Does Jesus Not Know The Time of His Return

Does Jesus Not Know The Time of His Return?

Matthew 24:36

“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone” (NASB, ESV, HCSB, etc)

Mark 13:32

“But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone”

Those who reject that Jesus Christ is equal to the Father, and Himself God, as stated many times in the Bible, appeal to these verses as “proof” of their theory. As the heresy of Unitarianism teaches:

“Because he expressly disclaims the possession of the Divine attribute of omniscience. “But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but my Father only,” Matt.24:36, Mark 13:32” (Samuel Barrett, One Hundred Scriptural Arguments for the Unitarian Faith. 39)

In the Old Testament, there are passages that seem to show, that Yahweh Himself “does not know” certain things.

In Genesis chapter 3, we read in verse 9, “Yahweh God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?””. How comes Yahweh needs to ask Adam, “where are you?”, As Yahweh is Omniscient, and should have KNOWN? Why do we read in Genesis 9:16, “The rainbow will be in the cloud. I will look at it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”. WHY does God need to be REMINDED about His Everlasting Covenant, by having to place a Rainbow in the sky? Likewise, in Acts 10:4 we read, ““Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God”. The word “memorial”, is from “mnēmosunon”, which means, “a reminder, remembrance”. In Genesis 18:20-21, it reads: “Then Yahweh said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to Me. And if not, I will know”. Why does Yahweh say, that He has “to go down and see”, if the outcry that is against Sodom and Gomorrah, is as bad as it is, “and if not, I will know”? Surely, as the All-Knowing God, He must have “known” about this without the need to visit the place? What does this passage mean for the Omniscience of God? What does all of this say about the ALL-KNOWING God of the Holy Bible? Are we to conclude, that God is not “Omniscient” in the full sense of the word, but has a “limited knowledge”? In Isaiah 43:25 it says, “I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins”, and elsewhere. Are we to assume, that God does literally FORGET about our sins? How can an Omniscient God, actually ever FORGET anything?

I am very interested to see what those, who use the passages in the Gospels to try to “prove” that Jesus Christ is not Almighty God, and equal to the Father, have to say on these passages in the Old Testament, for Yahweh?

Is Jesus Christ, in these passages, actually denying absolute Knowledge as God? As Jesus Christ is Almighty God, which is testified to many times in the Bible, it is impossible that these Words refer to His Deity.

The Omniscience of Jesus Christ, in His Pre-Incarnation, is clear from the Old Testament. In the Book of Isaiah, chapter 48, we have Jesus Christ as the Speaker, Who is clearly distinguished from “’ă·ḏō·nāy Yah·weh”, Who “sends” Him. The Speaker here is not Isaiah, as some assume, as it is very clear from what He says, “I have declared the former things from the beginning” (v.3); “Even from the beginning I have declared it to you; Before it came to pass I proclaimed it to you” (v.5); clearly declaring the Omniscience of the Speaker. In verses 12-13, it is also clear, that the Speaker is The Creator of the entire Universe: “I am he. I am the first. I am also the last. Yes, my hand has laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand has spread out the heavens. when I call to them, they stand up together”. In verse 17 we read, “Yahweh, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel says: “I am Yahweh your God, Who teaches you to profit, Who leads you by the way that you should go”. All of these words in this passage, are Spoken by the Lord Jesus Christ, Who Himself says that the Father “sent” Him. Jesus Christ is Yahweh, and as Yahweh, is All-Knowing. We also have the Omniscience of Jesus Christ in His Post-Incatnation. In Acts chapter one we read, “So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us...And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen” (21, 24). Clearly Jesus is Omniscient. As we read in John 2:24-25, “But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for He himself knew what was in man”. In John 21, where we read of Jesus testing the loyalty of Peter, Peter says to Jesus, He asked him the third time, Simon, son of John, do you love me? Peter was grieved that he asked him the third time, Do you love me? He said, Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” (21). In John 16:30, we have the testimony of Jesus’ Disciples, “Now we know that you know everything and don’t need anyone to question you. By this we believe that you came from God.” This has never been true of any created being. It is clear from the Four Gospels, that there are instances, where Jesus does or says things, that are only possible for God, and other times, where it is clearly associated with humans.

