Why Didn't Jesus Know?
Renewing Your Mind
Ligonier Ministries
4.8 • 5.3K Ratings
🗓️ 14 April 2026
⏱️ 26 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Jesus said that no man knows when He will return—including Himself. But since Jesus is God incarnate, how could He not know? Today, R.C. Sproul helps us answer this puzzling question.
Get R.C. Sproul's book Hard Sayings and his digital teaching series The Hard Sayings of Jesus with your donation: https://gift.renewingyourmind.org/
Live outside the U.S. and Canada? Request the ebook and digital teaching series with your donation: https://www.renewingyourmind.org/global
Join us next spring for Ligonier's 2027 National Conference, The Glorious Attributes of God. Save 45% when you register by April 25: https://www.ligonier.org/2027
Meet Today's Teacher:
R.C. Sproul (1939–2017) was founder of Ligonier Ministries, first minister of preaching and teaching at Saint Andrew's Chapel, first president of Reformation Bible College, and executive editor of Tabletalk magazine.
Renewing Your Mind is a donor-supported outreach of Ligonier Ministries. Explore all of our podcasts: https://www.ligonier.org/podcasts
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Before we get to today's episode, are you planning on attending next year's national conference here in Orlando? |
| 0:06.2 | The theme is the glorious attributes of God. |
| 0:09.8 | We have no higher calling than to know who God is. |
| 0:13.5 | Understanding his character clarifies the purpose of our life and the glory that awaits us in Christ. |
| 0:19.8 | If you're planning to attend, you can save 45% if you |
| 0:23.2 | register now at Ligonier.org slash 2027. And if you're a Ligonier ministry partner, you can save |
| 0:30.4 | 55%. This is a great time to secure the discount and put April 1st through the 3rd, 2027 on your calendar for three days of |
| 0:40.6 | teaching and warm fellowship. Learn more and register at Ligonier.org slash 2027 before this offer |
| 0:49.1 | ends on April 25th. Now on to renewing your mind. |
| 1:01.7 | How is it possible that Jesus could not know the day and the hour of his own return? |
| 1:10.3 | Or to put it in the simplest terms possible. How could Jesus be God incarnate and have this gap in his knowledge. |
| 1:18.1 | The Internet has provided us with access to more information than any prior generation. |
| 1:24.4 | Yet, we still don't know everything, and that's okay because we're only human. |
| 1:29.6 | But how would you respond if Jesus told you that there was something that he didn't know? |
| 1:34.9 | Hello, I'm Lee Webb, and thank you for joining us for today's edition of renewing your mind. |
| 1:39.5 | We're in R.C. Sproles series, The Hard Sayings of Jesus today. |
| 1:43.9 | It's the last message you'll hear |
| 1:45.4 | this week from this series, so if you would like access to the entire series and a hardcover |
| 1:50.1 | copy of the book, Hard Sayings, be sure to give a donation at redoingyourmind.org before midnight |
| 1:56.5 | tonight. For today's hard saying, R.C. considers the gospel's account of Jesus stating that |
| 2:03.0 | he does not know the day or the hour of his return. Now, unlike us, Jesus is not only human, |
| 2:09.8 | he is God incarnate. He is the God man. Truly God and truly man. So how are we to understand this? |
... |
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