Daniel's "Son of Man" is a portrait of Christ

Summary:

Daniel's vision is really striking: it emphasizes the Messiah's divinity and eternal reign more explicitly than ever before in Sacred History: "As the visions during the night continued, I saw coming with the clouds of heaven One like a son of man. When he reached the Ancient of Days and was presented before him, He received dominion, splendor, and kingship; all nations, peoples and tongues will serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away, his kingship, one that shall not be destroyed" (Dan 7:14).

Contrary to a certain interpretation by some Jews, this kingdom or kingship must refer to an eternal reign in Heaven with the God of the ages, because nothing on earth is eternal.

The same notion is present in some other biblical prophecies, for example in the famous refrain of the psalmist, "His Mercy endures forever"(Ps 106; 107; 117; 135); in the verse "Your reign is a reign for all ages, your dominion for all generations" (Ps 145:13); in the verse "Open ye the everlasting gates: Let the King of glory enter! Who is this King of glory? He is the Lord, strong and mighty" (Ps 24:7); in this stunning vision: "Above the firmament over their heads was the likeness of a throne that looked like sapphire; and upon this likeness of a throne was seated, up above, a figure that looked like a human being" (Ezek 1:26); and finally in Samuel's promise to David: "Your house and your kingdom are firm forever before me; your throne shall be firmly established forever."(2 Sa 7:16). But Daniel's words are much more specific and clearly refer to the Messiah.

It is true that the old Testament contains many other promises evoking an apparent "earthly" triumph of the Messiah, for example:

-"May he rule from sea to sea, from the river to the ends of the earth" (Ps 72:8).
-"Nomore evil or violence will be done on all my holy mountain, for the knowledge of the Lord will fill the earth as the waters cover the sea "(Is 11:9).
-"They will forge ploughshares from their swords and pruning hooks from their spears. People shall not lift up sword against people, nor shall they train for way war any more"(Is 2:4).
-"May they fear you with the sun, and before the moon, through all generations" (Ps 72:5).
-"That abundance may flourish in his days, great bounty, till the moon be no more." (Ps 72:7).
-"Everyone, from least to greatest, shall know me" (Jer 31:34).
-"With an iron rod you will shepherd them, like a potter’s vessel you will shatter them" (Ps 2:9).

Yet Daniel's contribution is really valuable in that it not only provides new key elements to understand the Messiah's identity and mission, but also completes the full messianic picture.

In the end, the Jewish tradition obviously accepted and expected the idea of an "eternal life" (2 Mc 7:9), of an "infinite age" (Ps 21:5), and of a future triumph of the elect in Heaven with God (Salvation Is from the Jews: The Role of Judaism in Salvation History by Roy Schoeman) but somehow it was keen to retain the above prophecies, and many others of the same vein, which announce an earthly, still unfulfilled triumph of the Messiah.

And in fact, because the above prophecies about the Messiah's earthly triumph have not yet been fulfilled, this narrow expectation is the greatest obstacle to the Jews' recognition of Jesus as Messiah, today as in the past (Cf The Disputation of Barcelona, July 20–24, 1263).

In the correct, complete and Christian vision, we must therefore make a clear distinction between, on the one hand, what concerns the eternal triumph promised to Christ in the Kingdom of God, in particular according to the prophecies of Daniel, and on the other hand, everything that concerns his forthcoming glorious coming to earth, which is also promised and not yet fulfilled, as Saint Peter himself explained to the Jews just after Pentecost:

"Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that the Lord may bring about the time of respite. Then he will send the Christ who was destined for you, Jesus, whom heaven must keep until thetime of the universal restoration of which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old" (Acts 3:19-21).

This "universal restoration of which God has spoken by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old" has yet to come on earth, and so it has not yet been fulfilled, according to the very admission of the prince of the apostles.

We also we await and proclaim this "glorious manifestation of Our Lord Jesus Christ" (Dei Verbum I,4) when we recite in the Creed: "He will come again in glory." We pray this same petition in the Lord's Prayer (the "Our Father"): "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven" (Mt 6:10). The angels themselves reiterated this promise to the disciples after the Ascension: "This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven" (Acts 1:11).

