This coming Sunday is the 1st Sunday of Advent in the new Liturgical Year. Jesus concluded his response by stressing the responsibility of maintaining vigilance. The duty to watch draws its force from the fact that “no one knows” the critical moment of God’s decisive intervention. Perhaps one is surprised that the lack of knowledge includes “nor the Son.” Early on the clause “nor the Son” attracted the attention of theologians anxious to trace the christological implications in the confession of ignorance, but that inquiry misses the point.

The inclusion is accidental with respect to Jesus’ intention. His purpose was not to define the limits of his knowledge, but to indicate that vigilance, not calculation, is required. If the Son of Man and the angels are ignorant of “that day” it is because nothing allows a presentiment of its coming. Its approach is impossible to discern and so to prepare oneself for it. In this respect it stands in sharp contrast to the destruction of Jerusalem, which could be clearly foreseen and its devastation avoided by flight. The day of judgment will arrive so suddenly and unexpectedly that absolutely no one will have the least warning. That is why vigilance and confident faith are required of the disciples and the Church. Correctly understood, the qualification “nor the Son” indicates that even Jesus had to live by faith and to make obedience and watchfulness the hallmark of his ministry.

The determination of the critical moment of intervention rests exclusively with “the Father.” On this point the Father has not delegated his authority to anyone, not even to the Son. The one certainty the disciples may have is that the day will come when God will execute his decision to judge the world, and for that purpose he will send forth his Son with the hosts of angels (an image in both Mark 8:38 and 13:26.). The parousia and the judgment it will inaugurate are matters irrevocably decided. From this perspective the parousia is not conditioned by any other consideration than the sovereign decision of the Father, which remains surrounded with impenetrable mystery.

There is a lot carried in these two verses which precede our Advent Gospel that lead to the exhortations that follow: 32 “But of that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come.

The exhortations to vigilance are tied to the unknowability of the timing of the Father’s critical intervention. The connection with this mystery is underlined by reference to an ignorance of God’s secret counsel:

1. 32 “No one knows that day or that hour …”
2. 33 “You do not know when the time will come.”
3. 35 “you do not know when the lord of the house is coming.”

In the parallelism that is developed, “that day or that hour,” “the critical moment,” and the moment of the householder’s return are identical expressions for the same reality: the mysterious moment of divine intervention, which cannot be foreseen. Because the moment of crisis is unknowable, unceasing vigilance is imperative.

Image credit: Christ taking leave of the Apostles, Duccio di Buoninsegna, 1381| Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, Siena | Public Domain US