ESV Study Bible | English Standard Version
2 Samuel 14:17
17 And your servant thought, ‘The word of my lord the king will set me at rest,’ for my lord the king is m like the angel of God to discern good and evil. The Lord your God be with you!”
Matthew 24:36
No One Knows That Day and Hour
36 “But concerning that day and hour g no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, h nor the Son, [1] i but the Father only.
Translation Notes
- [1] 24:36 Some manuscripts omit nor the Son
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Matt. 24:1–25:46 The Delay, Return, and Judgment of Messiah. These two chapters are often called the “Olivet Discourse” because Jesus “sat on the Mount of Olives” (24:3) when he spoke these words. It is the fifth of Jesus' five major discourses recorded in the Gospel of Matthew (see Introduction: Key Themes; Literary Features). Addressed to his disciples, it is intended to give them a prophetic overview of the events to transpire in both the near and distant future.
Matt. 24:32–41 The Nearness and Time of Jesus' Coming. Jesus moves from describing future events to dealing with the attitudes that should characterize his followers as they prepare for the end (vv. 32–35), knowing that his return is imminent (vv. 36–41).
Matt. 24:36 In response to the disciples asking, “when will these things be?” (v. 3), Jesus says no one knows, not even . . . the Son, but the Father only. In his incarnate life, Jesus learned things as other human beings learn them (cf. Luke 2:52; Heb. 5:8). On the other hand, Jesus was also fully God, and, as God, he had infinite knowledge (cf. John 2:25; 16:30; 21:17). Here he is apparently speaking in terms of his human nature. This is similar to other statements about Jesus which could be true of his human nature only, and not of his divine nature (he grew and became strong, Luke 2:40; increased in stature, Luke 2:52; was about 30 years old, Luke 3:23; was weary, John 4:6; was thirsty, John 19:28; was hungry, Matt. 4:2; was crucified, 1 Cor. 2:8). Taking account of these verses, together with many verses that affirm Christ's deity, the Council of Chalcedon in a.d. 451 affirmed that Christ was “perfect in Godhead and also perfect in manhood; truly God and truly man.” Yet it also affirmed that Jesus was “one Person and one Subsistence.” With regard to the properties of his human nature and his divine nature, the Chalcedonian Creed affirmed that Christ was to be “acknowledged in two natures, inconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably; the distinction of natures being by no means taken away by the union, but rather the property of each nature being preserved.” That meant the properties of deity and the properties of humanity were both preserved. How Jesus could have limited knowledge and yet know all things is difficult, and much remains a mystery, for nobody else has ever been both God and man. One possibility is that Jesus regularly lived on the basis of his human knowledge but could at any time call to mind anything from his infinite knowledge.
