“As He was going out of the temple complex, one of His disciples said to Him, 'Teacher, look! What massive stones! What impressive buildings'” (Mark 13:1)! The Jewish temple wasn’t completed until A.D. 64. That was 80 years after it was commissioned! When Jesus’ apostles said this it had been 46 years into the building of it. The stones were massive, some weighing 100 tons and more. The heaviest stones in the pyramids are a mere 2 1/2 tons. The stones for the temple were covered with gold. When the sun shone on it you had to cover your eyes. What wasn’t covered with gold was exceedingly white.
This magnificent, impressive building with its massive stones was a monument to the architectural brilliance and genius of Herod: Herod the Great who had tried to kill the Christ child by decreeing the murder of all the male children two years old and under in the vicinity of Bethlehem. This was at the beginning of Jesus’ life. But no one could take the life of Jesus Christ. He gave it willingly. Later what Herod had been unable to accomplish in Bethlehem would be accomplished on the cross.
How did Jesus respond to the admiration that His disciple had for this impressive building? “Jesus said to him, 'Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left on another that will not be thrown down'” (Mark 13:2)! Seventy years later this prophecy was accomplished. This is how the Jewish historian Josephus Flavian described it:
One of the soldiers, without any orders with no dread of so monstrous a deed, but urged on by some supernatural force, snatched a blazing piece of wood and climbing on another soldier’s back hurled the flaming brand through a low golden window that gave access, on the north side, to the rooms that surrounded the sanctuary. As the flames shot up, the Jews let out a shout of dismay that matched the tragedy. They flocked to the rescue, without thought of sparing their lives or husbanding their strength; For the sacred structure that they had constantly guarded with such devotion was vanishing before their very eyes.
This is the beginning of the Olivet Discourse, also known as the Little Apocalypse. It took place while Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives across from the temple complex. Peter, James, John and Andrew asked Him privately the question we all want to know. “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign when all these things are about to take place” (Mark 13:3)? I will explore the answer Jesus gave in future devotionals, but for now I simply want to point out that the impressive monuments made by man will in the end be left, “without one stone left on another.”
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