Not Even the Son Knows

 Interpretations

The most straightforward reading is also the most difficult: during his earthly ministry Jesus says that he does not know the day or hour. “Know” has the same natural meaning when applied to human beings, angels, the Son, and the Father in the sentence.

Historic Christian theology commonly explains this in connection with the incarnation. The eternal Son truly became human rather than merely appearing human. The Gospels describe Jesus growing in wisdom, becoming tired, experiencing hunger, asking questions, and living within ordinary human conditions. On this interpretation, limited human knowledge belongs genuinely to his incarnate life.

Some theologians describe this as voluntary self-limitation: the Son possesses divine knowledge but does not make unrestricted use of it during his earthly mission. Others distinguish what Christ knows according to his divine nature from what he knows within his human consciousness. These approaches attempt to preserve both the genuine humanity of Jesus and the Christian confession of his divinity.

Another historical interpretation argues that Jesus knew the date but was not authorized to reveal it. “The Son does not know” would then mean that it was not his to make known. Although this avoids the theological difficulty, it is less natural linguistically because the verse repeatedly uses the language of knowing rather than revealing.

Non-Trinitarian interpreters have understandably treated the verse as evidence that the Son is intrinsically subordinate to the Father. The history of Christian interpretation therefore shows that the theological difficulty should not be minimized.