Jesus didn't know?

 

CHRIST’S SOLEMN ADMONITION (13:32–37)

For believers in the present, the revelation in Scripture of the end times is hopeful truth; but for the people alive when these future events occur, this prophecy takes on extreme urgency. As He declared four times in the final verses of Mark 13, people in that generation should stay on the alert (vv. 33, 34, 35, 37). When they see the signs that Jesus described, they should recognize that His return is nearly upon them.

Though it will be preceded by visible signs, the exact moment of the second coming will not be revealed to anyone. 

As Jesus explained, But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. 

Although its timing is fixed in the Father’s plan (Acts 1:7), the Lord’s categorical statement excluded the possibility that anyone could accurately predict His return. The definitive and exhaustive nature of Jesus’ statement indicates that all who would presumptuously set a date for the second coming are either being delusional or intentionally deceptive—especially if the events of the tribulation have not begun.

By including Himself in that statement, as one who did not know the exact timing of His return, the Lord Jesus was not denying His deity (cf. John 1:1, 14). Rather, He was acknowledging the self-imposed restraints on His divine nature. In His humiliation, God the Son voluntarily restricted the exercise of His divine attributes and prerogatives (cf. Phil. 2:6), submitting their use to His Father’s will (John 4:34; 5:30; 6:38) and the Spirit’s direction (cf. John 1:45–49). 

Though He demonstrated supernatural knowledge and understanding on many occasions throughout His ministry (cf. John 2:25; 13:3), the Lord limited His omniscience to what the Father revealed to Him (John 15:15; cf. Luke 2:52). After His resurrection, Jesus resumed the full knowledge He possessed from eternity past as the second member of the Trinity (cf. Matt. 28:18; John 21:17; Acts 1:7, 24; 1 Cor. 4:5; Rev. 22:7, 12, 20).

Still addressing the future generation that will witness the signs at the end of the age, the Lord issued this admonition: Take heed, keep on the alert; for you do not know when the appointed time will come (cf. Luke 12:40). Because no one other than the triune God will know the exact moment of Christ’s coming, believers who are alive during the tribulation will need to be on constant watch (cf. Luke 12:39; 2 Peter 3:10; Rev. 16:15). In a similar way, all believers of every generation are instructed to eagerly await the imminent rapture of the church (cf. 1 Thess. 1:10), which will occur before the beginning of the tribulation.

Jesus illustrated the unexpectedness of the second coming by explaining, It is like a man away on a journey, who upon leaving his house and putting his slaves in charge, assigning to each one his task, also commanded the doorkeeper to stay on the alert. Jesus’ analogy featured the owner of an estate who left his house to travel abroad for an unspecified period of time. Before leaving, he entrusted each of his household servants with specific duties that he instructed them to perform while he was away. They were expected to do so with an attitude of diligence and alertness, knowing that their master’s return home could be at any moment.

The implication for believers in the future tribulation is that those who belong to Christ must, therefore, be on the alert—for they do not know when the master of the house is coming, whether in the evening, at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning—in case he should come suddenly and find them asleep. 

Like dutiful doorkeepers, they must keep constant watch, so that they are prepared in readiness to welcome their Master upon His arrival. 

The Roman twelve-hour watch from 6:00 P.M. to 6:00 A.M., consisted of four three-hour periods. Those intervals were generally identified by when they ended: the evening at 9:00 P.M., midnight at 12:00 A.M., the time when the rooster crows at 3:00 A.M., and morning at 6:00 A.M. Jesus’ point was that His return could occur at any time, even in the middle of the night. Consequently, the believers who are alive in those final days must guard against any temptation toward spiritual complacency, distraction, or slumber (cf. Rom. 13:11–13); being characterized by vigilance.

Repeating that charge with urgency, the Lord again warned, What I say to you I say to all, “Be on the alert!” In the parallel passage from Luke 21:34–36, Jesus further explained,

Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day will not come on you suddenly like a trap; for it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth. But keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.

Those words include an invitation to salvation, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, to that future generation alive during the great tribulation. Only those who resist the temptations of the world (including dissipation, drunkenness, and the cares of this world), and place their faith in the Savior, will be spared eternal destruction from the judgment of God and welcomed into the glorious presence of Christ forever.

So in response to the disciples’ question about the end of the age, the Lord Jesus explained that He would return after a long period of world history, which will culminate in a final, catastrophic period of global tribulation. Jesus carefully forewarned the future generation that will witness those final events, including the rise of the Antichrist and his desecration of the temple, that the end is near.

Though the events predicted in the Olivet Discourse are still the future, its truth serves to instruct every generation of believers throughout church history. On the one hand, it serves as a vivid reminder that the things of this world are temporary (cf. 2 Peter 3:11–13; 1 John 2:15–17; 3:2–3), and that the redeemed are citizens of an eternal kingdom that is yet to be revealed on earth when the Lord comes in glory (Phil. 3:20–21; Heb. 11:16). On the other hand, it provides a compelling motivation for believers to proclaim the glorious gospel of Christ to those who are perishing, so that they might be saved from the impending judgment of God (cf. 2 Cor. 5:20–21; 2 Peter 3:14–15).

MacArthur, J. (2015). Mark 9–16 (pp. 261–264). Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers.