Jesus calls himself Son of Man
to stress his suffering in his human nature, working for his Father (Luke 2:49), but it is also a messianic title (Psalm 8:1–9; Daniel 7:13–14), used 32 times in Matthew.
The term Son of Man
is mentioned for the very first time in Matthew 8:20. This title had already been in use prior to Jesus’ ministry among a small group of Jews who expected an imminent eschaton, and who used this title to refer to the Messiah, doing so in light of Daniel 7:13–14 and Psalm 8:1–9. The vast majority of Jews, however, would not have been familiar with this title. In Matthew’s Gospel alone, this title is used thirty-two times. Here in Matthew 8:20 Jesus is referring to himself in this way in order to convey the idea that he, as the Son of Man, must take the suffering and rejection that man deserves upon himself.1
When the Savior calls himself the Son of Man here in Matthew 8:20 in order to emphasize his suffering as a human being. Here, where it is used in the Gospel of Matthew for the first time, it serves to indicate that Jesus, despite all the miracles he performs, will eventually be subject to suffering and death, for he is truly man. Jesus must go where his calling leads him (Luke 2:49).2
20 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”