This is an important question that many Christians wrestle with. At first glance, it seems like Jesus made a mistake or lacked knowledge about the future. However, when we examine what the Bible teaches about Jesus’ divinity and humanity, we can come to a better understanding of this issue.
Jesus is Fully God
The Bible clearly teaches that Jesus is fully God. He existed eternally with the Father and the Holy Spirit as part of the Triune Godhead (John 1:1-3, 14; Colossians 1:15-17). When Jesus took on human flesh, He did not cease to be God. Rather, He added a human nature to His divine nature (Philippians 2:5-8). Jesus is affirmed as God throughout the New Testament (John 20:28; Romans 9:5; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 1:8). His miracles, sinless life, authority to forgive sins, and resurrection all point to His divine identity.
As God, Jesus is omniscient. He knows all things (John 2:24-25, 16:30, 21:17). Jesus affirmed this aspect of His divinity in His high priestly prayer: “Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them” (John 17:24-26).
So in His divine nature, Jesus knew everything – past, present, and future. He knew when He would return in glory to judge the living and the dead. But there seems to be a contradiction when Jesus says that He does not know the day or hour of His return (Matthew 24:36). How do we make sense of this?
Jesus is Fully Human
In order to redeem humanity, Jesus had to become one of us. God the Son took on human flesh at the incarnation (John 1:14). In His humanity, Jesus experienced hunger, thirst, tiredness, sorrow, and pain just as we do. He was tempted in every way, yet did not sin (Hebrews 4:15). Jesus lived in perfect obedience and dependent trust in the Father through the power of the Holy Spirit.
In His human nature, Jesus exhibited limitations in knowledge. Luke 2:52 says, “Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and with people.” Jesus asked questions and learned things as other children do. He did not know certain facts until He learned them, such as the location of Lazarus’ tomb (John 11:34). In this way, Jesus lived a truly human life, not relying on His divine capabilities.
So when it comes to Jesus’ statement in Matthew 24:36, He is speaking from His human nature which did not have knowledge of the timing of His return. This was part of God the Father’s sovereign plan which had not been revealed to the human nature of Christ at that time. But in His divine nature, Jesus remained fully omniscient.
Jesus Operated in Both Natures
At all times, Jesus operated in both His divine and human natures, without compromising either. The Apostle John expressed it this way: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:1, 14). Jesus was fully God and fully man simultaneously. The divine and human natures were united in the one person of Christ.
An example of Jesus demonstrating both natures is when He healed a paralyzed man by forgiving his sins. He exhibited His divine authority to forgive sins, which provoked the Pharisees. But then He also healed the man’s physical body with a miracle – something He could only do in His divine nature (Luke 5:17-26).
Likewise, in Matthew 24:36, Jesus spoke from His human nature which did not then know the timing of His second coming. But He continued to possess full divine knowledge in His omniscient nature as part of the Triune Godhead. He temporarily limited the use of His divine capabilities in order to identify with humanity (Philippians 2:6-7).
Jesus Voluntarily Laid Aside Some Divine Prerogatives
Theologians refer to this as Christ’s “self-limitation.” For the purpose of fulfilling the Father’s will in redemption, Jesus temporarily laid aside the full use of some of His divine attributes. He did not cease to be God, but chose not to access His omniscience at certain times. This enabled Him to experience true humanity, be our substitute on the cross, and relate to us as our High Priest (Hebrews 2:17-18).
As God knows all things, Jesus retained His full divine knowledge even while not actively expressing it all the time in His human nature. This voluntary self-limitation is part of what theologians call the kenosis – from Philippians 2:7 where Jesus “emptied himself.” He veiled His glory in human flesh, not using all His divine privileges and powers at all times, in order to accomplish God’s saving plan for humanity.
So insummary, Jesus in His divine nature knew all things including when He would return. But in His human nature, He voluntarily limited Himself from exercising His divine omniscience at all times. At the time when He said “no one knows the day or hour” He was speaking from the perspective of His humanity. This is consistent with the hypostatic union – Jesus as fully God and fully man in one person.
The Day and Hour were Purposely Hidden
It is clear from Scripture that God the Father has sovereignly chosen to keep the precise day and hour of Christ’s return hidden in His wisdom. Jesus said, “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only” (Matthew 24:36). He told the disciples, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority” (Acts 1:7).
Why did the Father choose to conceal this specific detail, even from the human nature of Jesus while on earth? We cannot know for certain all the reasons. But God often keeps timing hidden from believers until His perfect moment, so that we live in watchfulness and dependency on Him rather than presuming upon the future. The timing of Jesus’ return is purposely hidden to keep believers ready and eager for His coming at any time (Matthew 24:42-44).
Jesus Now Knows in His Humanity
Though Jesus in His earthly life did not know the date and time set by the Father, we can reasonably conclude that He now possesses full knowledge of when He will return in His glorified human nature. After His resurrection and ascension, Jesus was exalted to the right hand of the Father and received authority over heaven and earth (Matthew 28:18; Acts 2:33-36). He presently intercedes for believers as their great High Priest in the true tabernacle in heaven (Hebrews 8:1-2).
The book of Revelation depicts Jesus in His glorified humanity receiving the scroll with the future events of judgment from the Father (Revelation 5). It is likely that His human nature now knows the day and hour of His coming since He is in the Father’s presence and has “all authority in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18). But He still submits in His humanity to the timing set by the Father.
One day Jesus will return bodily and visibly to earth at the set time ordained by the Father (Matthew 24:30; Acts 1:11). On that day, every eye will see Him coming on the clouds just as He ascended to heaven at His first coming (Revelation 1:7).
At the name of Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord (Philippians 2:10-11). Those who love and trust in Him will eagerly welcome His coming that brings eternal life. But those who have rejected Him will be condemned. The timing remains veiled to keep us in watchful readiness by living holy lives in this present age as we wait for our Savior (Titus 2:11-14).
Implications of Jesus’ Self-Limitation
The fact that Jesus voluntarily laid aside the full use of His divine attributes at times has profound implications for the Christian life. As part of the kenosis, Christ humbled Himself to serve, suffer, and obey the Father as part of our redemption (Philippians 2:8). His self-limitation shows us the path of humility, obedience, and willingness to suffer in doing the Father’s will.
Jesus depended on the Holy Spirit rather than His own divine capabilities (Luke 4:1). He learned obedience through suffering (Hebrews 5:8). In this, He left us an example to follow in His steps. We are called to humble service in imitation of Christ, trusting in the enabling of the Holy Spirit to do God’s will.
Jesus’ humanity is also a comfort to us. We can draw near to the throne of grace knowing that our High Priest sympathizes with our weaknesses, having been tempted as we are, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15-16). We have not an unapproachable deity, but a merciful Savior who understands our frailty.
In summary, Jesus’ self-imposed limitations are both an example to follow and a comfort to embrace. As the eternal Son of God, He laid aside the privileges of deity for a time in order to redeem fallen humanity. Knowing that in Christ God experienced life as we do brings hope and assurance to the believer.
Though we may not fully understand how the divine and human natures of Christ operated, we can trust God’s wisdom. Jesus now reigns as the God-man who intercedes for His people. He knows all things, including the day and hour He will come again in glory. We live in joyful expectancy of His return as King, when we will see Him face to face.
