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If Jesus
is God why did He not know
the hour of his return?
Matt. 24:36;
Mark 13:32
- (Mark 13:30-32), "Truly
I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these
things take place. 31"Heaven and earth will pass away,
but My words will not pass away. 32But of that day or
hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the
Father alone,"
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(Matt. 24:36), "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels
of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone."
This statement is found in the gospel of Mark and Matt. 24:36. The answer is
simple. Jesus is both God and man (John 1:1,14; 20:28; Col. 2:9) and during His ministry in
Jerusalem, He was cooperating with the limitations of being a man.
As a man, Jesus walked and talked. As God He was worshipped (Matt. 14:33; 28:9; Heb. 1:6), prayed to (Zech. 13:9; 1 Cor. 1:2), etc. This is
called the Hypostatic Union.
During His earthly ministry He moved in the power
of the Holy Spirit and did His miracles by the Holy Spirit and not by His
own divine power. This is because He was made for a little while
lower than the angels (Heb. 2:9)
and had emptied Himself and taken on the form of a man (Phil. 2:7). This would
explain why in Matt. 12:22-32,
when the Pharisees accused Jesus of casting out demons by the power of the
devil, Jesus said that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit would never be
forgiven? Why? Because Jesus, as a man who was ministering
completely as a man under the Law (Gal.
4:4-5), did His miracles by the power of the Holy Spirit. This
demonstrates that Christ was completely human and dependent upon God and
that He was cooperating with the limitations of being human. That is
why He said He didn't know the day or hour of His return.
However, we see that after the resurrection of
Christ it is said of Him that He knows all things (John 21:17) and that He is
omnipresent (Matt. 28:20).
Therefore, after His resurrection and glorification, the Lord Jesus did
know all things.
Return to Bible Difficulties - Matthew to Mark
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