If Jesus is God, then why didn't he know the day or the hour?

Q&A with Pastor Phill

The Question

Recently I was asked the following question:

Pastor Phill, how should I respond to someone who asks me, ‘If Jesus is God, then why does the Bible say that the Son does not know the day and time?

Before I share with you my response, let’s read the Bible passage that is referenced in this question.

³⁶But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. ³⁷For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. ³⁸For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, ³⁹and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

- Matthew 24:36–39

It is a good question, why do we believe that Jesus is God, if there are certain things he does not know?

One of the basic beliefs about the God of the Bible is that he knows everything. The theological term for this is omniscience (omni = all; scienta = knowledge). 1 John 3:20 explicitly states that God knows everything , “for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.”

There are plenty more passages that make this same point. Consider the following:

• “[The Lord] teaches man knowledge, the Lord, knows the thoughts of man” (Psalm 94:10–11).

• “O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it” (Psalm 139:1–6).

• “He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names. Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure” (Psalm 147:4–5).

• “I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done (Isaiah 46:9–10).

• “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! ‘For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?’” (Romans 11:33–34).

• “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account” (Hebrews 4:12–13).

Back to the question, if God knows everything, then shouldn’t the Son of God also know everything? Yet, in Matthew 24:36 Jesus himself admits that there are some things that He does not know and that only the Father knows.

Here is my attempt at a response…

The Answer

In my estimation, there are two good ways to respond to this question. First, there is a short and simple answer and, second, there is a MUCH longer answer. In this article I will provide the short and simple answer and then I will conclude with a few comments related to the longer answer.

The Short and Simple Answer

When we read that Jesus does not know the day and time of “the coming of the Son of Man,” we should understand this statement is evidence that Jesus was 100% human. In his humanity, the Son of God displayed two kinds of knowledge:

1. Jesus had normal and ordinary human knowledge. Jesus began his earthly life as a baby, he learned and grew in wisdom (see Luke 2:52), he was taught how to speak in Aramaic, he likely went to school and was taught the Hebrew alphabet, he spent time studying and memorizing the Bible (e.g. Luke 4:1-13), etc…Therefore, when the second person of the trinity, the Son of God, became a human there were things that he did not know and he had to learn them. This means that as a human, Jesus did not possess full omniscience.

2. Jesus also received divine, extraordinary, God-like knowledge from the Father and the Holy Spirit. Even though Jesus did not have omniscience on earth, he did have constant communication and access to his heavenly Father who did. There are several stories in the gospels when Jesus talks with someone and he shockingly knows their thoughts or personal secrets. For example, there is the story recorded in John 4 when Jesus reveals that he knows that a samaritan women had five husbands! These moments of divine knowledge reveal that Jesus was given God-like knowledge, he knew things that normal men and women do not know.

We should not pick and choose between Jesus’ two natures. He is 100% human and he is 100% God. What we need to understand is that there are specific things that God, the Father and God, the Holy Spirit did not allow Jesus to know while he was on the earth. So, when Jesus says in Matthew 24:36 that only the Father knows the coming of the Son of Man, we need to realize that this information was not necessary for Jesus to fulfill his earthly mission. Let me try to sum up the short and simple answer in one sentence: God, the Father and God, the Holy Spirit only gave Jesus divine knowledge and divine power when it was necessary to help him accomplish his earthly mission.

The MUCH Longer Answer

The longer answer requires a deep dive into the eternal relationship that exists between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This is what Christians call “the trinity.” If you or someone you are talking to are not satisfied with the short and simple answer that I provided, then there is more than can be said about Matthew 24:36, but that conversation will lead to the highest parts of heaven. Trying to figure out the implications of Jesus’ human limitations necessarily leads to the complex, but beautiful details of God’s triune nature. That sort of theological exploration is certainly worth your time and energy, but it is not for the faint of heart.