8:20 Son of man. This is the first of some eighty occasions when Jesus called Himself “the Son of man,” many more times than He called Himself “Son of God.”

8:20 lay his head. The term “lay His head” actually could read “bow His head”—that is, to worship God. It is significant that, although we never read of Jesus worshiping God, He did teach others to worship, which means simply to bow down to the will of God. Jesus could never really bow His head until He reached the cross and completely finished God’s mission and accomplished His will. Then “He bowed His head [same as ‘laid His head’] and gave up the ghost” (John 19:30).