{"author":null,"canonical_references":[],"database_sha256":"8cfbe7284c6936871d57c02dc6aa63ebbdfd4722422d539dd9f716e46e91112e","date_end":null,"date_start":null,"edition_year":null,"id":"sermonindex-ecf-2442","native_reference":{"book_number":510,"chapter_from":1,"chapter_to":1,"system":"MyBible module coordinates (mapping unverified)","verse_from":6,"verse_to":6},"public_import_allowed":false,"record_kind":"verse-keyed-module-record","review_required":["English edition and exact text","author/work attribution","dating","verse mapping and citation kind","reuse and attribution","split author quotations and deduplicate"],"review_status":"unreviewed","source_html":"<p><b>Ambrose of Milan</b>: But neither is the Father deceived nor does the Son deceive. It is the custom of the holy Scriptures to speak thus, as the examples I have already given, and many others testify, so that God feigns not to know what he does know. In this then a unity of Godhead and a unity of character is proved to exist in the Father and in the Son; seeing that, as God the Father hides what is known to him, so also the Son, who is the image of God in this respect, hides what is known to him.<br/><i>— Exposition of the Christian Faith 5.17.218</i></p><p><b>Basil of Caesarea</b>: That is to say, the knowledge of such a kingdom is not for them that are bound in flesh and blood. This contemplation the Father has put away in his own power, meaning by \"power\" those that are authorized, and by \"his own\" those who are not held down by the ignorance of things below.<br/><i>— LETTER 8.7</i></p><p><b>Bede</b>: Therefore, those who had come together asked Him, saying: Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? Since He appeared to them speaking of the kingdom of God, He also promised the coming of the Holy Spirit not many days later, they accordingly inquire about the same kingdom, whether they should believe that it would be restored in the present with the imminent coming of the Holy Spirit, or reserved for the saints in the future. For the disciples, still carnal, after the resurrection of Christ, believed that the kingdom of Israel would come immediately. As Cleopas said: But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. And the evangelist had stated beforehand that as the Lord was coming to Jerusalem, they thought that the kingdom of God would immediately appear. But the prophecy was to be fulfilled, which says, singing to the Father: But you have rejected, despised, and delayed your Christ (Psalm LXXXVIII). For the Father rejected and despised the Son when He deserted Him in His passion, saying: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me (Matthew XXVII)? He delayed, however, that those whom the saints thought would reign at that time, they might expect Him to come in His majesty on the day of judgment. Therefore, the Lord Himself, hinting that the spiritual Israel and the heavenly kingdom were promised by the prophets, said:<br/><i>— Commentary on Acts</i></p><p><b>Bede</b>: Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? Not to this Israel, but to this Israel; and as it is manifest in Greek, where τῷ Israel, and not οῦ Israel, is written. Which would be understood more easily if, by adding one word, it were said: Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to the people of Israel.<br/><i>— Retractions on Acts</i></p><p><b>Cassiodorus</b>: People did not realize what they should not know, and the Son of God was not in any sense unaware of this through weakness of the flesh. But if we were to suspect that the divine Majesty cloaked ignorance (a thing it would be irreverent to say), then that ignorance would be found stronger than the divine nature, and could—to speak foolishness—bring down the providence by which all things were created. But since we are taught that this is quite ridiculous, we must believe that the whole Trinity, whose nature is one and all-powerful, has always an unfailing knowledge of all things.<br/><i>— EXPOSITION OF THE Psalms 9.39</i></p><p><b>Cassiodorus</b>: \"They therefore who were come together, asked him,\" etc. He says that the Lord Christ was asked by them who were come together if the restoration of the Israelite kingdom, which he promised was to come, would take place at that time. It is evident that an indication of the precise time was withheld for our greater benefit; but, instead, he foretold them that on the fiftieth day they would receive the power of the Holy Ghost, so that they might bear witness throughout the earth to the wonderful works of perfect faith.<br/><i>— Complexiones on the Acts of the Apostles</i></p><p><b>Ephrem the Syrian</b>: \"It is not for you to know times or seasons.\" He has hidden that from us so that we might keep watch and that each of us might think that this coming would take place during our life. For, if the time of his coming were to be revealed, his coming would be in vain, and it would not have been desired by the nations and the ages in which it was to take place. He has indeed said that he will come, but he did not define when, and thus all generations and ages thirst for him.