I cannot accept this answer. Jesus is one with God. He existed from the beginning with the Father. Is one part of God smarter than the other? Knowing more about certain subjects than the other parts? I know with my remedial mind, I cannot comprehend such greatness as God, but this verse has been a real stumbling block for me. Please help.

The Bible verse that is troubling you is Mark 13:32 (a parallel passage is Matthew 24:36). It is in one sense a startling and unusual statement of our Lord--and he probably said it to catch our attention and lead us to ponder him as the unique God-man in addition to recognizing the need to remain on guard and alert as we anticipate his Second Coming.

I'm not sure that the answer you received (Jesus is simply referring to himself as man) is adequate or all that helpful. Maybe that is why you are still troubled. The Bible makes it very clear that Jesus is both true God and true man, with both natures intimately (and uniquely) united in the one person. So we want to be careful not to "compartmentalize" the two natures so that we refer to Jesus purely as Man at one time and then purely as God at another time. (This kind of error, historically, is known as Nestorianism and has been rejected by the Christian church.)

A better way of expressing this profound truth, and a way that allows ALL Bible verses to remain intact, is to say this: In his state of humiliation, Jesus set aside for a time the full use of his divine powers and prerogatives. He always possessed these powers (and knowledge) but did not make full use of these powers (and knowledge) as he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on the cross, on our behalf.

Remember some basic rules of interpreting the Bible. One is to allow ALL Bible statements to remain as they are, without sacrificing one to allow another to stand. Speaking of Christ possessing but not making use of his omniscience during his state of humiliation allows this and is true to all that the Bible says.

Another basic principle in understanding Bible verses is to look at the context. And when did Jesus make this statement? During the last week of his earthly ministry (what we call Holy Week) just prior to his crucifixion and death. In other words he was very much "humbling" or "emptying" himself as our Sin-bearer, laying aside the use of his divine powers and prerogatives so that he might meet our greatest needs.

We all admit that there are.htmlects of the union of the two natures in Christ that we are unable to explain fully. And the marvel of his humbling himself for us will remain a truth beyond our ability to explain in detail. God has not asked us to understand or explain all this either. (And he certainly hasn't said we should reject a Bible statement simply because it expresses something beyond our ability to explain fully.)

In other words, I pray that we see this statement of Jesus as an expression of his profound love and self-chosen humiliation for us and walk away impressed with his amazing love--rather than picking an argument with it and walk away grumbling how we are unable to fathom the union of his two natures or g.html the details of his humiliation.