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What Mark 13:32 Really Means About Jesus and God

  • Writer: Benjamin Michael Mcgreevy
    Benjamin Michael Mcgreevy
  • Jan 10
  • 5 min read

Summary: Discover how Mark 13:32 shows Jesus’ humanity without taking away His divinity, why Christians believe in the hypostatic union, and how this helps answer questions from Islam.



A Question About Jesus


In Mark 13, Jesus talks to His disciples about the future, including the end of the world and His return. In the middle of this conversation, He says something that has puzzled people for centuries:


“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”

Wait, did Jesus just say He didn’t know something? How can that be, if Christians also believe He’s fully God?


This verse often comes up in Christian-Muslim discussions, because Islam teaches that Jesus was only a prophet, not God. To understand this better, we need to look at a key Christian idea called the hypostatic union, which is the belief that Jesus is fully God and fully human at the same time.



What Mark 13:32 is Really About


First, let’s look at the bigger picture. Right before this verse, Jesus talks about coming back in glory and gathering His people. He also tells a story about a master leaving his house and the servants waiting for his return. The point of the story?


Jesus will come back for sure.


We don’t know when.


We should live ready and alert.


This means Mark 13:32 is not about confusing people with a tricky theology question. Jesus is teaching a lesson about watchfulness, trust, and responsibility. Even in His humanity, He shows what it looks like to trust the Father and live faithfully.


Acts 1:6–7 makes the same point:



Jesus didn’t give His followers the timetable because it might distract them from the work they were supposed to do at that moment.



The Hypostatic Union: God and Man in One Person


Here’s the tricky but important part: Christians believe Jesus is fully God and fully human. This is called the hypostatic union.


Being fully human means He experiences hunger, tiredness, pain, and even not knowing the exact day of the end times.


Being fully God means He has all wisdom, power, and knowledge.


The Council of Chalcedon, back in 451 AD, put it like this: Jesus’ two natures are unmixed but united in one person. He’s not sometimes God and sometimes man—He’s fully both at all times.


How Can Jesus Not Know Something and Still Be God?


Think of it like this: Jesus’ human mind experienced limitations because He wanted to live fully as a human. But His divine nature, the God part of Him, always knew everything. So when Jesus says He doesn’t know the day or hour, He’s speaking from His human perspective, teaching His followers to be alert and trust God.


Philosopher Andrew Loke calls this the “two minds of Christ”: one human, one divine, working together perfectly in one person.



Why This Shows Jesus’ Humility


Philippians 2:6–8 explains it in plain language:


“Who, being God, did not use His position to His advantage but made Himself nothing by becoming human… He humbled Himself even to dying on a cross.”


Jesus didn’t stop being God, but He chose to live with human limits like not knowing the exact time of His return, to show humility and to fully experience life as we do.


Even in death, Jesus’ divine and human natures stayed united. Theologians like Brandon Peterson and Bonaventure explain that His soul and body were separated in the tomb, but He was still fully God and fully man. Death did not break the unity of His person as God entered mortality to defeat death from the inside.



How This Looks from the Muslim Perspective


Islam teaches that God is one and cannot become human. The Qur’an says Jesus is a prophet, not God, and denies that He was crucified:


Surah 4:171: Jesus is God’s messenger, not part of a Trinity.
Surah 5:72–75: Jesus and His mother were humans, they ate food, and He is not divine.
Surah 4:157: Jesus was not killed on the cross; God raised Him.

Muslims sometimes use Mark 13:32 to argue that Jesus was not God, since He “didn’t know” something.



The Christian Response


Christians explain that Jesus’ statement reflects His human nature, not a lack of divinity. Sam Shamoun summarizes:


“It is not a contradiction to say that Jesus is all-knowing and not all-knowing at the same time… He is all-knowing in one sense… and not all-knowing in another sense.”

The verse also teaches a spiritual lesson: focus on living faithfully and watchfully, rather than trying to figure out when the end will come.



Why Mark 13:32 Makes Sense


When you understand the two natures of Christ, everything fits together:


His human mind had limits.


His divine mind always knew everything.


He modeled humility, obedience, and faithfulness.


After His resurrection, Jesus reigns with full authority, showing that His divine nature was never diminished.



Conclusion: A Bridge Between Faiths


Mark 13:32 is not a challenge to Jesus’ divinity but it shows how He lived fully as a human while remaining fully God. His human limitations make Him relatable and humble, while His divine nature ensures the power and wisdom of God.


For Christians, this deepens worship and faith. For those exploring interfaith dialogue, it offers a bridge: Jesus is human enough to experience life like us, divine enough to redeem us. Heaven met earth in Him, and infinite love embraced finite time.



If this reflection on Mark 13:32 has been helpful, it reflects the same verse-by-verse approach used throughout my series, Verse by Verse: A Daily Devotional Through the Whole Bible. Rather than isolating difficult passages, the goal is to slow down, read carefully, and trace how each verse fits within the wider story of Scripture and the person of Christ. When read in context biblically, historically, and theologically, challenging texts often reveal depth rather than contradiction, and clarity rather than confusion.



For a complementary reflection on another enduring challenge to Christian faith — why a good God allows evil — you might also find my post “If God Is Good, Why Does He Allow Evil?” helpful. In that post I explore how love, freedom, and the Cross together offer a biblical framework for understanding moral evil and God’s goodness. You can read it here: If God Is Good, Why Does He Allow Evil?.



Sources & Further Reading


  • Alphonse, Ndongo Kamdem. “Jesus in the Bible and the Qur’an: A Comparative Study.” IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science 12, no. 1 (2013): 14–19.

  • Aquinas, Thomas. Summa Contra Gentiles. Translated by Anton C. Pegis. Chicago: Henry Regnery Company, 1955.

  • Aquinas, Thomas. Summa Theologica. Part III, Q.10, Art.2. Translated by the Fathers of the English Dominican Province. New York: Benziger Brothers, 1947.

  • Augustine of Hippo. City of God. Book 16. Translated by Marcus Dods.

  • Augustine of Hippo. Confessions. Book XI.

  • Augustine of Hippo. On the Trinity.

  • Basil of Caesarea. Letter 236 to Amphilochius.

  • Bonaventure. Breviloquium.

  • Council of Chalcedon. The Chalcedon Confession (451).

  • DeYoung, Kevin. “Theological Primer: Hypostatic Union.” The Gospel Coalition.

  • Gumerlock, Francis X. “Mark 13:32 and Christ’s Supposed Ignorance.” Trinity Journal 28, no. 2 (2007).

  • Itani, Talal, trans. Qur’an in English. ClearQuran, 2012.

  • Loke, Andrew Ter Ern. “The Natures, Minds, and Wills of Christ.” St Andrews Encyclopaedia of Theology (2024).

  • Moberly, R. W. L. “The Coming at Cockcrow.” Journal of Theological Interpretation 14, no. 2 (2020).

  • Peterson, Brandon. “Without Separation? Christ’s Tomb and the Hypostatic Union.” Journal of Analytic Theology 12 (2024).

  • Shamoun, Sam. “Was Jesus Omniscient?” Answering Islam.

  • Smith, David Guzik. “Commentary on Acts 1.” Enduring Word.

  • Wright, N. T. Resurrection and the Renewal of Creation. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2020.

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