<br/><i>— COMMENTARY ON TATIAN'S DIATESSARON</i></p><p><b>Hilary of Poitiers</b>: The Son is ignorant, then, of nothing which the Father knows, nor does it follow because the Father alone knows, that the Son does not know. Father and Son abide in unity of nature, and the ignorance of the Son belongs to the divine Plan of silence seeing that in Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. This the Lord Himself testified, when He answered the question of the Apostles concerning the times, It is not yours to know times or moments, which the Father hath set within His own authority. The knowledge is denied them, and not only that, but the anxiety to learn is forbidden, because it is not theirs to know these times. Yet now that He is risen, they ask again, though their question on the former occasion had been met with the reply, that not even the Son knew. They cannot possibly have understood literally that the Son did not know, for they ask Him again as though He did know. They perceived in the mystery of His ignorance a divine Plan of silence, and now, after His resurrection, they renew the question, thinking that the time has come to speak. And the Son no longer denies that He knows, but tells them that it is not theirs to know, because the Father has set it within His own authority. If then, the Apostles attributed it to the divine Plan, and not to weakness, that the Son did not know the day, shall we say that the Son knew not the day for the simple reason that He was not God? Remember, God the Father set the day within His authority, that it might not come to the knowledge of man, and the Son, when asked before, replied that He did not know, but now, no longer denying His knowledge, replies that it is theirs not to know, for the Father has set the times not in His own knowledge, but in His own authority. The day and the moment are included in the word `times': can it be, then, that He, Who was to restore Israel to its kingdom, did not Himself know the day and the moment of that restoration? He instructs us to see an evidence of His birth in this exclusive prerogative of the Father, yet He does not deny that He knows: and while He proclaims that the possession of this knowledge is withheld from ourselves, He asserts that it belongs to the mystery of the Father's authority.<br/><i>— ON THE TRINITY 9.75</i></p><p><b>Hilary of Poitiers</b>: For they longed for it now, they wished it now; that is, they wished to seize Him, and to make Him king.<br/>But the prophets foretold His kingdom according to that wherein He is Christ made man, and has made His faithful ones Christians. There will consequently be a kingdom of Christians, which at present is being gathered together, being prepared and purchased by the blood of Christ. His kingdom will at length be made manifest, when the glory of His saints shall be revealed, after the judgment is executed by Him, which judgment He Himself has said above is that which the Son of man shall execute. Of which kingdom also the apostle has said: \"When He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father.(1 Corinthians 15:24)\"</p><p><b>John Chrysostom</b>: For now indeed He hath mentioned infallible signs, many and endless; but then He saith merely, \"It is not for you to know times or seasons.\" And then that they might not say, we are driven to perplexity, we are utterly scorned, we are not held worthy so much as of this, He says, \"which the Father hath put in His own power.\" And this, because He was exceedingly careful to honor them, and to conceal nothing from them. Therefore He refers it to His Father, both to make the thing awful, and to exclude that of which He had spoken from their inquiry. Since if it be not this, but He is ignorant of it, when will He know it? Will it be together with us? But who would say this? And the Father He knoweth clearly, even as clearly as He knoweth the Son; and of the day is He ignorant? Moreover, \"the Spirit indeed searcheth even the deep things of God,\" and doth not He know so much as the time of the judgment? But how He ought to judge He knoweth, and of the secrets of each He hath a full perception; and what is far more common than that, of this could He be ignorant? And how, if \"all things were made by Him, and without Him was not even one thing made,\" was He ignorant of the day? For He who made the worlds, it is quite plain that He made the times also; and if the times, even that day. How then is He ignorant of that which He made?<br/><i>— HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF Matthew 77.1</i></p><p><b>John Chrysostom</b>: \"Wilt Thou at this time,\" say they, \"restore the kingdom to Israel?\" They so well knew his mildness, that after His Passion also they ask Him, \"Wilt thou restore?\" And yet He had before said to them, \"Ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars, but the end is not yet,\" nor shall Jerusalem be taken. But now they ask Him about the kingdom, not about the end. And besides, He does not speak at great length with them after the Resurrection. They address then this question, as thinking that they themselves would be in high honor, if this should come to pass. But He (for as touching this restoration, that it was not to be, He did not openly declare; for what needed they to learn this? hence they do not again ask, \"What is the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?\" for they are afraid to say that: but, \"Wilt Thou restore the kingdom to Israel?\" for they thought there was such a kingdom), but He, I say, both in parables had shown that the time was not near, and here where they asked, and He answered thereto.<br/><i>— Homily on Acts 2</i></p><p><b>John Chrysostom</b>: But just as when we see a child crying, and pertinaciously wishing to get something from us that is not expedient for him, we hide the thing, and show him our empty hands, and say, \"See, we have it not:\" the like has Christ here done with the Apostles. The disciples asked to have something, and He said He had it not. And on the first occasion he frightened them. Then again they asked to have it now: He said He had it not; and He did not frighten them now, but after having shown the empty hands, He has done this, and gives them a plausible reason: \"Which the Father,\" He says, \"hath put in his own power.\" What? Thou not know the things of the Father! Thou knowest Him, and not what belongs to Him! And yet Thou hast said, \"None knoweth the Father but the Son\" (Luke x. 25); and, \"The Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God\" (1 Cor. ii. 10); and Thou not know this! But they feared to ask Him again, lest they should hear Him say, \"Are ye also without understanding?\" (Matt. xv. 26.) For they feared Him now much more than before.