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Daniel 7:13-14

¹³"I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. ¹⁴And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.

Jesus most common reference to Himself was "Son of Man". There are only two uses in the Old Testament. One is the common usage as is found in Ezekiel. God often called Ezekiel, "son of man" (Ezekiel 2:3). It was a reference of humility (Isaiah 51:12). God is eternally existent, but we are sons and daughters of man. The other use is here in Daniel. Daniel had a vision of one "like a son of man" that came before God, the Ancient of Days.

In this vision, God gave the One who was like a son of man everlasting dominion, glory, a kingdom, and the service of all people. The reason that the Jewish leaders were so upset with Jesus telling them they would see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven was because they knew this verse (Matthew 26:64). Jesus was saying that He is this one who is like a son of man. He is human, but He is also divine. He is the Messiah and all nations will serve Him. Those leaders could destroy His body (for a short time), but they could never destroy His kingdom. He is the King of kings. Now they knew which usage of "son of man" that Jesus had regularly been referencing.

When Jesus said, "All authority on heaven and on earth has been given to me," he had already experienced the Daniel passage. (Matthew 28:18). He has not enforced that authority yet, but the time is soon to come when He will. He is still building His kingdom one living stone at a time.

Consider: We saw in the book of Daniel that God sets up and takes down kings. One day God will set up the eternally perfect King. He is the only One we would want to reign over us forever, for His banner over us is love (Song of Songs 2:4).