Does the Son know the day and hour of the end?

First: Affirmation of the Son’s Knowledge

His Holiness explains that the Son does know that day and hour, for He is the Logos (the rational Word of God), the hypostasis of knowledge in the Holy Trinity. How could the Mind of God not know what is in God’s thought? Therefore, the Fathers such as St. Athanasius, St. Basil the Great, and St. Gregory the Theologian affirm that Christ knows all things, as it is written that “in Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” He is also the Beginning and the End, and through Him all things were made; it is unreasonable to think He knew the day of His crucifixion but not of His glorious coming.

Second: Unity of Knowledge between the Father and the Son

Scripture states that all that the Father has belongs to the Son, and that they are one in essence, knowledge, and will. The Father’s knowledge is the Son’s knowledge as well, for the Lord said: “I am in the Father and the Father in Me.” Since the Son is the Wisdom of God, He Himself determined by His wisdom the time of that final day.

Third: Meaning of “nor the Son knows”

This expression does not mean ignorance, but is referred to the human nature of Christ, which by nature does not know the future. The divinity, however, knows everything. Just as Christ slept, hungered, and suffered in His body without affecting His divinity, so it was said that He “did not know” from the human aspect only.

Fourth: The Biblical Style of Expression

The Bible often speaks in a human way, showing God as if He does not know, to teach or to reveal, as in “Adam, where are you?” or His descent to see Babel or Sodom. God speaks in the human way for man’s understanding, not from ignorance.

Fifth: The Meaning of “I do not know” in Scripture

The phrase does not always imply ignorance but rather unworthiness or rejection, as when Christ said to sinners: “I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of iniquity,” meaning they are not worthy of His fellowship. Likewise, to the foolish virgins: “I do not know you,” i.e., you are unfit for the bridegroom’s presence.

Sixth: The Union of Divinity and Humanity

In His humanity Christ could naturally be ignorant, but through His union with divinity He was enlightened by divine knowledge. The divinity shone upon the humanity so that it knew—not by its own power but by divine illumination. Thus, the ignorance meant is natural, not actual, referring to human limitation, not divine reality.

Seventh: Conclusion

Christ, as God incarnate, knows the day and the hour. But when speaking as man, He descended to our level to teach that the times and seasons belong to the Father’s authority for revelation, not to human curiosity. The Lord wanted to silence their insistence and remind them that the true task is readiness, not timing.

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