<br/><i>— Homily on Acts 2</i></p><p><b>John Chrysostom</b>: When the disciples intend to ask anything, they approach Him together, that by dint of numbers they may abash Him into compliance. They well knew that in what He had said previously, \"Of that day knoweth no man\" (Matt. xxiv. 36), He had merely declined telling them: therefore they again drew near, and put the question. They would not have put it had they been truly satisfied with that answer. For having heard that they were about to receive the Holy Ghost, they, as being now worthy of instruction, desired to learn. Also they were quite ready for freedom: for they had no mind to address themselves to danger; what they wished was to breathe freely again; for they were no light matters that had happened to them, but the utmost peril had impended over them. And without saying anything to Him of the Holy Ghost, they put this question: \"Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?\" They did not ask, when? but whether \"at this time.\" So eager were they for that day. Indeed, to me it appears that they had not any clear notion of the nature of that kingdom; for the Spirit had not yet instructed them. And they do not say, When shall these things be? but they approach Him with greater honour, saying, \"Wilt Thou at this time restore again the kingdom,\" as being now already fallen. For there they were still affected towards sensible objects, seeing they were not yet become better than those who were before them; here they have henceforth high conceptions concerning Christ.<br/><i>— Homily on Acts 2</i></p><p><b>Oecumenius</b>: Look here. Since before the passion they asked about the end of the world, they no longer ask about this, but about the earthly kingdom; for they were still less complete. And having come together, they asked, so that they might confuse the crowd. But having heard before the passion that no one knows the day (Matt. 24:36), yet even now they ask again. For when they heard that they were about to receive the Spirit, as worthy ones, they wished to learn more and desired to be freed from hardships. They did not ask, \"When?\" but rather, \"Is it at this time? Is it now?\" they said. Therefore they longed for the day! But it seems to me that it was not even possible for them to fully grasp what the kingdom was at that time. For the Spirit had not yet taught. And they said, You restore; for they imagined something greater concerning it. Therefore He also spoke to them plainly. For He did not say, Not even the Son knows; but, It is not for you to know. And so that they would not be discouraged, He added; But you will receive power, and the things that follow (Acts 1:8). And they did not ask about the end, but He Himself, who was not asked, teaches: that it is the mark of a good teacher not to teach what the students want, but what it is beneficial to learn. Therefore, He did not answer the question as if it had no value; rather, He taught what was urgent, for they especially needed the Spirit at that time.<br/><i>— Commentary on Acts</i></p><p><b>Origen of Alexandria</b>: But of that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven nor the Son, but the Father alone.</p><p>These words seem to refute those who promise that they can comprehend the consummation and destruction of the world and who declare \"as though the day of the Lord were at hand\" — such as certain people are said to have been at Thessalonica in the time of the Apostle, of whom he writes: \"Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together unto him, that you be not soon moved from your mind, nor be troubled, neither by spirit nor by word nor by letter as though from us, as though the day of the Lord were at hand.\" Perhaps because among the Jews there were certain persons professing, whether through the scriptures, that they knew of the times of the consummation or of hidden things, therefore he writes these things, teaching his disciples that they should believe no one who professes such things. And the Savior, according to this passage, joins himself to those who are ignorant of that day and hour. And it must reasonably be asked how he who is confident that he knows the Father, saying: \"No one knows the Father but the Son and he to whom the Son shall will to reveal him\", knows the Father indeed, yet does not know the day and hour of the consummation, and why the Father hid this from the Son. For there must certainly be some reason why the time of the consummation is hidden even from the Savior and why he is ignorant concerning it.</p><p>But someone will dare to say that the man who exists according to the Savior is understood to be advancing \"in wisdom and stature and grace before God and men\", who in advancing did indeed advance above all in knowledge and wisdom, yet not so that there had already come to him that which was perfect, before he fulfilled his own dispensation. It is therefore no wonder if this alone he did not know out of all things, that is, the day and hour of the consummation.</p><p>But perhaps also, when he said that he did not know the day and hour of the consummation, he said this before his dispensation, because no one knows, neither the angels nor the Son, but the Father alone; but after his dispensation was fulfilled he by no means said this, after \"God highly exalted him and gave him a name which is above every name\".