Hey everybody! Thank you for joining me in daily Bible reading as we seek to glorify Jesus, know Him more, and interpret the truth of His Word.
If this is your first time going through the Bible, I am incredibly excited to have you here. If this is your 5000th time, I am humbled that you are here and hope you grow in your relationship with Jesus along with me. May we all seek to know Him more and apply what we learn to further our mission of spreading the gospel. If you missed a day and want to catch up, visit the archives page HERE! But there is no shame if you start today! Day 293, Matthew 24:36 — The End Times: No One Knows When Matthew 24:36 (NASB1995) “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.” Context Matthew 24 contains Jesus’ detailed discourse about the end times and His second coming, answering the disciples’ questions about when the end will come and what sign to look for. Following His explanation about the signs of the end and His second coming (vs. 15-31), Jesus transitions to a parable about recognizing these signs (vs. 32-35). Review Yesterday, we continued Jesus’ end times discourse and concluded the parable of the fig tree. There are multiple perspectives on what ‘this generation’ means in the passage, with each changing the meaning of the passage entirely. Full preterists prescribe a hyper-literal understanding of Jesus’ statement about ‘this generation’ to mean that those alive at that time would see ‘all these things’ (v. 33) come to pass. This means the events of 70 A.D. fulfilled all eschatological events, leading many to consider this view as heresy because it denies the hope of Christ’s return. Partial preterists claim some events were fulfilled in 70 A.D., partially fulfilling Jesus’ prophecy. However, they remain hopeful of a future return of Christ at the end of the age and judgment thereafter. Futurists claim ‘this generation’ includes believers living when these events happen in the distant future. Every event Jesus has mentioned throughout His discourse is still future. While some past events in 167 B.C. and 70 A.D. partially fulfilled various prophecies, they did not fulfill them entirely. In the end, Jesus wants His disciples to have complete faith and trust in Him. Trusting that He will return in power and glory to resurrect those who have perished and save those enduring horrific tribulation in His name is a wonderful reminder of God’s faithfulness. He has never gone back on His word and He never will. When the signs of the end begin, we can trust that He will return just as He said He would. Discussion Today, we continue Jesus’ end times discourse and read about the unpredictable nature of Jesus’ return and explore His divine nature. Jesus has spent extensive time answering the disciples’ questions about when He will return and what signs to expect (v. 3). Throughout this discourse, we find detailed descriptions of these foretold apocalyptic events (vs. 15-28). In the end, Jesus will return and bring judgment upon the wicked and salvation to the righteous (vs. 29-31). While we can recognize these signs of the end to know the nearness of His coming (vs. 32-35), we cannot know exactly when it will happen. Jesus says, “36 But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.” This is one of the more popular verses in Scripture as it answers the one question the world wants to know—when exactly will Jesus return? With this statement, Jesus makes certain that nobody knows exactly when that time will come. Even though He has spoken about the importance of recognizing the signs of the end to know it is near, He refuses to put a date on it. Instead, He simply declares that nobody knows the day or hour other than the Father in heaven—not even the angels, who will play a significant role in His return, or Jesus Himself. The mystery and uncertainty of this statement have led to much discussion about its meaning, including some questioning Jesus’ divinity. If He was truly God, then how can He not know something? Especially not knowing when He is going to return? These are questions that need answering, especially when they arise amid a gospel presentation with an unbeliever. Thankfully, Scripture provides clarity, revealing that Jesus called Himself God multiple times (Jn. 8:58; 10:30). John 1:1 also acknowledges Jesus’ eternally divine nature, saying, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John then confirms Jesus’ identity as the ‘Word’ in 1:14, saying, “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” There are many other examples proving Jesus’ divinity throughout the New Testament (Mt. 14:33; 28:9; Jn. 20:28; Tit. 2:13; Col. 1:16-17; etc.). But this still does not answer how or why He does not know when He will return. To better understand, we need to first acknowledge that Jesus was fully God and fully human while on earth—this relationship is called the hypostatic union. Because of this union, Jesus relinquished the divine foreknowledge of His coming. This does not mean He was not divine or all-knowing. He read the