What does it mean that no one knows the Son except the Father (Matthew 11:27)?

Response

In Matthew 11:27, Jesus declares, “All things have been entrusted to me by my Father, and no one fully understands the Son except the Father, and no one fully understands the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him” (ESV). The Greek term translated as “understand” means “to become fully acquainted with.” The Father and the Son are fully acquainted with each other because the Son was eternally begotten of the Father (John 1:1-2, 14;3:16). No one comprehends the Son better than the Father, and no one comprehends the Father better than the Son.

In the Old Testament, the term “know” often signifies deep, personal, and intimate knowledge of someone or something. Addressing Israel, God states, “You alone have I chosen of all the families of the earth” «You alone have I chosen of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities. », (Amos 3:2, ESV). God formed every family «The earth is the LORD’s, and the fulness thereof; The world, and they that dwell therein. », (Psalm 24:1), but He established a special covenant with Israel. This covenant was unilateral. Israel did not—and could not—earn this selection. It was purely due to God’s sovereign grace. Through this, God intended for Israel to recognize and encounter His love on a deep, personal, and intimate level.

God knows us both as a whole and as individuals. Psalm 139:1–3 states, “O Lord, you have examined me and understood me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You scrutinize my path and my resting place and are familiar with all my ways” (ESV). God is aware of every aspect of us, iIncluding the number of hairs on our heads «But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. », (Matthew 10:30), and still He accepts, loves, guides, and protects us. How wonderful is it to be fully known by God!

Jesus is fully known by God, as stated in Matthew 11:27. No one knows the Son except the Father. Here, Jesus explains the personal and intimate relationship between Himself and the Father. While we may learn some things about Jesus, such as His eternal Sonship and Messiahship, we can only “see in a mirror dimly” «For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. », (1 Corinthians 13:12, ESV). The Father, however, has complete and total knowledge of His Son: “I am the good shepherd, I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep” (John 10:14-15;ESV).

The Father’s knowledge of His Son encompasses the Son’s divine nature, thoughts, emotions, and will. This is evident in John 10:30, where Jesus proclaims, “I and the Father are one.” Although we seek to understand and encounter Christ through prayer, Bible study, and fellowship with other believers, we must recognize that complete and thorough knowledge of the Son is not currently attainable. Therefore, Paul prays to God that we “may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:18-19;ESV).

No one knows the Son except the Father,

And so, for us to know the Son, the Father must reveal Him to us. Jesus declares, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day” «No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. », (John 6:44). The Father draws us to His Son through the Word. Scripture, then, is how we come to know Jesus. But without a personal relationship with Him, we will not be transformed by what we read.