Mark 13:32-37
No One Knows the Day or Hour
(Matt. 24:36–44; Luke 21:34–36 )
Mark 13:32-37 NKJV – 32 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 “Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is. 34 “[It is] like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch. 35 “Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming–in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning– 36 “lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. 37 “And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!”
V32 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”
The coming destruction of Jerusalem will happen. This refers to the date of His second coming to deliver Israel from all her enemies. Jerusalem was destroyed by Titus in 70AD. Jerusalem of the future, at the end of the Tribulation, will be destroyed by the antiChrist (Zechariah 14:2).
Why didn’t Jesus know? Here is my opinion:
Options:
- Jesus is not God and does not know the future.
- God does not know the unknowable future (open theist).
- Jesus, as a human male, voluntarily laid aside some of the character traits of His Godhood.
It seems most reasonable that Jesus voluntarily laid aside some of the character traits of His Godhood.
Comments:
- Wuest Word Studies:
- “In verse 32, the Lord Jesus, speaking in the capacity of the Son of Man under the self-imposed limitations of the incarnation, says that even He Himself did not at that time know the hour of the second Advent, and of the time of the fulfillment of these other things grouped around that event. Our Lord’s discourse here looks through the needs of that generation in which He lived, to the future generation in Israel alive when He comes back to set up His kingdom.”
- Utley:
- “This refers to the Second Coming and the New Age, not the destruction of Jerusalem. Jesus specifically addressed that generation in Mark 13:30. This is a strong verse to deter Christians from setting specific dates for the Second Coming.
- “This lack of information clearly shows Jesus’ true humanity. Jesus, though fully man and fully God, left part of His divine attributes in heaven when He was incarnated (c.f. Philippians 2:7). The limitation was only in effect until after the ascension.”
- Pulpit Commentary:
- “He who from all eternity has decreed the time when this day is to come, is pleased to hide it in the hidden depths of his own counsels. But the eternal Son, and the Holy Spirit, both alike one with the Father, are of his counsels. They are not excluded from this knowledge; they, equally with the Father, know the day and the hour of the end, since they are of the same substance, power, and majesty. Why, then, does St. Mark here add, “neither the Son”? The answer is surely to be found in the great truth of the hypostatic union. The eternal Son, as God, by his omniscience, and as man, by knowledge imparted to him, knows perfectly the day and the hour of the future judgment. But Christ as man, and as the Messenger from God to men, did not so know it as to be able to reveal it to men. The ambassador, if he is asked concerning the secret counsels of his sovereign, may truly answer that he knows them not so as to communicate them to others. For as an ambassador he only communicates those things which are committed to him by his sovereign to deliver, and not those things which he is bidden to keep secret.”
V33 “Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is.”
Heed = pay careful attention, watch = be alert and ready, and pray = Revelation 22:20 (LHB) “He who testifies these things says, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”
V34 “[It is] like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch.”
The man going to a far country refers to Jesus who is going to heaven. His house is the church, the family of God (1 Timothy 3:15 and Hebrews 3:6). Jesus is Lord of the Church (Christ-followers). See 1 Corinthians 1:2 and Ephesians 5:29. Jesus delegates authority as He sees fit. Each believer has a ministry, so let us be doing His will (Romans 12:5-8). The doorkeeper is all of us to be aware that Jesus is coming (1 Peter 4:7), and that we must be ready.
Being ready is to be faithfully doing the ministry the Holy Spirit gave us (2 Timothy 4:2 and Titus 3:1). We need to be aware of the times when everything is being set up for the antiChrist kingdom during the Tribulation.
V35 “Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming–in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning…”
Watch is commanded to all of us. We must always be ready (Matthew 24:42-46). Pre-tribulational believers know and are supposed to be ready at all times. We all are, but this plain, normal sense interpretation makes it clear.
V36 “…lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping.”
It would be a terrible thing to not be ready but pursuing our own interests instead of God’s.
V37 “And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!”
Be alert of the times, deceptions, lies, false miracles, occultic teachings, etc. J. C. Ryle writes: “We are to watch. We are to live always on our guard. We are to keep our souls in a wakeful, lively state, prepared at any time to meet our Master. We are to beware of anything like spiritual lethargy, dullness, deadness, and torpor. The company, the employment of time, the society which induces us to forget Christ and His second advent, should be marked, noted, and avoided. “Let us not sleep as do others,” says the apostle, “but let us watch and be sober.” (1Thessalonians 5:6.)”
We learn:
- Jesus, as man, voluntarily withheld some knowledge to do the ministry that His Father wanted Him to do.
- We are to be ready for His readiness at all times.
Questions:
- Are you aware of current events that are in line with the antiChrist’s evil work?
- Are you living your Christian life to be ready at all times?