Jesus Predicts The Destruction Of Jerusalem Series

Christ again foretells of the utter ruin and destruction that was coming upon this place. The most beautiful bodies will shortly become worms’ meat, and the most beautiful building a pile of rubble. They wanted the Lord to admire the beauty of these buildings as much as they did, but instead of responding with an answer that would please them, He said, “Do you not see all these things?” They would like Jesus to look at the buildings, and be as much in love with them as they were; He wished they could see them as He did.

Note: We do not find in this passage that the Lord was moved with compassion for the Temple. He looks with pity upon the ruin of precious souls, and weeps over them, for on them he has put great value. However, we do not find him looking with any pity upon the ruin of this magnificent house, that He was driven from by sin, for a building is of little value to Him. He shows little concern when He says, “Not one stone shall be left on another!” Much of the strength of the temple lay in the largeness of the stones, and if these were torn down, there would be nothing left to remind someone that a magnificent building once stood upon at this location. While any part remained standing, there might be some hope that it could be repaired; but what hope is there, when not one stone is left upon another?

Now, Christ, instead of reversing the first decree, ratifies it; “Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” The temple shall not only be stripped, and plundered, and defaced, but utterly demolished and laid waste; not one stone shall be left upon another. History tells us, that this judgment was executed seventy years later, when the Romans under Titus sacked Jerusalem. Titus, when he took the city in A.D. 70, tried unsuccessfully to save the temple, but his soldiers put it to the torch, thus fulfilling Christ’s prophecy. When the fire melted the gold trim, the molten metal ran down between the stones. To get at it, the soldiers had to remove the stones one by one, just as our Lord predicted.

Titus did all he could to preserve the temple, yet he could not restrain the enraged soldiers from destroying it. The destruction was so complete, that Turnus Rufus ploughed up the ground on which it had stood: thus that scripture was fulfilled—“Zion shall, for your sake, be ploughed as a field” (Mic. 3:12). And afterward, in Julian the Apostate’s time, when the Jews were encouraged by him to rebuild their temple, what remained of the ruins was removed to level the ground for a new foundation. However, the attempt failed, due to the miraculous eruption of fire out of the ground, which destroyed the foundation they laid, and frightened away the builders.

3 Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”

Alternate Translation (NLT): Later, Jesus sat on the slopes of the Mount of Olives. His disciples came to him privately and asked, “When will all this take place? And will there be any sign ahead of time to signal your return and the end of the world?”