minds of the Pharisees and others many times (Mt. 9:4; 12:25). However, for whatever reason, only God the Father has knowledge of Jesus’ second coming. Many reference Philippians 2:5-7 regarding this idea of Jesus relinquishing divine attributes. However, they do this out of context. It says, “5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.” The popular misinterpretation of this passage claims Jesus surrendered part of His divinity. Some use this idea to support His lack of foreknowledge about His second coming in our verse. This makes sense. However, Jesus never surrendered His divinity. He was always fully divine and fully human while on earth. The proper interpretation of that passage tells us that Jesus emptied Himself, not of His divine nature, but of His rightful position of honor.[1] This relinquishing of position among men contrasts humanity’s nature for higher authority and position (e.g., Adam seeking divinity in Genesis 3:5).[2] Thus, Jesus did not empty Himself of His divine nature, but used His divine nature as an opportunity to take on the form of a human servant instead of using it for His own self-exaltation (Mt. 20:28; Mk. 10:45). He could have used His divinity to force people to serve Him. Instead, Jesus came to humbly serve and die for them. He and the Father were always of the same divine essence within the Godhead.[3] Regarding His lack of foreknowledge in our verse, it remains a mystery why Jesus said this. However, His limited knowledge was only for a time. We can assume, now that He is in heaven with the Father, that He knows when He is returning. But the exact timing of His coming remains a mystery to everyone else, including the angels in heaven. Because of this uncertainty, attempting to pinpoint the exact moment of Christ’s return is a hopeless waste of time. Nobody can know. Sadly, many Christians lead others astray by their false predictions. If any teacher or denomination claims to know the day Jesus will return—run. This is false teaching and something Jesus warns us to rebuke (Mt. 24:23). No human can know details about Jesus’ second coming outside of recognizing the signs that it is near. In the end, one who discerns the signs might know a range of months or years, but no one can ever know the exact day or hour. In conclusion, Christians should not pursue predictive conspiracies regarding the timing of Jesus’ second coming. Nobody knows the day or hour. It could very well happen in our lifetime, or in another two thousand years. Until then, Christians must remain faithful to Christ and in a constant state of readiness, as we can know that the time is near when we see the signs. We will continue Jesus’ end times discourse tomorrow. Application Many professing Christians have attempted to predict the timing of the rapture over the years. Countless literature, film, and various other mediums of information have made guesswork of something Jesus declares we cannot know. For some reason, people enjoy ignoring Jesus’ words in this passage and seek the very knowledge that He says is unattainable. The amplification of this has become pronounced in recent years following the pandemic. People see what is going on in the world and assume the end is near. However, this is based on a misunderstanding of Jesus’ words earlier in this discourse. The natural disasters, rumors of wars, and other things many believe are ‘signs’ of the end are not actual signs the end is near. They are merely the ‘birthing pangs’ of a fallen world (v. 8). In reality, the only signs the end is near are the abomination of desolation (v. 15) and the sky opening at His return (v. 30). While we can discern the wickedness drawing us closer to the end, we cannot know exactly when this will be. The world seems more evil by the day, suggesting that Jesus is on the doorstep. However, there is still time until He comes and events that must take place. May we be Christians who remain faithful to Christ amid the waiting. May we run the race He has called us to until He calls us home or returns in glory. May we repent of pushing conspiracies about the timing of His return and rest in the joyous hope and knowledge that He will return one day. Regardless of when that day comes, may we be found faithful and stand righteous in God’s sight. May we praise, worship, honor, and glorify Jesus every day in all that we do while continually pursuing righteousness, holiness, and forgiveness as He forgave us. Looking Ahead Thank you for joining today’s daily Bible reading! Next, we read Matthew 24:37-39. I hope you join me! I have made commenting available, so please feel free to discuss the reading and ask questions. If you do not want to discuss publicly, you can reach out to me privately. We are on this journey together. References [1] Craig Keener, “IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, Second Edition.” [2] Ibid. [3] Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown, “Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary.”
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