The Son of Man

Lingo and I were chatting on Friday night, and he brought up this possibility for interpreting a particular story in Matthew in an innovative and novel way.

Matthew’s concern with ‘Son of Man’ (SoM) language, particularly in terms of the ‘coming’ of the SoM, is a central feature of Matthew’s Christology and eschatology. This takes particular note in the parable of the sheep and the goats (Mt 26?), which is talked about a great deal at camp, and for good reason. This coming is envisaged as an apocalyptic future event, in which the triumphant return of Christ marks the defining point in history, in contrast to the weakness and isolation of the cross.

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The episode that Lingo drew attention to is Peter and Andrew (??) asking to be on Christ’s right and left hand at the coming of the SoM. But what if this coming of the SoM has already happened, on the cross? Here, and not in the triumph of an apocalyptic victory over the forces of evil, does Christ become the SoM, instigating judgement and showing a new way to live as a result. Authentic power is found in the weakness of self-giving and the isolated pain of death.

Back to the sheep and the goats, at the coming of the SoM on the cross, Christ becomes the least of his brothers, such that the embodiment of Christ within the needy takes on a deeply literal significance, as Christ himself embodies the pain of the needy.

What, then, of Peter and Andrew (??) asking to be on Christ’s left and right at the coming of the SoM? Are they asking to be the two robbers who are literally crucified with Christ, in order that they might share Christ’s triumph through the pain of insignificance and powerlessness, out of which the being of authentic humanity can emerge? In this sense, Galatians 2:20a takes on a profound relevance:

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.

Being crucified with Christ is to participate in the coming of the SoM, and through participating in this way of being Christ lives in the participant as a re-formed human being. The concept of Christ living in people is central to the sheep and the goats story, also.

In summary, what if the coming of the SoM happened on the cross, in which Christ became weak and powerless – like the needy in the sheep and the goats – in order that humans could participate in his Being, in order that Christ may live within us, as Paul says. To sit on Christ’s right and left hand at the coming of the SoM is not the share in the triumph of victory, but to share in the desolation of rejection and death.