In the highly charged religio-political world of first century Palestine, any claim of divinity would have been greeted with skepticism and opposed with force (not unlike today in many ways).

Jesus avoids evoking immediate violent opposition by gently introducing the notion that the Christ might be more than simply the son of a man. While his favourite way of referring to himself was the phrase, ‘Son of Man’, Jesus wants people to consider the power and significance of the Christ as one more than simply human.

In the end, what does it matter whether the Christ is divine or not? It matters a lot. The meaning of everything ultimately hangs on this!