1. Revelation 14:15 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

Why must Jesus be told to begin harvesting?

Revelation 14:15 (ESV)

15 And another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, “Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.”

In his address to his disciples concerning his return, Jesus said, “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only” (Matthew 24:36; see also Acts 1:7). As true God, Jesus knew everything about people (John 2:25), but clearly the Father kept certain (heavenly) information to himself. From the fact that God sends an angel from his presence to tell the exalted Jesus to begin the harvest, it is evident that during the new dispensation (including today!) the exalted Son does not know the moment he is to begin the harvest.