Ask Pastor Mike Live

Focal Point Ministries: Steve, you're on the air with Pastor Mike. How can I help?

Steve Miller: Hey, Pastor Mike. Haven't talked in a while. Steve Miller here from Dallas, Texas, truck driver. Me and my wife were talking, and I don't really expect a full answer, but I'm definitely interested in your take or what you think about this. I don't know if you know, but a preacher in Africa predicted the Rapture would happen yesterday, and that got us talking. The question would be: why is it that the Father God is the only one that knows the end times and not the Son, Jesus Christ?

Focal Point Ministries: I think the Son does know at this point, but I think in his humility, there was a lot of things that Jesus, in his kenosis in Philippians chapter two, was willing to lay aside the independent use of his divine attributes. By that, I mean when he said, "Who touched me?" to the disciples, I think it was a genuine question.

There are plenty of things that he did, including got tired, slept at night, plenty of things that in his divinity there is no need for sleep. Clearly, in the Bible, it says God doesn't sleep; he never slumbers; he never gets tired. He certainly doesn't thirst; he doesn't need to eat. Psalm 50: he never gets hungry. And yet, Jesus is described that way in John 4.

So there are plenty of things that he describes himself as being, including ignorant of the Second Coming, but after his glorification, which he says in John 17 he's going to return to that glorified state, I think as soon as he was glorified, of course, all of that is now a reset. Game over, of course he knows. That's my answer to the question, that he does know. I don't think he's ignorant of that now.

Just as if anyone touches him in the realm that he's in now, he's not going to ask Peter about that. So, yeah, Steve, that's my answer, and I think there's a lot of people that would agree with that. You'd probably find that in a lot of question and answer books from biblical scholars, theologians, or pastors.

But if these people would just stop creating these dates, setting dates, this is always a bad idea. I know these people have wonderful ways that they try to slalom their way through all these passages about setting dates, but it's always a bad idea. We just need to stop it. It just needs to stop.

I've been through so much of this in the past four decades, all the way back to *88 Reasons Christ is Coming Back in 1988*. I remember that one. I was a new pastor and people were handing me those pamphlets and it's just got to stop. As soon as we hear someone setting a date, we just need to say, "Talk to the hand. We're not interested." What we're interested in doing is crying out "Maranatha" and praying every morning, "Your kingdom come." But Steve, I think Christ does know. He knows now. Just like he never gets thirsty, never gets tired, he's in his glorified state at this point. Does that help at all, Steve?

Steve Miller: Oh, yeah, sure. Just to touch base, first of all, me and my wife just heard about this today, so we would have been late. It was too late. But as we can see, we're still here, we're firm believers, we're repentant, so we know it didn't happen yet. Not that we're betting on that, but I would just like to point out, and I think by you saying, "Who touched me?" you're acknowledging the reason I'm calling is because of the scripture that says no man knows the end time, not even I, only the Father. We can acknowledge that is a scripture that Jesus said, but you're just saying he's saying these things to show you his humanness and that absolutely no one knows but the triune God.

Focal Point Ministries: Correct. Think about him saying on the cross, "I thirst." Do you think Jesus ever thirsted after his glorification? Never. Never. It is just impossible because he says in John 17, "Return to me the glory I had with you before the foundation of the world." There's just no possible way he lacks anything because he's been fully glorified.

When he shows up on the island of Patmos in his glorified state, John, who was hanging out eating bread with him, falls down as though dead because he's seeing Jesus in a completely different state. In the brain of Jesus is the knowledge of all things, including the date of his own return. I don't think there's any confusion about his date. So John 7:27, not knowing his return, is just a statement in his humility during his incarnation, during his earthly ministry.

Steve Miller: Very interesting, and I can't wait to report back to my wife the similarity in the story of "Who touched me?" or why do I thirst. The thirsting and the hungering I attribute to his human nature. Certainly, those are human aspects and human desires to keep going, although he said it's not by bread alone but every word that proceeds from the Father that we live. Nonetheless, I appreciate the answer and I'm looking forward to reporting back.

Focal Point Ministries: Let me give you another one, just for your wife's sake, because I know they're hard to convince sometimes, these wives of ours. John chapter 20, verse 19. He's in his glorified state. Think about this. He's about to eat with the disciples. They're in a locked room. John goes to the extent of describing that they're in a locked room. Jesus shows up behind locked doors. He's going to have people touch him and eat with them.

He's got an esophagus, he's got teeth, he's got a tongue, he's got a beard, he's got elbows, he's got kneecaps, he's got fingernails. But he shows up there. In his earthly ministry, he's got to walk up the stairs to get to the upper room. He's got to open a door to get into a room. He doesn't go through locked doors. If he's going to go from Judea to Galilee, he's got to choose whether he's going to go through Perea or whether he's going to go through Samaria.

Then when he goes through Samaria, he gets thirsty in John 4 and has to sit down by Jacob's well. He's so tired he doesn't even go into Sychar to get lunch; he sends his disciples to go into Sychar and get lunch. Jesus is so different in his glorified state. He doesn't even need the doorway; he shows up through the door. This is a completely different kind of Jesus, even in his physicality, let alone his mind. This is different.

It's not that he wasn't divine. This is where we have to study Philippians chapter two. There was something about the kenosis, and that's the word that's used. He emptied himself. It doesn't mean he became less than God. This is where a book that might be helpful is by Bruce Ware. It's called *The Man Christ Jesus*. It's all about the humanity of Christ.

He doesn't cease to be divine, but there are so many interesting attributes that he takes on during his earthly ministry. He lives 36 years or whatever it is in his earthly ministry. I know people say 33 because he probably died in 33 AD, but because of the dating system and his death, which is the death of Herod, it's a long story, but he was probably 36 or 37 years old when he died. I can explain that later with specificity and technicality.

But here's the point. For those years, let's just say three and a half decades, he has a completely different kind of encased reality that now in his glorified human state, he is still the God-man, but it's completely different in his glorified state. That book is worth—it's not a hard read. It's a good read. Bruce Ware, *The Man Christ Jesus*.

It'll stretch your mind and it's a readable book. It's not hard, it's not technical. He's a theologian, but it's still easy to read and it will stretch you to think about what it was like for Jesus, the baby Jesus, to teeth his molars, or to get a cold, or to learn to read. These are things that are just fascinating and helpful, including John 7:27, to say he doesn't know something.

Anyway, thanks for the call, Steve. Appreciate that. Running out of time here. We'll get to more questions, Lord willing, tomorrow. We've got more questions coming in and I appreciate that. But please, write down the number: 1-877-913-5357. It'll be handy tomorrow for you. You can call in and we can get to more of your questions.

My name is Mike Fabarez. I'm pastor of Compass Bible Church in Aliso Viejo, California. We run a thing called Compass Bible Institute, and we did a lot of talking about that up in Idaho. One of the things we do there, we've got four key audiences for Compass Bible Institute. One of them is our one-year intensive Bible program for 18 to 24-year-olds. We do an on-campus college experience, one year.

We deal with systematic theology, Bible survey, apologetics, and Christian worldview. Those four things, and it's a very helpful program. If you have a young person in high school, please check this out before they go off to trade school or college or university. Please consider prayerfully investing one year of their time before they go off to that very pivotal time of their life in university, college, trade school, or the workforce.

Maybe consider Compass Bible Institute. Or if you just want to sharpen your skills, go to compassbibleinstitute.org, and that would be a great thing for you maybe to check out. All right, it's been great to be with you today. Certainly hope that your nose is in the book and you're studying God's word and that you're in church whenever the doors are unlocked and you're there serving and ministering and learning. That's what it's all about.