well as completely divine. Sometimes in this revelation the human experience is revealed, and sometimes the divine. The important thing that this title Son of Man expresses is the essential thing that Jesus was truly a man in every way.

This leads on to further understanding of what Jesus was expressing in this title - Son of Man. If you have read the Narnia stories by C.S.Lewis you will remember that the children in Narnia were expressed as the sons and daughters of Adam, in other words they were of the family of Adam as the father of the human race. Jesus by his title Son of Man was expressing that he was truly of the same nature as Adam, but was expressing a new distinction. This was and is that Jesus was claiming for himself to be the second Adam, the new Adam, the new progenitor of a new humanity. We are born as sinners in Adam. Jesus was born truly human but without sin. So Paul speaks of us as being in Adam as human beings, but through faith in Christ being in Christ as the second Adam and the originator of a new redeemed humanity. Paul speaks of us all being dead in Adam, but alive in Christ. He expresses this when he says in 1 Corinthians 15 "As in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive."

Being the Son of Man Jesus is the head of a new redeemed humanity. We were born in Adam when we were born into this world with human life. From Adam we inherited the death he brought on all humanity. In this death we inherited the inner corruption of humanity which brings forth sin, and we entered this world under the condemnation of God and were dead before God and destined for hell.

Jesus is head of a redeemed humanity, and all who are in him inherit from him the blessings he won by his death and resurrection. If we are in Christ as our head and representative before God then we have died with Christ and risen to new life with Christ, and inherit from him eternal life and fellowship with God. We are blessed with a new holy nature by which we have the holy life of God within our soul, which causes us to mortify the corrupt affections in our flesh which we inherited from Adam. In Christ as the Son of Man we are the new redeemed humanity, and we possess immortality, so that Paul in 1 Corinthians tells us that in Christ this mortal will put on immortality, and this corruption from Adam will put on incorruption.

All this is bound up in this title of Jesus as the Son of Man. It is the blessing that Jesus as the Son of Man bestows on all who receive him as their Lord and Saviour and their federal head. This is the blessing of being a true believer. We are heirs of heaven in Christ. Heaven is our home. We are only pilgrims on a journey to our true country while we live in this life. We are owned by God who works all things for our good. We are safe in the arms of Jesus so that nothing that can ever be conceived can separate us from Christ and his love, even when the trials and difficulties in this life flood upon us, and when Satan assaults and afflicts us. We can never die, and physical death is the gateway to eternal life and the entrance into Christ's heavenly realm.