Many people are surprised when they read what Jesus told his disciples, “But of that day and hour no one knows, no, not the angels in Heaven, nor the Son, but the Father” (Mark 13:32; emphasis mine). This acknowledgement has led some folks to doubt Jesus is really God in the flesh (cp. John 1:1, 14). Mark is the only Gospel writer to include Jesus with those who were ignorant of the day and hour of his return, but this ignorance is to be expected.
We are able to point to at least two reasons for Jesus’ ignorance. First, if he, as God and equal with the Father, really stripped himself of that glory (Philippians 2:6-7), omniscience couldn’t be one of his attributes as man (cp. Philippians 2:8). Secondly, Jesus admitted that he could do nothing except what he beheld the Father do (John 5:19-20). So, not only couldn’t he know everything the Father knows, neither was he omnipotent in the flesh, that is, he couldn’t do everything the Father could do. He was completely dependent upon the Father to enable him and inform him of the things he didn’t naturally possess. Man, even the most powerful and most knowledgeable among us, doesn’t possess almighty power or omniscience. Therefore, if the Lord truly became one of us (John 1:14), neither could he possess those attributes, for they belong only to the One who dwells in the form of God (Philippians 2:6).
Since no one but the Father knows when the climax (the time, G2540) would be, Jesus told his disciples to beware, be vigilant and be praying (Mark 13:33). Without doubt, knowing the time of the end, i.e., when the climax would occur, has been of great interest to believers throughout man’s history from the moment these four men asked Jesus to clarify his statement that the Temple would be destroyed (Mark 13:1-4). That the disciples looked for its fulfillment in their lifetime cannot be refuted, as I’ve already shown in this study.[1] This is a problem for modern believers, who look for the fulfillment of Jesus’ prophecy to occur sometime in our near future.
The unanswerable question, then, is: ‘why would any believer wish to build up what Jesus had torn down in judgment?’ That would be similar to the rebuilding of Jericho. When Jericho was destroyed under the judgment of God, Joshua cursed the one who would rebuild that city (Joshua 6:26), and Joshua’s words were fulfilled in the days of Ahab, a wicked king of Israel (1Kings 16:34). When has the Lord blessed anyone who sought to undo his judgment? Nevertheless, modern Christianity’s support for the rebuilding of the Temple at Jerusalem is as astonishing as it is shortsighted, illogical and evil. Our support of Israel on this point is an act of rebellion against the Lord, who destroyed the Temple in 70 AD. It is a sure sign that many modern believers are **not** aware of what that means; they are **not** vigilant but have closed their eyes to spiritual matters and opened them to embrace physical things that tickle their ears (2Timothy 4:3). Moreover, they are **not** praying according to the will of God (cp. 1John 5:14-15), which he demonstrated by destroying the Temple in the first place.
Jesus described himself as a householder who went on a journey far away (Mark 13:34), but before doing so, he placed his servants in authority over his goods and commanded them to be alert. Alert for what? Logically speaking, if they were placed in authority over the master’s goods, they needed to protect those goods from being destroyed or stolen, but Mark only implies such a thing. Nevertheless, Matthew specifically says Jesus’ disciples needed to be on the alert for thieves (Matthew 24:43), who come only to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10). Jesus mentioned earlier in his prophecy that deception was a serious danger for his disciples, because folks would come saying Jesus is Christ, but they would covet and seek to seize the power Christ has over his people (Mark 13:5-6). It was because of this danger that Jesus warned his disciples to be watchful (Mark 13:34), because, if Jesus didn’t know when he would return (Mark 13:32), how could his disciples know, even those having the mind of Christ (cp. 1Corinthians 2:16)?
Therefore, they had to be ready for Jesus’ return, whether it was a short wait (cir. 10 years) or a long one (cir. 40 years), and in the context of Jesus parable, being ready constituted being watchful for pseudo-Christians who sought to lord it over the elect (Mark 13:35).
Mark’s narrative has Jesus putting his return in the context of the Roman watch, which divided the night into four equal portions. Remember Mark prepared his narrative for the folks at Rome and formulated the content of Peter’s Gospel to relate to their understanding. Since Jesus returned to judge Jerusalem within a 40-year period (30/31 AD to 70 AD), we are able, through hindsight, tell how long the householder was away on his far journey. He could have returned within 10 years (implied by the Roman watch ‘even’) or within 20 years (implied by the ‘midnight’ watch), within 30 years (‘cockcrowing’) or within 40 years (the ‘morning’ watch). Forty years was considered one generation by the Jews (cp. Mark 13:30; Matthew 16:27-28; 23:34-36). Nevertheless, although the 40-year watch was important during the first century AD in the context of Jesus’ return. It is still important to beware, be vigilant and be praying always (Mark 13:36-37), because truth never ceases to be important, and thieves, pseudo-Christians, are always a danger to the cause of Christ.
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[1] See my previous study, What Did Jesus Say Would Pass Away?
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