Why did Jesus insist on His disciples not telling everyone that He was the Messiah? Why did He refer to Himself as The Son of Man more often than any other name in the gospels?
Because He first came for the Jews, and they would know who The Son of Man was. In fact, they knew exactly who this was because when He referred to Himself in this way, He was accused of blasphemy. He was referring to Himself as the one Daniel saw in Daniel 7. Daniel witnessed this divine being that looked like a “son of man” being inaugurated by God and referred to as “the Most High” just as God was referred to as “the Most High”.
When Jesus referred to Himself this way, He was saying that God had given Him authority, all dominion, and the everlasting Kingdom of Daniel’s visions. That is why He has authority to forgive, and the pharisees and scribes knew this.
Jesus was introducing Himself to the world as God, the divine being Daniel saw, not the Messiah. Why? Because He first descended (came onto the earth) so He could suffer and die, and so the world could see this side of Him. The Messiah means “appointed” and there were many “messiahs” of that day. The Jews were looking for a political leader, one who would rescue them from their worldly oppressors, which is what a messiah would be.
When people ask, “If God is so loving and all powerful, why doesn’t He just get rid of evil?” Well, He will. But to His standards, and that means He would have to obliterate all of fallen creation, including all humanity. He had to descend first to cover us with His blood, so He wouldn’t have to obliterate us with the rest of all evil when He comes as Messiah. And He had to ascend on the clouds so He can descend on the clouds as the Messiah.
So, after He rose and finished what He had to do in His first coming, then He referred to Himself as the Messiah and Son of God, and the disciples and apostles referred to Him as the Messiah in their writings.
Why didn’t He just call Himself “son of God” to begin with? Because every culture back then had “sons of god”. They were the pharaohs, kings, and the heroes of old. Plus, the Jews knew “sons of god” as the ones who fathered Nephilim and were part of the Council of God.
Jesus came first for the Jews, so he referred to Himself in a way that they would understand. Interesting how He came in person for them but in Spirit for the gentiles. Of course, He needed to be a kinsman redeemer for humanity, needed blood for the atonement, and had to be the “seed of the woman”, yet at the same time, divine (the Cloud Rider of Deut 33:26 and Daniel 7).
He will return soon, descending from heaven on a cloud, as the Messiah. And He will obliterate all evil, but because He has saved us, His people, we will be spared and will rule with Him in the everlasting Kingdom, as mentioned in Daniel 7.