To explain how Jesus did not know the day or the hour of his return (Matt. 24:36), you will often hear some version of this answer:
“In Jewish tradition, after betrothal, the groom would return to his father’s house to prepare a bridal chamber for his bride. He would work on it until it was ready, but only the father could decide when the preparations were complete. Once the father approved, he would tell his son to go and fetch the bride. So that only the father knew the exact day and hour of the wedding.”
I have been unable to find a single ancient Jewish source that supports this popular explanation. None. It appears to be a modern Christian construction rather than a documented Jewish tradition.
If you have used this explanation, I'm sure it was meant sincerely. But please stop.
There is no need to turn to fabricated traditions (which always seem a bit too “neat and tidy,” don’t they?) to explain this verse when we have clear teachings in the Bible that explain it.
Though fully divine, Jesus did not always fully exercise the divine powers and knowledge that he possessed as the eternal Son, coequal with the Father and the Holy Spirit. He could have turned stones into bread, but chose hunger. He could have wiped out his enemies, but chose to die for them. Luke tells us that Jesus “increased in wisdom and in stature” (Luke 2:52).
Paul put it this way: Jesus “humbled himself” (Phil. 2:8). This refers to the time he spent on earth, during which he lived as we do. He experienced hunger, thirst, pain, and death. He “learned obedience” (Heb. 5:8). He willingly grew, learned, and lived within the limitations of human life.
This he did while remaining fully divine. “I and the Father are one,” Jesus says (John 10:30). John writes, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). Thomas says to Jesus, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28).
In the incarnation, the Son did not cease to be omniscient, but he did choose not always to make full use of the divine knowledge that was his. That’s what he’s expressing in Matthew 24:36.
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We read Matthew 24 today in Bible in One Year:
1517.org/oneyear