Jesus Christ, from eternity past, is YHWH, The Almighty God. There are numerous passages in the Bible, that clearly Teach this Great Truth. In both Isaiah 7:14, and 9:6, we have Prophecies of the Birth of the Messiah, The Lord Jesus Christ. I will give the readings as found in the oldest Hebrew manuscripts, The Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS), which in both places reads different to the much later text, by the Jewish, Masoretes (MT). In 7:14, the DSS reads, “‘im·mā·nū’êl” (with-us-God), and the MT “‘im·mā·nū ’êl”, which can read, “with us is God”. And 9:6, DSS, “’êlGibbôr” (God-Mighty); and MT, “’êl Gibbôr”, which can read, “God is Mighty”. It should be noted, that in both places, these are the Names of the Son to be born, which cannot be any human child. In Isaiah 10:21, “’êlGibbôr” is also used for Yahweh, the Father. It is clear that we have Two Who are equally “’êlGibbôr”. Both these passages also teach that the Coming Messiah, would be not only Almighty God, but also a “human Person”, The God-Man. That Jesus Christ is Yahweh in the Old Testament, is very clear in Zechariah chapter 2, where we read, “‘For I,’ says Yahweh... says Yahweh; “for have spread you abroad like the four winds of heaven,” says Yahweh...For thus says Yahweh of hosts:“He sent Me after glory...Then you will know that Yahweh of hosts has sent Me...I will dwell in your midst,” says Yahweh...Many nations shall be joined to Yahweh in that day, and they shall become My people. And I will dwell in your midst. Then you will know that Yahweh of hosts has sent Me to you” (verses 5-11). Here we have the Speaker, Who is Yahweh, Who says that Another, Who is Yahweh, is SENDING Him. The Yahweh Who is SENT, cannot be the same Person, to the Yahweh Who is SENDING. We have TWO Who are equally called Yahweh.

Jesus says of Himself, that He is YHWH. This is clear from His own quote from Malachi 3:1, where in Matthew 11:10, Jesus says, “This is the one of whom it is written: Look, I am sending My messenger ahead of You; he will prepare Your way before You”. In Malachi, the pronoun is “Me” (Greek, mou); Jesus changes this to “You” (sou). By doing this, Jesus makes Himself the Speaker in Malachi, Who is Yahweh, of His own Coming. In Revelation 1:17; 2:8 and 22:13, Jesus says that He is “The First and the Last”, which is “The Eternal God”. In Isaiah 44:6, Yahweh says, “Thus said YHWH, King of Israel, And his Redeemer, YHWH of Hosts: “I [am] the first, and I [am] the last, And besides Me there is no god”. Clearly Jesus is saying that He is YHWH. Even while on earth, Jesus says that “that all people will honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him” (John 5:23). For Jesus to say that all must “Honour” Him in the same way that they “Honour” the Father, is because He is YHWH. If He is not, then He is guilty of blasphemy.

