Matthew 24:35-36 (ESV) – Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. [Verses 4-34 all pertain to the end of the Jewish world and Jewish way. Some translations put verse 35 with the prior paragraph because they think Jesus was talking about the end of the world. But since Jesus wasn’t talking about the end of the world, but about the end of the Jewish world, verse 35 is actually a transitional verse to the next section where Jesus DOES begin talking about the actual, literal end of the world. ‘Heaven and earth will pass away’—yes, what Jesus had just said about the coming destruction of Jerusalem was surely going to come to pass just as surely as this world will eventually pass away. The Jews definitely believed a day was coming when God would judge the world and the world would be destroyed. Jesus’ words were as certain to come true as that belief. But we also see from this verse just how rock solid and steady are the words of Jesus Christ. While this world has lasted for thousands of years, and would continue until the aforementioned Judgment Day, Jesus’ words are eternal. All else will break down, come apart, not happen, be burned up, etc., but Jesus’ words will never fail or pass away. They are permanent no matter what happens on this earth; no matter how much upheaval. ‘my words’—no doubt Jesus is specifically referencing everything He’s just said about the coming destruction. But in a broader sense, He’s just as accurate. Now beginning at verse 36 Jesus switches. He’s just referenced that Heaven and earth WILL pass away. Here in verse 36 when He says ‘that day or hour’, He’s certainly not referring back to the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem. When He spoke of those events He gave pre-signs and signs. He warned people to be vigilant and aware of all these things which were happening and to be ready. He as the Son of Man had direct knowledge about ‘all these things.’ Now, He’s speaking about ‘that day or hour’ of the end of all things, and what we’re going to see from here on out is there are no pre-cursors so to speak. There are no signs. It’s going to be sudden, without warning, a complete surprise even to Jesus. These were things even the Son didn’t know. Everything pivots at verse 35. While Jesus was more than willing and able to give details about the Jewish end, while He warned them repeatedly to be on the alert for so many different clues, now He speaks entirely differently about the end of the world. To try to make verses 4-34 refer to His Second Coming is to turn Jesus into a person who contradicted Himself. But if Jesus spoke about the end of the Jewish age in 4-34 and the end of the world—the entire age—in 36ff, then Jesus’ words make complete sense and there are no contradictions. ‘No one knows’—how silly then that anyone down through the years has tried to predict the end of the world. If even Jesus, the Son of God, didn’t know, what foolishness to think any man could figure it out. Of course folks say, “We may not know the day or the hour, but we can narrow it down to a two-day range or a range of a few days.” That’s preposterous, presumptuous, and complete poppycock! ‘only the Father’—this certainly fits in with the whole image of Jesus coming as the bridegroom to take His bride back for the wedding feast. The Jewish custom was for the groom’s father to announce when all things were ready, and THEN the groom would come for his bride. Something else we need to understand from what Jesus said here. It’s definitely going to happen. No, no one knows the day or the hour; but, yes, it’s going to happen. This fits in perfectly with what He’d said in verse 35. ‘not even the angels in Heaven’—contrary to the Sadduceean belief that there were no angels, Jesus’ mention of them here clearly shows He believed. Jesus didn’t allude to things just to perpetuate myth or falsehood. Jesus didn’t use examples that weren’t really true. If He did, how could we put stock into anything He said? Also, Jesus had spoken previously that the angels would be involved in the reaping, sorting, harvesting process at the end of the age. But their involvement doesn’t mean they know when it will happen. In fact, Jesus clearly says they DON’T know when it will happen. One other thing before we leave this verse. Notice the progression in the way Jesus said it: starting with no one or no man, moving to angels in Heaven, then on to the Son, and finally ending at the Father. Let’s face it, unless someone is God the Father, they cannot know the time of the Second Coming. Jesus left no opening and no possibility of an opening. No spiritual being of any kind could have true knowledge according to His words here. How could Jesus not know? Look at Philippians 2:5ff. Paul says Jesus emptied Himself voluntarily. While Jesus knew many things, this was one area where He’d limited Himself. It’s not that He really did know and just wasn’t telling. It’s the fact that He really didn’t know. He left this knowledge in the Father’s hands as an obedient Son. And on this one point (and this one point alone!) Jesus openly stated He didn’t know. On what other subject had He spoken thusly? None. But He had no qualms about telling these men (and us through their word) that He didn’t know. Also let’s realize this: if Jesus didn’t know, then how can we read anything into what He says here that would justify us thinking He was giving clues for His Second Coming? Does this not absolutely rule out that anything in verses 4-34 was about His Second Coming?]
Posted on: Wed, 04 Dec 2013 10:36:28 +0000
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