Thursdays Child: "Son Of Man" Examined

As I mentioned in the last Thursdays Child, I would like to take a look at the phrase "Son Of Man." It's a phrase that I always wondered what it's meaning was. It is used 88 times in the New Testament, and one that Jesus used to refer to Himself.
What I found is that there are two possible meanings. One is from the book of Daniel, in a prophecy about Jesus being the Messiah. In Daniel 7:13-14 it says, "In my vision at night I looked and there before me was like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into His presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations, and men of every language worshiped Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and His kingdom is one that will never be destroyed." The second meaning actually means born of a human. An interesting use of the phrase, is in the Old Testament, it is used to confirm a person's relationship to another person. They used the phrase, like we use "next of kin" today. If a person needed to be bought from slavery, or released from jail, the "son of man" could redeem them. Since Jesus was totally human He can be considered our relative by blood, and since He was totally God, He could forgive sins. Therefore, Jesus was able to forgive the sins of those who lived when He did, and since He died and rose from the grave He is also able to forgive our sins today.
It's interesting to learn that Jesus did things that were based in His tradition. He observed the laws that were given by God, but then He would turn around and do things contrary to the man made laws, like having the man at the Bethesda pool carry his mat on the Sabbath.
It's fun to research the things you wonder about. I have wondered about the "Son of Man"" phrase for  a while. I'm glad I decided to finally find out what it meant. I hope it was as interesting for you also.
Thanks for learning with me,
Paul