Matthew 24:36
Why Jesus Did Not Know
Prepared by Dr. John E. Marshall
Matt. 24:36a (Holman) Now concerning that day and hour no one
knows—neither the angels in heaven,. . .
It is presumptuous quibbling to say we cannot know the day or hour, but can know the month or year. Jesus' whole intent was to keep us from any speculations on the time of His Coming. Curiosity about end times is okay, but nosiness is wrong. Here's what we know for sure: a day and hour have been set. The Second Coming of Jesus is not only a figure of speech, or poetic imagery. It is an actual event yet to happen; only God knows when.
It is a kindness we don't know the timing of Jesus' coming. Regarding the future, faith and hope are better than foreknowing. If we knew the future, we would constantly try to focus on fun things we could see coming, but at the same time be unable to not obsess over sorrows looming. Today would cease to be today. It would become a crushing avalanche of tomorrows.
It is especially good unbelievers do not know when it will happen. If they knew, they might try to wait till the last day to be saved, but die before it arrived. By not naming any one day, every day becomes holy by our knowing it could be "the" day. One thing is sure for all of us; the end of our lives in this world is coming, for sure by death, in the not too distant future.
Matt. 24:36b . . .nor the Son. . .
No early believer would have ever invented a statement like this. This text verifies two facts: the truthfulness of the Bible and the humility of Jesus.
These words bring us face to face with the mystery of the Incarnation, of God becoming human. How can Jesus be God, yet not know everything?
Any far-reaching discussion on the Incarnation must include a careful analysis of three passages. One, Genesis 1:26-27. God created us "in His own image". When He breathed His own special life into us, He transferred to us certain traits from His innermost essence that we humans share with Him. In other words, we are in certain ways a compressed likeness of God.
God wills; He makes choices (1 Cor. 1:27-28); we can too. He is not oblivious to world events. He chooses. Reflecting God's freedom to make choices, we have a conscience, and can will to choose right over wrong.
"God is love" (1 John 4:8b). We reflect His nature when we show emotion; our ability to love and feel loved proves we share in His image.
God thinks (Romans 11:34). We reflect God's mind, His intellect, when we solve problems, create music, invent, sculpt, paint, write, etc.
"God is spirit" (John 4:24a). Our bodies are dust, but God gave us an immaterial spirit that allows us to know, relate to, and interact with, Him.
"God is King" (Psalm 47:7b): the ultimate Sovereign ruler over all things. He let us share this trait when He gave us dominion over the creation.
Will, emotion, intellect, the ability to have a relationship with God, and the privilege of ruling over the creation—these make us in God's image.
Two, John 1:14. "The Word became flesh." The One in whose image we were made became one of the images. Augustine, having experimented with all the world's major religions, said this was the unique teaching of Christianity. Others believed people became Gods (e.g. Pharaoh in Egypt, Caesar in Rome), but no one believed God became human. The thought was scandalous. We believe the Babe of Bethlehem was, as John 1:1 teaches, One who preceded and transcended time, who was God, and was with God.
Three, Phil. 2:5-8. Paul wrote, "Make your own attitude that of Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be used for His own advantage. Instead He emptied Himself by assuming the form of a slave, taking on the likeness of men. And when He had come as a man in His external form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death--even to death on a cross."
This is the "kenosis" (Greek for self-emptying) passage. Jesus decided His being equal with God was not something He would use for His own advantage during His earthly life. He chose not to grasp it or to hold on to it.
When Jesus left Heaven at the Incarnation, He voluntarily chose to restrict His use of certain divine traits. He freely left some of them behind.
He did not lose these traits. They were temporarily inactive, awaiting His return to Heaven. He merely momentarily forfeited the use of them.
A human mind cannot know everything; a human body cannot do everything. Thus, for the Incarnation to be real, Jesus had to have a mind that didn't know everything, and a body that could not do everything.
By definition, Incarnation entails humility and reduction. Some things in the God-box do fit in the human-box; some things don't. How much luggage could Jesus bring from Heaven, and still be God, yet also be fully human? This is part of the Incarnation mystery we will never solve.
He voluntarily took on our flesh, and subjected Himself to conditions of our humanity. For instance, He chose to learn as we learn (Luke 2:52).
One piece of knowledge He opted to leave behind was the date of His return. He knew His followers would tend to obsess over trying to figure out when the end would be. Jesus decided to experience with us what we would find to be a painful limitation. Jesus willed to not know when the end would come. Take solace; even Jesus was content not to know the day or hour.
This raises a vital question. If Jesus' knowledge was limited, how can we be sure He never erred? The next phrase in our text helps guide us here.
Matt. 24:36c . . .except the Father only.
Jesus was not subject to error, though He did not know everything, because He stayed in constant, unbroken communication and communion with the Father. Jesus said, "The Son is not able to do anything on His own, but only what He sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, the Son also does these things in the same way. For the Father loves the Son and shows Him everything He is doing" (John 5:19-20a). He later added this claim, "I have not spoken on My own, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a command as to what I should say" (John 12:49).
Jesus was successful to the point of being sinless not because He was God, but because He opted to be a human who chose to depend totally on the Father. This is why He can be an example for us. We too can depend on the Father. We can ask Him to show us what He is doing that we might do it too; we can ask the Father to help us say only what He would have us say.
In every situation, the Father granted the Son knowlege to do and say what was right. Thus Jesus infallibly read minds, healed the sick, and raised the dead. He never missed because He was depending totally on the Father. This power is available to us. This gives punch to the prayer of McCheyne, "Lord, make me as holy as a saved sinner can be." Holiness matters most.
Now back to our text. Jesus did not know when He would return. He was willing to let the Father keep the calendar while He the Son was away at work. I keep the calendar in our household. Ruth handles all the money; she gives me $40 a week out of which I pay for food, utilities, and housing costs (not really). Ruth trusts me to keep the calendar for our family. Even so, the Father keeps the calendar of eternity, and Jesus the Son trusts Him to do this. We too should trust the Father's timing.
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