Finally, the New Testament ends with these words: "The one who gives this testimony says, 'Yes, I am coming soon.' Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!​​​​​" (Rev 22:20).

"Christ, offered once to take away the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to take away sin but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await him" (Heb 9:28).

What exactly is the divine plan to bring about the glorious second coming of Christ? It consists in this: the Church, who is the Body of Christ, must "follow the Lamb" (Rev 14:4); She must "follow her Lord in his death and resurrection "(CCC 677) and, in a similar way, go through where he has gone.

• The great apostasy of the world (Mt 24:12; Lk 18:8; 2 Thess 2:3) will be followed by a "great tribulation"of the Church (Mt 24:21), a "final trial" (CCC 675) and the coming of the Antichrist (2 Thess 2:3-4; 1 Jn 4,3) "who will concentrate all heresies" (Saint Irenaeus, Against Heresies V, 25,1) and who will be worshipped (Rev 13:8), for a time that corresponds to the Passion.
• The glorious coming of Christ (1 Tim 6:14; 2 Tim 4:1-8; Titus 2:13) who will bring down the godless with the breath of his mouth" (2 Thess 2:8) in order to save his chosen ones (Mt 24:22; Mk 13:20; Heb 9:28) and will bring down his Bride from heaven (cf. CCC 677 and Rev 21:2-4) to "establish his kingdom" (Rev 19:6), corresponds to the Resurrection of Jesus.
• A  "reign of God on earth ", identified in Scripture as lasting a millennium (a symbolic period of 1,000 years - cf. Rev 20:2-3), in other words "a time of peace given to the world" (cf. Fatima), which will parallel the 40 days of the glorified Christ's presence on earth.
• The "end of the world" (1 Thess 4:17; Rev 20:9-10), which will correspond to Christ's ascension to God.
• The "Last Judgement" (Dan 7:10; Joel 3-4; Ml 3,19; Mt 3:12; Mt 25:40; Rev 20:12), which marks the beginning of God's eternal reign.

These are the events we are awaiting, and preparing for with the "New Advent" evoked by John Paul II. "But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?" (Lk 18:8).

The complete sequence which emerges from these prophecies and many others, is that the Messiah will come at the appointed time, will be a divine being, will inaugurate an eternal reign in Heaven, but will also intervene on earth a second time in history on behalf of the elect, to put an end to the prevailing apostasy and iniquity, and create a new order.

Finally, we should mention another of Daniel's prophecies connected to the prophecy of the Seventy Weeks, which speaks of "a Messiah who will be cut off" and then of "the destruction of the city and the Holy Place" with " wars and devastations" (Dan 9:26). This description fits in well with the sequence of events that started with the death of Christ in 30 A.D., followed by the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple 40 years later, in 70 A.D. , and the final near destruction or enslavement of the Jewish population after the Third Roman-Jewish War in 135 A.D., after a series of terrible wars against the Romans ("in Hadrian's reign, when Jerusalem was completely destroyed and the Jewish nation was massacred in large groups at a time, with the result that they were even expelled from the borders of Judaea." Jerome (Commentary on Daniel III, ix, 24).

Beyond reasons to believe:

The return of Christ in glory is something that Christians must believe and prepare for. It is part of the Christian creed, and offers the hope of a new earth and a new Heaven.

Going further:

Jerome's Commentary on Daniel, translated by Dr. Gleason L. Archer Jr. (Wipf and Stock, January 8, 2009)

More information:

• Daniel, by  Scott Hahn and Curtis Mitch (Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, 2013)
• John Paul II's General Audience of Wednesday, 4 March 1987, "Jesus Christ, Fulfillment Of The Messianic Prophecies"
• Pope Benedict's XVI, article on the Second Coming of Christ L'Osservatore Romano, Weekly Edition in English, 19 November 2008, page 20