<p>13:33 <i>Be warned, watch and pray. For you do not know when the time is</i>- This could be taken as a criticism, rather than stating a truism. It is true that we do not know the time of the Lord's return and therefore we should watch constantly. But we should consider the possibility that the last generation, as they pass through the tribulation, will in fact see prophecy fulfilling so accurately that they can foresee the Lord's coming. It is commonly thought that even the Lord Jesus doesn't know the time of his return, only the Father does. During his mortality, the Lord said exactly this (Mk. 13:32)- at the time he was speaking to the disciples, he himself didn't know. But after his resurrection and glorification, the Lord made two statements to the disciples which he surely intended to be connected: &quot;All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth... it is not for you (the inquisitive eleven standing on Olivet) to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power&quot; (Mt. 28:18; Acts 1:7,8). But <i>all</i> the Father's power has been given to His glorified Son, and this therefore includes knowledge of the &quot;times and seasons&quot; of the second coming. In the exalted Lord &quot;are hid all the riches of wisdom and knowledge&quot; (Col. 2:3); it is thereby inconceivable that the Father would still keep back some knowledge from the Son. The point of all this is that when the Lord Jesus said that &quot;of that day and that hour knoweth (present tense) no man, no, not the angels... neither the Son&quot; he was not laying down a general principle for all time. He was speaking of the situation at that time: 'You can't know now, indeed at the moment even I don't know; but these are the signs which will tell the believers when I'll come'. By implication he was saying 'You can't understand them, although I'm giving them to you, but in the future some will understand them, because these signs will accurately pinpoint my return'. This was exactly the spirit of what the Angel told Daniel when he too wished to know when Messiah would come in glory; he was basically told 'It's not for you to understand, but in the last days understanding of these things will be increased among God's people; they will know the time, but you can't'. There are so many connections between the Olivet prophecy and Daniel that perhaps it is legitimate to think that the Lord was alluding to the Angel's refusal to tell Daniel the time of Messiah's coming. That the Lord was primarily referring to the twelve when he spoke of them not knowing &quot;when the time is&quot; (Mk. 13:33) is confirmed if we appreciate that the Lord Jesus sometimes uses &quot;the time&quot; as a reference to the appointed time for his own death (Mt. 26:18; Mk. 14:35; Jn. 7:6,8). The disciples were fascinated with the time of his return, and the Lord was giving them the signs. But knowing his death was only days away, inevitably he had in mind &quot;the time&quot; of his passion. And he knew that as they didn't know the time of his return, so they didn't understand the time of his death. Having pointed out that they knew not &quot;the time&quot;, in words surely reminiscent of his criticism of Jewry generally for not knowing &quot;the time&quot; of his coming and death (Mt. 16:3; Lk. 19:44), the Lord went on to tell the story of the man (himself) who left his household (the disciples) and told them to watch, with warnings as to what would happen if they didn't. Every one of those warnings, and some other language in the Olivet prophecy, came true of the disciples in the next few days, in the context of &quot;the time&quot; being the time of Christ's death:</p><table border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0>    <tbody>        <tr>            <td width=346 valign=top>            <p>            They shall deliver you up to&nbsp;&nbsp; the councils</p>            </td>            <td width=346 valign=top>            <p>As Christ to the Sanhedrin</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=346 valign=top>            <p>beaten</p>            </td>            <td width=346 valign=top>            <p>Christ buffeted</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=346 valign=top>            <p>rulers and kings for a   testimony&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>            </td>            <td width=346 valign=top>            <p>Chief priests, Herod, Pilate</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=346 valign=top>            <p>...brother shall betray the brother&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>            </td>            <td width=346 valign=top>            <p>Judas; Peter's denial?</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=346 valign=top>            <p>...turn back to take up his garment&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>            </td>            <td width=346 valign=top>            <p>John Mark's linen garment</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=346 valign=top>            <p>...false   Christs...&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>            </td>            <td width=346 valign=top>            <p>An echo of 'Barabbas'?</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=346 valign=top>            <p>the sun shall be   darkened...&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>            </td>            <td width=346 valign=top>            <p>As at the crucifixion</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=346 valign=top>            <p>Watch and   pray...&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;   &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>            </td>            <td width=346 valign=top>            <p>&quot;Watch with me&quot;; Gethsemane</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=346 valign=top>            <p>at even...&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>            </td>            <td width=346 valign=top>            <p>Last Supper</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=346 valign=top>            <p>at midnight...</p>            </td>            <td width=346 valign=top>            <p>Gethsemane</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=346 valign=top>            <p>at the cock crowing</p>            </td>            <td width=346 valign=top>            <p>Peter's denials</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=346 valign=top>            <p>in the morning</p>            </td>            <td width=346 valign=top>            <p>trials and crucifixion</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=346 valign=top>            <p>find you sleeping</p>            </td>            <td width=346 valign=top>            <p>disciples in Gethsemane</p>            </td>        </tr>    </tbody></table>