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The verse, 'Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away', clearly suggests the eternal nature of the truth of Jesus' words, the Gospel. However, if we interpret the words 'heaven' and 'earth' in accordance with explanations Baha'u'llah provides in The Book of Certitude, we can find added understanding which reinforces this verse's clear meaning. If the word 'heaven' is understood as religion and 'earth' as human understanding, then the verse, 'Heaven and earth shall pass away', may be a way of saying that the institution of Christianity and the believers' understanding of the religion will pass away, but that the Gospel itself, both the actual Book and the eternal truth expressed in it, will never pass away. (143:1) The Unknown Hour-- Even though Christ assures the disciples that all these things He has prophesied will take place and that His word will not pass away, He tells them that the hour in which these things will occur is unknown to all except God: 'But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only'. The word 'hour' is from the Greek 'hora' and means, primarily, any period of time. In the context of verse 36 it probably does not mean a particular hour but, rather, the 'Day of the Lord'. Matthew Henry writes: (143:2) But as to that day and hour which will put a period of time, that knoweth no man, v. 36 . . There is a certain day and hour fixed for the judgment to come; it is called the day of the Lord.(Matthew Henry's Commentary, vol. V, 361 ) (143:3) Jesus states that not even the angels of heaven know the hour, only God. In Mark it is written, 'not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father' (Mark 13:32).
(143:4)
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