By That leaves us, then, with vv. 36-44—a part of Matthew 24 that has, apparently, been torn from the Bibles of many. Notice the very next words of Jesus:
“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only…” (36).
Now, wait a minute! Jesus just spent thirty verses telling about when a certain event is going to happen, including a detailed sketch of the signs to look for so we know when it is near; and now He goes and says that no one knows the day or the hour?
Oh, but it gets better—for Jesus goes on to say that there will be no signs for the coming of the day He’s talking about (vv. 37-39,42,44,50)! So what is going on here?
Well, here is what is going on: Jesus is now answering their other question, which was “concerning that day”—not the day about which He was speaking from vv. 4-34, but the other day about which they had asked: the day when He will return—i.e., the end of the world. Concerning the time of that day, He says, “no one knows,” not even Himself!
