Hi, Joe —

As for this passage, my own thought is that "know" is used in the sense of "have authority over" — as Adam and Eve wanted to "know good and evil" — in other words, to decide for themselves.

The Father is the source of all, the fount of eternal generation of the Son and, with the Son,
of the Spirit. He, in this way, is the source of the Divine Plan which culminates in the Second Coming. He speaks the Word. He decides.

The Son is the Word He speaks. Moreover, Christ in His human nature, in His human mind and will, is not the source of this Plan or the source of the knowledge of it. Even if He were aware of it, He can be said not to "know" it.

Finally, the Day is something that can be moved, depending on the prayer, as we see in "lead us not into the trial" and in "Thy Kingdom come" — and it is:

• the Father's role to initiate response to prayer
• the Son's to obey it, and
• the Spirit's to be the working of it.

Mary Ann

Hi, Joe —

Thanks for the question.

Christ knew it in His Divine Person, in His divine nature, but not in His human nature. When He came to earth, He "laid aside" his divine privileges (Philippians 2:7-8).

As such, He willed to know (in His human nature) only what the Father wanted Him to know. Presumably, now that He's taken up the fullness of His divinity again, He is privy to that information.

Eric

Joe,

Thanks for the question.

The answer to the apparent difficulty has to do with the two natures of Christ.

As Second Person of the Trinity (in His divine nature), Christ has no limitations; as man, Christ's knowledge is co-terminus with the human nature, and therefore is dependent on Divine infusion and vision to know, rather than knowing by innate intelligence. It is speaking from the human vantage point that Christ's remarks make sense.

If you refer to the St. Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologica, Part III, Question 10, Article 2, this question is answered directly, and in the surrounding questions, you will see a much more comprehensive discussion on the knowledge of Christ.

Peace in Christ,

Bob K.

Hi Joe,

It is my understanding that the manner in which Christ's human consciousness worked, and how He learned and knew in His human nature, is a matter of theological discussion. It is a matter of Revelation that the Person of Christ, who is the Person of the Son, enjoys the vision of the Father. How this vision is participated in by His human consciousness is one thing.

Scripture, especially the Gospel of John, and the Fathers indicate that He was aware of His identity and mission from the beginning, which is logical because that is who He is, and there is only one subject in Christ.

Another consideration is His reflective knowledge or rational self-knowledge of this identity and role. This rational self-knowledge is the human expression of personhood, and that may have developed in a human way, and indeed, Scripture seems to indicate that.

I would refer you to the Catholic Encyclopedia, and to the work of Fr. Roch Kereszty, SO Cist., Jesus Christ, Fundamentals of Christology for some discussion.

• Bear in mind that the Incarnation and the hypostatic union of the human and divine natures, in the one Person of the Son, are great mysteries.
• Also bear in mind that a mind doesn't know, and a will doesn't act.

A person knows and acts through his rational powers of mind and will, which are not parts of, but are expressions of, the rational spirit.

Hope this helps,

Mary Ann