If Jesus Christ is supposedly part of the trinity how come he didn't even know when the hour would come

Question

If Jesus Christ is supposedly part of the trinity how come he didn't even know when the hour would come?

Mark:13:32

"Jesus says, “But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father."

Answer 1

TLDR; Jesus is fully God, but decided to become fully human in order to save His people from sin, and to be an example for us. This limited Him, but did not cease to make Him God.

I believe the Bible answers this clearly.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

John 1:1-4

Jesus is completely God.

"In the beginning was the Word."

Jesus "was" when time began. Jesus is outside of time. He is God. He is also the co-Creator,

"All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made."

He is part of the Elohim, He was there when God said,

Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness...

Genesis 1:26

Then Jesus took on the form of humanity to save us from our sin.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 1:14

He was equal with God, but He chose to take on a human form for you and me.

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2:5-11

A child was to be born who would be called "Everlasting Father".

For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6

His name was Jesus, the name means Yahweh is Salvation or Yahweh the Savior. The Angel clearly points to Jesus as Yahweh, or God, the Savior for He shall save His people from their sins.

But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

Matthew 1:20-21

When He took on human form, He used the same power available to us. He prayed,

Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.

Mark 1:35

He learned the Word from when He was a child,

Now so it was that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers.

Luke 2:46-47

and through His relationship with the Father, He did many miracles. Not of His own power, but with the power of the Father.

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

7 “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.”

8 Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.”

9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. 11 Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.

John 14:6-11

He was fully man and fully God, though His divinity was mostly hidden by humanity for our sake. To show us how to live and show us that all that He did is within our reach.

For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. 16 Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. 17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

John 13:15-17

... and even greater things than He did.

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. 13 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask[c] anything in My name, I will do it.

John 14:12

Nevertheless, because He was human, not everything was revealed to Him, as you point out. This however, does not mean He is not fully God, as pointed out previously.

Answer 2

This is actually a Trinitarian proof text, often used in debates with modalists. Social Trinitarians would say this proves that the Son is a completely different person from the Father, although He is by nature still God, being of the same substance as the Father. This is because Social Trinitarians put a stronger emphasis on the "threeness" of God, while seeking to show how these three persons are still one God.

Latin Trinitarians would point to the fact that Jesus is fully human, and fully God. (Heb 2, John 1) They also affirm the Trinity, but put a stronger emphasis on the "oneness" of God, while seeking to show how He is nevertheless one God in three persons. The Latin Trinitarian would say, Jesus, although God, was also fully human, and so being human, His knowledge of the future was limited to what was revealed to Him by the Father.

Answer 3

Matthew 24:36 is a parallel passage:

But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

In some manuscripts of Matthew the phrase "neither the Son" also appears.

The interpretation of this in antiquity was not that Jesus literally had no idea of when the tribulations described in Matthew and Mark would occur, but rather that no one should try to inquire about the time.

John Chrysostom, a 4th century Byzantine Church hierarch and preacher, wrote:

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, [1 Cor 2:10] 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 [John 1:3], 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?¹

You did not ask for a particular denominational perspective. Since Chrysostom is considered a Church Father by both the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox confessions (which together comprise the majority of Christians in the world) and has even been lauded as a great preacher by John MacArthur, I think that this explanation can be considered foundational for the numerical majority of Christians.

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¹ Homily LXXIV on the Gospel According to Matthew