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La Bible
n°71

Babylonia

6th century BC

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

The prophet Daniel left his mark on Sacred Scriptures with his two astonishing prophecies: one indicating the date of the Messiah's coming (the "Seventy Weeks" and "4th Kingdom" after Nebuchadnezzar prophecy), the other about the mysterious figure and coming of a "son of man(Dan.7:13; 8:15), who will walk "on the clouds of Heaven(Dan 7:13), whose power make him God's equal, and whose "kingdom" "will have no end(Dan 7:14).  This kingdom can only be in Heaven, since nothing on earth, even in our universe is ever-lasting. With these new, porpentous prophetic announcements, the expected coming of a Messiah became more precise in the last centuries of Old Testament revelation. Daniel's prophetic and grandiose perspectives perfectly correspond to the divine plan of the redemptive Incarnation of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Daniel in the lion's den, Rubens, 1614-1616, National Gallery of Art, Washingotn / © CC0/wikimedia
Daniel in the lion's den, Rubens, 1614-1616, National Gallery of Art, Washingotn / © CC0/wikimedia

Reasons to believe:

  • Not one person in history ever claimed to be the biblical "Son of Man" except Jesus, who makes reference to this mysterious figure of Daniel, from the very beginning of his public life when he addresses Nathanael (Jn 1:51), and especially at the end of his public life, when he says that his future glorious coming "on the clouds of heaven"(Mt 24:30; 26:64; Mk 13:26; 14:62) will precede the coming of his Kingdom (Mt 16:28; 24:27-44; Lk 17:22-30), his final judgement of humanity (Jn 5:27), and the "manifestation of his glory(Mt 25:31; Mk 13:26; Lk 21:27-36).
  • It is this very title, used with explicit reference to the great prophecy of Daniel, that at the critical moment of his Passion, when his fate was hanging in the balance, Jesus used in his answer to the high priest - a shocking answer that brought his condemnation: "You said it yourself, and in truth I tell you that you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power and coming on the clouds of Heaven(Mt 26:64; Mk 14:62; Lk 22:69).
  •  The protomartyr St. Stephen had exactly this vision after defending his faith before the Sanhedrin, moments before he died by stoning: "Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God(Acts 7:56).
  • It is therefore absolutely certain that Jesus identified completely with Daniel's prophecy announcing the coming on earth of a divine being, called "the Son of Man", who would reign eternally.
  • In the end, Daniel's prophecy is strikingly consistent with the entire Gospel and the revelation of Jesus, to whom will ultimately be attributed all the titles that were explicitly reserved for God in the Old Testament.

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 106107; 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.

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).

Olivier Bonnassies


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:

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