</p><p>For afterward the Son too came to know it, receiving knowledge from the Father even concerning the day of the consummation and the hour, so that now not only the Father might know concerning it but also the Son. And indeed in the Acts of the Apostles the apostles \"coming together questioned him, saying: Lord, wilt thou at this time restore the kingdom of Israel? But he said to them: It is not for you to know the times or the moments which the Father hath set in his own power\". And since he \"set in his own power the times and moments\" of the consummation of the world and of the restitution of the kingdom of Israel, therefore what had not yet been predefined by God no one could know. But each of the things which he predefines, he does not predefine from anything inexperienced (for this is impossible); but what he predefines, he predefines by making a beginning of predefining. And if this is so, he predefined indeed to bring about the consummation of the world, but he did not also predefine the \"times and moments which he set in his own power\", so that, if he wished to increase them, judging thus he might increase them, but if to shorten them, he might shorten them, no one knowing it. And therefore he set the times and moments of the consummation of the world in his own power, so that accordingly he might determine the due judgment for the human race (established in its own free will) acting in this way or that. Many things too are to be found in the prophets, written for the benefit of the hearers, in precepts and denunciations, as though God were not predefining anything about them, but punishing indeed if they should sin, and saving if they should keep the precepts. And just as in those cases the scripture did not introduce God as predefining, but as speaking forth according to the benefit of the hearers, so is it to be understood also concerning the day of the consummation and the hour.</p><p>Another explanation (which is more famous than those which have already been set forth) says something else about that which is written neither the Son, but the Father alone.</p><p>The Apostle, it says, speaks somewhere concerning the Savior and concerning the matters to be ordered at the end of the age in this manner: \"But when all things shall be subjected to him, then shall the Son himself also be subject to him who subjected all things to himself, that God may be all in all.\"</p><p>By these words he seems to show that, before he subjected all things to him, he was not subject \"to him who subjected all things to himself\": which is demonstrated from this, that unless the Son had been subject to the Father, who subjected all things to himself, the Father would never have subjected all things to him.</p><p>And through these words he seems to say that the subjection of the Son becomes the subjection of all who were to be subjected to him, and their coming through the Son to God and to perfection.</p><p>If, then, this is rightly said concerning the future subjection of the Son to the Father — that then those who are to be Christ's and shall have cleaved to him may, together with Christ himself, be subjected to the Father — why shall we not likewise expound also that no one knows of that day and hour, neither the Son?</p><p>For as long as the Church, which is the body of Christ, does not know that day and hour, so long is the Son himself also said not to know that day and hour, so that he is understood to know then, when all his members shall have come to know it. And it is rightly said \"to know\" according to its proper signification, as is the custom of the scriptures. What is it to know? That he shall come to know that day and hour who shall arrive at the end and shortening of that day and hour.</p><p>But that \"to know\" and \"to recognize\" have some such signification in the scriptures is manifest from that which is said in Ecclesiastes in this manner: \"He who keeps the commandment shall not know an evil word\", that is, shall not experience an evil word. And in the Apostle it is said concerning the Savior himself: \"Him who knew not sin, he made sin for us\".</p><p>And he called the Savior one not knowing sin, as though he were to say one who did not sin nor was in the nature of sin.</p><p>It signifies something of this kind, that also which it says: \"Adam knew Eve his wife\".</p><p>For as long as she had not been joined to him, he did not know her.</p><p>And therefore no one knows, neither the angels of heaven nor the Son of God, the day of such a consummation and destruction of the age, since God provides better for the saints, that they may come to be together in the blessedness which is to be after the day and hour of that consummation. And just as it is written among the Hebrews concerning those who have testimony in faith, that \"all these, having been attested through faith, did not receive the promise of God, God providing some better thing concerning us, that they should not be perfected without us\", so is it to be known also in this matter, that, since God foresaw some better thing concerning those who were to be saved, they have not yet received the promise, who did not come to know concerning that day and hour, neither the angels of heaven nor the Son. For the Son prepares the knowledge of that day and hour for the coheirs of that promise, from the time that \"he emptied himself, taking the form of a servant\", working out the way that leads to the restitution of all things, for whose sake he took \"the form of a servant\"; that all may together know (that is, may in the very reality experience) that hour and day, for \"what eye hath not seen nor ear heard, and hath not ascended upon the heart of man, God hath prepared for those who love him\" training and preparing in the knowledge of prior things every one whom he wills to know that day and hour together with the holy angels and with our Lord Jesus Christ himself. And the consummation of each single one, which is to be in these certain things aforesaid, and concerning individuals, the Father alone knows: since the Son, accompanying and going before those who follow after, and calling (so to speak), is to come, and delays. So that those who strive to follow him may be able to follow him, and, following him, may be found with him in that day and hour.<br/><i>— COMMENTARY ON Matthew 55</i></p>","source_html_sha256":"4ffe59118d1d9b0b73fe19e72d13ac363b001c4fab610d9443e58e49b8022d3c","source_module":"ECF","source_row_id":2442,"source_url":"https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/ecf/","text_sha256":"09eecc7b3fff12deccd92ce77e745e4e98894a86dd41a024ad115c6168294724","translator":null,"work":null}