Matthew records that He did say this - and Mark recounts the same event.
But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.
Matthew 24:36
But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
Mark 13:32
And He repeats the idea shortly after within the passage (includes Matthew chapters 24 and 25).
...the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of...
Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.
Matthew 24:50, 25:13
Well, there it is. Flat out positive proof that I can't predict a day. I should shut down this web site.
And while we're at it, let's make another absolute doctrinal statement.
If anyone comes to Me and does not hate [Miseo - HATE!] his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.
Luke 14:26
There you have it! If you love your family then you can't be a Christian!
Luke 14:26, the 'hated' verse, seems to contradict everything else Jesus said - but do we stand on that one verse and ignore the rest? No. Nor should we ignore it. There is an explanation for this verse that is a 'hole nuther' Bible study, but the point is we need to look at the whole word of God to find answers to difficult scripture.
Let me state some real absolutes that we must agree on or we can't proceed:
If we think there is a contradiction in the Bible, the problem is ours. There are several possibilities to consider:
We ALL have a tendency to add commentary in our heads as we read. When reading a familiar scripture we will say to ourselves, 'I remember this verse and it agrees with my understanding of the whole' but when reading a potentially contradicting verse we may concentrate on another concept within the verse or say to ourselves that this must mean something else because it doesn't agree with my base understandings.
Be honest - how many of you have been guilty of rushing over familiar verses that are problematic, or even skipping whole chapters or books that contain difficult or uncomfortable verses? I'm holding up my hand!
First, let's get on the same page. What event is the 'day or hour' referring to? There are a lot of events covered here!
Let's look at our three best contenders; the Rapture, the start of eternity, and the Second Coming.
The Rapture - Consider these verses from chapter 24.
But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took [Airo - to remove, take from among the living] them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken [Paralambano - to join one's self to a companion] and the other left [Aphiemi - to leave, disregard, abandon]. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken [Paralambano] and the other left [Aphiemi]. Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
Matthew 24:37-44
So, the 'day and hour' phrase was repeated in verses 42, 43, and 44! Not! In these instances he said 'hour' but did not include 'day' - is this significant? I think so because God is meticulous.
This section, and verses 40 and 41 in particular, sound a whole lot like the Rapture! The 'as the days of Noah' condition infers everything is reasonably normal - not during the Antichrist's wars or God's wrath. The word for 'taken' used here is Paralambano which means 'to take a companion to join to one's self.' Could these 'hour only' verses be referring to the Rapture? I think so. I believe there is evidence elsewhere that if we watch for the Rapture that we will know the day, if not way ahead of it, at least when very close to it.
Therefore, our 'day and hour' verses at the top are not referring to the Rapture event.
Start of Eternity - I'll show you why eternity is a strong event contender.
In verse 35, He states, 'Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.' Eternity is when Heaven and Earth pass away after the Millennium.
Then in the next sentence, in the next paragraph... wait, there are no paragraphs in the original Biblical texts! Nor chapters and verses.
Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.
Matthew 24:35-36
So, our problem verse is the very next sentence! Could it be that it applies to the start of eternity? Folks, here are two sentences, back to back, separated only by a period and a conjunction! It is the same situation in Mark.
If this singular piece of evidence was all we had I would say case closed. But the phrase is repeated in Matthew 25:13, and in this case it is inextricably tied to when 'the Son of Man is coming.'
The Second Coming - This is probably the event that Jesus was referring to.
For many contextual and comparative reasons, the physical Second Coming of Christ to Earth is the most likely event He was referring to. So why did I lead you through all this since many of you already had guessed the event? For two reasons:
But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.
Matthew 24:36
I will present two possibilities for balancing this statement with the rest of scripture and let you ponder.
1) The statement is absolutely true.
Could it be that we can know that the last day of God's wrath (Revelation 18) is on Rosh Hashanah (Feast of Trumpets), September 14th, 2015...
...and we can know that He will redeem us on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), September 23rd, 2015...
...but His actual arrival to defeat Satan's army (Revelation 19) will be on an still unknown day between these dates (15th to 22nd)?
Jesus will be coming back to battle. The element of surprise is a great advantage in war. Could this be a reason?
I cannot prove otherwise, but this doesn't seem right. Why would He not use His feast days as is patterned for us?
2) The statement was true then, but not always.
It does not say no man will ever know. 'No one knows' is stated in the perfect present tense.
Wikipedia describes it as:
The present perfect tense is a perfect tense used to express action that has been completed with respect to the present.
Some have asked how it would be possible for the Father to know and not Jesus. Yes, Jesus was fully God, but He voluntarily gave up a lot for His time on Earth. He didn't know everything while in His earthly body. If He knew everything, He would not have had to pray - and He would have known the 'day and hour.' God gave Him only a portion of 'all knowledge' when He needed it.
In Mark's version He specifically said 'nor the Son' and I think Matthew's version implies it. Do you think now that Jesus is sitting at the right hand of the Father that He does not know?
I believe that He knew the day before He dwelt with us in human form and that His omniscience was restored when He was resurrected and returned to the Father - can anyone think otherwise! This further proves that the statement is not meant to mean always.
My best assertion is that this statement in Matthew 24:36 was to put the disciples at rest that 'they' could not know the day and was not intended to be taken as doctrine across the ages. There are many who feel that Jesus will come down exactly on Yom Kippur to fulfill the Fall feasts just as He fulfilled the Spring feasts exactly on those days - I am one of them.
When the many prophecies of the Tribulation events start coming true it will be easy to know the day that He will be coming back - but this knowledge will be of little value for those left on earth.
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