This was the title Jesus tended to use to describe himself. It didn’t carry the erroneous political and religion undertones that other titles did. At its basic level, it simply meant ‘human being’, but it carried with it references to one who appears in the throne room of heaven, in a vision of the prophet Daniel, and who was given power and authority from God. To the Jewish leaders, the phrase was clear enough for them to understand what Jesus was claiming about himself, but vague enough to prevent them from condemning him. It reveals Jesus as fully human, not merely God appearing to be in human form.
It also means that Jesus has fully identified with us – yet lived life without disobeying God’s will as we seem unable to do. This allowed him to freely offer his life in exchange for ours. Death has its hold over humanity because of our sin – rebellion against the will of God – which at its heart is selfishness. By living life entirely within the will of God, death had no claim on Jesus. By facing up to injustice, pain and suffering, torture and execution, Jesus has experienced through his humanity all the worst that mankind does to each other. There is no human experience which is beyond God’s full understanding, nor beyond God’s love, forgiveness and reconciliation.