John 1:1 states, that “The Word”, Who is Jesus Christ (see, 1 John 1:1-3; and Revelation 19:11-16), was from all eternity (en archēi), “pros ton theon” (with the God), Who is the Father. The Greek preposition, “pros” (by the side of), shows a clear distinction between “The Word”, and “The God”, which destroys the heresy known as “Unitarianism”. Then John says, “kai theos ēn ho logos”, where “The Word (ho logos), Who is the subject, takes the Greek article, “ho” (the). “Theos” here is the predicate, and does not require the Greek article, and rightly rendered as “the Word was God”. This destroys the theology of the Jehovah's Witnesses, and the others, who deny Jesus Christ is YHWH. The Greek “ēn” (was) is in the imperfect tense, denoting, “continued existence from eternity”. In verse 14, John says, “and the Word became flesh”, not “changed into”, but where the Greek, “egeneto, became”, means, “come into a new state of being”. Philippians 2:5-8 is clear that “Jesus Christ, Who is from all eternity in the very nature God, did not consider His being on equality with the Father something to be held on to, but laid this aside, by taking on Himself the very nature of Man, apart from any sin”. He was a “Man” to look upon, but in reality, was two distinct “natures”, the God and the Human, in the One Single Person, The God-Man. In verse 18, according to the oldest and best textual evidence, John writes, “theon oudeis heōraken pōpote monogenēs theos ho ōn eis ton kolpon tou patros”, literally, it reads: “God no one has seen at any time, the Unique God Who is always in close relation with the Father”. Neither use of “God” (theon, theos), has the definite Greek article, and equally rendered as “God”, and not “God” in the first instance, and “god” in the second, as the Jehovah's Witnesses read, due to their perverted theology! Even the New Testament by the Unitarian, Dr George Noyes, reads, “no one hath ever seen God; the only begotten God”. The Greek “monogenēs”, means, one of a kind, unique”, and not “only begotten”, which is a false reading. Thomas tells the Risen Lord Jesus Christ, “ho Kurios mou kai ho Theos mou”, as addressed directly to Jesus, “my Lord and my God”, which is the same as YHWH. Jesus does not rebuke, or try to “correct” what Thomas tells Him. Paul says of the Birth of Jesus Christ, that He is, “Theos ephanerōthē en sarki”, “God was Manifested in the flesh” (1 Timothy 3:16), which is exactly what John says in 1:1, 14, 18, of his Gospel. Not the corruption of either, “who was manifested”; or, “which was manifested”, both readings from the devil, to try to remove one of the clearest Testimonies to the Deity of Jesus Christ. Paul also says in Titus 2:13, “tou megalou theou kai sōtēros hēmōn Iēsou Christou”, “The Great God and Saviour of us, Jesus Christ”. And, in Hebrew 1:8, we have God the Father address Jesus Christ, “ho Thronos sou ho Theos eis ton aiōna tou aiōnos”, “the Throne of You the God is for ever and ever”. Some have tried to pervert this, by suggesting that it should read, “God is your throne”! Actually, Revelation 22:1-3 says, that the Throne of the Father, and the Lamb, Jesus Christ, is singular, ONE and the SAME. The Throne of the Father, is the SAME Throne as the Son. So the reading, “God is your Throne” is nonsense. It is just by those who oppose any verse in the Bible, that says Jesus Christ is GOD.

The Testimony of the Bible is very clear, that Jesus Christ IS Almighty God, The Great I AM, YHWH. The Bible is also very clear, that Jesus Christ, Who John calls “The Word” (John 1:1), Who is also Almighty God, did in human history, “become flesh” (John 1:14), as Paul says in 1 Timothy 3:16. We also read in Philippians 2:5-8, that “Although from the beginning He had the nature of God He did not reckon His equality with God a treasure to be tightly grasped. Nay, He stripped Himself of His glory, and took on Him the nature of a bondservant by becoming a man like other men. And being recognized as truly human, He humbled Himself and even stooped to die; yes, to die on a cross” (Weymouth NT). “stooped” is “hupēkoos, “to give ear to, to submit to”. Which is why Jesus says, “the Father is greater than I” (John 14:10). Because of Jesus’ human Birth, He was also, “for a little while was made lower than the angels...because of the suffering of death” (Hebrews 2:9). This “little while”, refers to the time when Jesus was Born, till then End of this Age.

It is also clear from Scripture, that Jesus Christ, Who is eternally Almighty God, did, at His Conception, “derived” His “human nature” from the Virgin Mary. Matthew 1:16 says, “and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, out of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ”. The words, “out of whom”, in the Greek is, “ex hēs”, is singular, and feminine, which excludes Jacob. This is also in Luke 1:35, in the Original Gospel, “therefore the Holy One to be born out of you (ek sou, singular) will be called the Son of God”. As Hebrews 2:14 also says, “Since then the children referred to are all alike sharers in perishable human nature, He Himself also, in the same way, took on Him a share of it, in order that through death He might render powerless him who had authority over death, that is, the Devil” (Weymouth)

The Conception of Jesus Christ was a Miracle by God the Holy Spirit, in the womb of the Virgin Mary, without any human biological father. His Birth was as natural as any other human being. The Bible says, “And Jesus increased in Wisdom and in Stature and in favor with God and man” (Luke 2:52), which pertains to His human nature. Jesus Christ “grew” as any other normal human chld does, with the exception, that He could never have sinned, as this would not have been possible, as the God-Man. The Bible says that Jesus was “tired and hungry and thirsty”, etc, which are true of His “human nature”. Jesus was “made lower than the angels”, as Hebrews 2:9 says, because He Died on the Cross, something that angels don’t do, die. Jesus’ “human nature” had the same “limitations” as our own. He was always the One Person, God-Man.

