We cannot understand Jesus adequately without an understanding of his suffering or without an understanding of his own understanding of his suffering. A key issue is thus: What led Jesus to refer to himself using talk of “son of man” with the implication that he should suffer and die for God? This issue is initially puzzling if the basis for his self-reference is the exalted figure of Daniel 7. The perspective of Jesus in the synoptic Gospels goes beyond exaltation, with a role for suffering and death for the “son of man” that is not obvious in Daniel 7. We shall see how Jesus fits with Daniel 7 after all, and how he thought of his suffering as redemptive in attracting people to divine–human reconciliation and thus to divine goodness.