"Nor the Son" — and "You Are Aware of All Things"
Witnesses argue that Jesus can't be Almighty God because he did not
know everything. Three texts are used.
(1) Mark 13:32 (and Matthew 24:36): "Concerning that day or the hour
nobody knows, neither the angels in heaven nor the Son, but the
Father." God knows everything; the Son didn't know the day; so the Son
is not God.
(2) Revelation 1:1: it is "a revelation by Jesus Christ, which God gave
him." Why would God have to give God information? The risen Jesus
still had to be told.
(3) Revelation 14:14-16: the one "like a son of man" seated on the
white cloud is Jesus. An angel comes out of the temple sanctuary and
tells him, "Put your sickle in and reap, because the hour has come to
reap." So even in heaven Jesus has to be told the hour, which is the
very hour he said he didn't know.
Don't explain away. Christians have wrestled with it since the fourth century, and the Witness will respect honesty. Agree that the Son, as a man on earth, said he did not know the day. Then give the frame from : "although he was existing in God's form," he "emptied himself and took a slave's form and became human." He didn't stop being what he was; he added a real human nature, with a human mind that went on "progressing in wisdom" (). So the Bible says two kinds of thing about one person. Read the other kind: "Now we know that you know all things" (); "Lord, you are aware of all things" (). Then the anchor. In Jehovah says, "I, Jehovah, am searching the heart, Examining the innermost thoughts, To give to each one according to his ways." In the risen Son of God says, "I am the one who searches the innermost thoughts and hearts, and I will give to you individually according to your deeds." That is Jehovah's own claim in Jesus' mouth. and 14:14-16 show the order in which the Father's plan reaches us, not a gap in the Son's mind; answer them if they come up.
The Son who said "nor the Son" also says, "I am the one who searches the innermost thoughts and hearts," Jehovah's own claim in . One person, two natures: as man he lived within human limits; as God he knows every heart.
God knows everything. If Jesus didn't know the day, he can't be God. You can't know and not know at the same time.
Not in the same way, agreed. That's why Christians have always said Jesus has two natures, not that one mind both knew and didn't. says he "became human," and says he grew in wisdom. A human mind grows; God's doesn't. So as a man he really didn't know the day, and that was part of taking "a slave's form." But the same person is the one Peter called "aware of all things," and the one who says in , "I am the one who searches the innermost thoughts and hearts." Jehovah says that about himself in . If Jesus is only a creature, how can he make Jehovah's own claim?
Revelation 1:1 says God gave Jesus the revelation. Why would God need to give God anything? After his resurrection he still had to be told.
Look at the whole chain in verse 1: God gave it to Jesus "to show his slaves," and Jesus "sent his angel and presented it in signs through him to his slave John." Is the point that Jesus was missing information, or that this is the route God's message travels to his people? It's the same pattern Jesus describes in , where the Son does nothing on his own but what he sees the Father doing. Christians agree the Son receives everything from the Father; that's what being the Son means. But in the very next chapter this Jesus says he searches every heart (). If receiving from the Father meant ignorance, how could he search every heart?
Revelation 14:14-16 shows Jesus on the cloud being told by an angel that the hour has come. So even in heaven he doesn't know the hour.
I'll be honest: Christians disagree about who that figure is. Many think it's Jesus, because of the cloud, the golden crown and "someone like a son of man" (compare and ). Others note that verse 15 says "another angel" and that Jesus says the reapers are angels (). Let's say it is Jesus. Where does the angel come from? "From the temple sanctuary," God's presence. He isn't teaching Jesus something; he's carrying the Father's command, the same Father-then-Son order as and . And then the one on the cloud reaps the whole earth, which is the judging the Father "has entrusted" to the Son (). Then verse 23 says all are to "honor the Son just as they honor the Father." Would Jehovah share that honour with a creature?
Peter only meant Jesus knew Peter's heart. 'All things' is a figure of speech.
Peter is responding to a specific heart question, so I take your point. But he bases it on a general statement: "you are aware of all things; you know that I have affection for you." The disciples said the same in : "you know all things and you do not need to have anyone question you." And John says Jesus "knew what was in man" (). In the Old Testament, who alone knows the human heart? Solomon says to Jehovah in , "you alone truly know every human heart." So when Peter says Jesus knows his heart because he is "aware of all things," what is he saying about Jesus?
Matthew 24:36 says 'only the Father.' That excludes the Son permanently.
Both and contrast the Father with the Son and the angels while Jesus was on earth, "a slave's form" in . Neither verse says the risen Christ still doesn't know. says that in Christ are hidden "all the treasures of wisdom and of knowledge." And after his resurrection Jesus is the one who says, "I am the one who searches the innermost thoughts and hearts" (). Which describes him now: the limits he accepted as a servant, or the knowledge of the one who searches every heart?
Don't deny that Mark 13:32 means what it says. Jesus really said he didn't know, and the JW will respect honesty. Don't slide into saying the Son gave up his divine nature or his omniscience when he became man. That is kenoticism, which isn't the Christian faith; the Son added a human nature, he didn't subtract the divine one. Say "as a man he chose to live within human limits", not "he stopped being all-knowing". Don't stake the conversation on the Revelation 14:14 figure being an angel. Most commentators think it is Christ, and your reply works either way. Don't quote John 21:17 as "you know all things" from the NWT; the NWT reads "you are aware of all things". John 16:30 does say "you know all things". Don't give a lecture on Chalcedon; one sentence about "one person, two natures" is enough. Don't turn "nor the Son" into a point about the organisation's past dates for the end; that is a different conversation and will feel like an attack. Stay with Jeremiah 17:10 and Revelation 2:23. The Witness is a friend reasoning with you, not an opponent, so let the verses do the work.
(1) Read in context () and be ready to agree it means what it says. (2) Read and and practise one sentence: "As a man he chose to live within human limits; he never stopped being God." (3) Check the NWT wording yourself: reads "you are aware of all things"; reads "you know all things". (4) Put next to and read them aloud until the match is obvious. (5) Read , noting "another angel" (vv. 15, 17) and "from the temple sanctuary". Be ready to say, "Suppose it is Jesus." (6) Practise the doorstep question aloud and rehearse your reply to "God gave him the revelation": "Look at the whole chain in verse 1."