From passages like John 17:5; Philippians 2:5-11; and Hebrews 2:9, it is clear, that at the Time of Jesus’ Conception in Mary, that “He stripped Himself of His glory”, which is His “equality with the Father”. Jesus says, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45). As “Servant”, He was not equal with His “Master”, God the Father, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him” (John 13:16). Jesus says that God the Father Sent Him (John 5:23, etc). This is clear from Philippians, where the Greek “hupēkoos”, means, “to give ear to, to submit to”. Which is what Jesus did while on earth, to God the Father.

Hence we read from Jesus’ own words:

John 12:49-50, “For I from Myself am not speaking, but the One Who sent Me, the Father Himself, gave Me Commandment what I should say, and the words I should speak. And I know that His Commandment is Life Eternal. Therefore what I speak, is the same that has been said to Me, from the Father, so I speak” (my translation)

John 14:10, “Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own authority, but the Father who dwells in Me does His works”

John 5:30, “I can do nothing on My own. I judge only as I hear, and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me”

John 7:16-17, “Jesus answered them, “My teaching isn’t Mine but is from the One who sent Me. If anyone wants to do His will, he will understand whether the teaching is from God or if I am speaking on My own”

John 8:28-29, “So Jesus said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I AM, and that I do nothing on My own. But just as the Father taught Me, I say these things. The One who sent Me is with Me. He has not left Me alone, because I always do what pleases Him.”

It is very clear from these passages, and others, that Jesus Christ, as the God-Man, during His time on earth, did not do or say anything that is independent of God the Father. Jesus Christ “appeared” (Philippians 2:7-8), as a “human being”, so that others saw Him as another Man like themselves. They knew Jesus as the carpenters son, who had brothers and sisters (Matthew 13:55, etc). They asked Jesus “who are you” (John 8:25). Jesus could have told them bluntly, “I am God”, to which they would have probably, laughed. It was by Jesus’ Life and Words and Actions, that His Deity was made known. Like His conversation with the woman at the well of water (John 4:5-42). Here Jesus shows His Deity by His Knowledge (Omniscience) of all that this woman had ever done. The woman responds by saying, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.” (verse 25). And Jesus says, “I am the One Who is Speaking to you”. Yet there are some who say that Jesus never said that He is The Messiah!

It was this Knowledge of Jesus’ that convinced her that He was not an ordinary man. It was also this Knowledge of Jesus, that convinced the others who heard Him speak themselves.

I have already quoted John 5:23, spoken by Jesus during His time on earth. It is very clear here, that, even as “subject” to the Father, Jesus is saying that He is EQUAL to the Father. There is no other way to understand this verse. Jesus demands EQUAL HONOUR to the Father, which would be the highest blasphemy, if Jesus was a created being, and not Himself Almighty God!

In His “submission” to the Father, which Jesus Himself chose to do, He was dependant on the Father, for what He was “allowed” to say. As He Himself saw and heard from the Father, He made known to those who heard Him. The Father did not reveal the Time of Jesus’ Second Coming to Jesus, so He did not reveal this to anyone. All of this pertains to Jesus’ “human nature”

We have also seen from the Old Testament, that there are instances, where Yahweh Himself appears to not be “Omniscient”. But no one will conclude from these, that Yahweh is “limited” in His Knowledge, and say that He cannot be God, as He is not “All-Knowing”. The same is true for Jesus’ words in the Gospels, on the time of His Second Coming. Neither are “proof” that either Yahweh, or Jesus Christ, are not absolutely Almighty God.