Watch Out for the Deception of the Watchtower (Jehovah’s Witnesses)- Why is Jesus called the Son of Man?

wt_1912_color1Why is Jesus Called the Son of Man?

According to the Watchtower organization Jesus is called the Son of Man in order to show that he is of the human race by virtue of his fleshly birth.  In other words, to be called the Son of Man means that Jesus is truly human. He receives his human nature from his human mother. He is true human of true human. He is a son of mankind.

However, the Watchtower organization is completely inconsistent. When Jesus is called the Son of God, the Watchtower denies that it means that Jesus is truly divine being True God of True God, begotten, and not made. They deny that the Word of God receives His divine nature from His divine Father. They deny that Jesus is the only-begotten God. They refuse to believe that Jesus is truly God.

Regarding Jesus being called the Son of Man, the Watchtower teaches:

Jesus’ application of this expression to himself clearly showed that God’s Son was now indeed a human, having ‘become flesh’ (Joh 1:14), having ‘come to be out of a woman’ through his conception and birth to the Jewish virgin Mary. (Ga 4:4; Lu 1:34-36) Hence he had not simply materialized a human body as angels had previously done…(here)

Again, notice the inconsistency. When Jesus is called the “Son of Man” that means that he is indeed a true human. Yet, when Jesus is called the “Son of God” the Watchtower refuses to believe the Bible that Jesus is indeed True God. Instead they teach that “Son of God” just means that Jesus has “qualities” like God in the same way that Adam was called a “Son of God.” The reason that the Watchtower gives for their new teaching is that “God does not have a literal wife with whom he fathered children.” In other words, in order to be a True Son of God, there had to be a mother. Without a father and a mother, there cannot be a true son.

Again, the Watchtower is completely inconsistent. To use the same logic that they apply to being  the Son of God, it would be necessary to have an earthly father in order for Jesus to be a True Son of Man. As they have stated they teach, it takes both a father and a mother in order to have a true son. Jesus is born of the Virgin Mary. He has no earthly father. Thus, Jesus cannot be truly a Son of Man. Watch out for the Watchtower, the organization that makes up a set of rules to prove their teachings, but refuses to use the same set of rules consistently lest it disprove their other teachings. This is a sleight of hand magic trick. Does it make sense to say that to be the “Son of God” means to share the qualities of God, but to be the “Son of Man” means to be truly man?

They teach that Jesus had to be like Adam without an earthly father in order to provide a ransom for the sin of Adam. Yet, they fail to recognize that Jesus is not like Adam, because Adam did not have an earthly mother. Jesus had an earthly mother. The only reason that they make a connection to the similarity between Jesus and Adam not having an earthly father is to prove that Jesus is called a “Son of God” just like Adam is called a “Son of God.” Yet, they fail to recognize that Jesus is called the “Only-begotten Son of God.” Adam was never called the “only-begotten Son of God.” Adam was created and not begotten of God the Father. The Bible clearly teaches us that Jesus alone is True God of True God. He is begotten not made being of the same divine substance as God the Father just as Jesus is of the same human substance of the Virgin Mary.

According to the Watchtower, the human birth of Jesus highlights the fact that he was truly a man. Please note that they say Jesus “was” truly a man. According to their teaching, in the death of Christ, his human nature was sacrificed as a ransom for mankind. In other words, Jesus “was” truly human. After his death, he is no longer human. Jesus is no longer a man. Instead, he is a “spirit being.” Before his death, the Watchtower organization teaches that Jesus “did not simply materialized a human body as angels had previously done.” In other words, Jesus did not merely appear to be a man. He “was” truly human. However, after his death the Watchtower falsely teaches that,

Jesus appeared to his disciples on different occasions in various fleshly bodies, just as angels had appeared to men of ancient times. Like those angels, he had the power to construct and to disintegrate those fleshly bodies at will, for the purpose of proving visibly that he had been resurrected (here)

 Likewise, the Watchtower falsely teaches,

Jehovah God evidently disposed of Jesus’ fleshly body in his own way (possibly disintegrating it into the atoms of which it was constituted). (here)

Notice how the Watchtower says “evidently” the body of Jesus was disposed. They do not even know what happened to the body of Jesus in the His Resurrection; yet, they refuse to believe that Jesus was actually resurrected in His own body. In other words, they erroneously maintain that Jesus is no longer human. The Watchtower falsely teaches that Jesus did not rise again in his own body. They falsely teach that the body of Jesus no longer exists. Jesus deceived his disciples into thinking that he was human by “materializing” a human body. Thus, the Watchtower teaches that Jesus is not truly human. Instead, they teach that he was temporally human, but has returned to his status as a “spirit being.” Therefore, Jesus really and truly cannot be called the Son of Man any longer since he is no longer a true man. This is a false teaching of the Watchtower organization. Just as the Watchtower deceives its disciples, the fabricated Jesus of the Watchtower deceives his disciples by “materializing” a body so that his disciples would think that he was still human. The Jesus of the Watchtower is not the Jesus of the Bible.

The Bible teaches that Jesus is the Son of God and the Son of Man. As Son of God, He is True God being of the same divine nature from God the Father before all things were created. Christ is the Only-begotten God. He is begotten and not made. As Son of Man, He is true man being of the same human nature from the womb of Mary. He still is the Son of Man. He maintains His human nature into all eternity. In His resurrection from the dead, there was no deception in Christ. The True Jesus does not deceive His disciples. In fact, the Evangelist Luke tells us that when the disciples saw the resurrected Christ in His body, they thought that they saw a “spirit being.” Jesus showed them His body to prove that He is not a “spirit being;” instead, He is truly human and has raised from the dead. Luke writes,

As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!” But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.”” (Luke 24:36–39, ESV)

The Bible does not teach that Jesus is no longer a true man after His crucifixion. There is no passage from the Bible and the Watchtower cannot produce a single one to support its false claim. On the contrary, the Bible teaches that Jesus is truly human from the time of His conception in the womb into eternity.

Stephen saw that resurrected and ascended Christ. Before his martyrdom Stephen said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:56). Jesus still is the Son of Man. Jesus is still truly human.

Likewise, the Apostle Paul writes, “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time” (1 Timothy 2:5–6, ESV). Jesus is not a “spirit being.” Jesus is true man. The man Christ Jesus is the one mediator.

In the Holy Incarnation, divinity and humanity are permanently joined into union in the one Christ. He is the one mediator being both truly God and truly man who reconciles creation with Himself. As Paul teaches, “For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross” (Colossians 1:19–20, ESV). Christ is the Creator of all things and He has reconciled His creation to Himself.

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