On Guard: Defending Your Faith with Reason and Precision

by William Lane Craig

Finally, another fascinating saying revealing Jesus’ sense of being God’s Son is His claim concerning the date of His return: “But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Mark 13:32). It seems highly unlikely that this saying could be the later product of Christian theology, because it ascribes ignorance to the Son. The criterion of embarrassment requires the authenticity of the reference to the Son’s ignorance. Just how embarrassing the saying was is evident in the fact that although Matthew reproduces it (Matt. 24:36), Luke omits it, and most copyists of Matthew’s gospel also chose to drop the verse (though it is preserved in the best manuscripts). That Mark preserves this saying, despite his emphasis on Jesus’ predictive power and foreknowledge, is testimony to his faithfulness in handing on the traditions about Jesus. Here once more we see Jesus’ consciousness of being God’s unique Son.