The Temple Still Stands

 

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK

THE TEMPLE STILL STANDS

Mark 13:1-8

13:1 As he was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, "Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!" 2 "Do you see all these great buildings?" replied Jesus. "Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down."  3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John and Andrew asked him privately, 4 "Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?" 5 Jesus said to them: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 6 Many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am he,' and will deceive many. 7 When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 8 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.

NIV

This is just the beginning of a long response to their question. Jesus tells of many things that will happen, some specifically to them, others to the whole of mankind. However, first, let us deal with the circumstances of the temple stones and that not one of them will be left on another; everyone will be thrown down. What we have learned from history and especially from Josephus who was a Jewish historian during the time of the destruction of the temple in AD 70 by the Roman army. Having been to this site, although not actually on the temple mount itself, we are aware there is no temple, not even the stones of its foundation. Jesus predicted this would happen. What Josephus records are that some of the stones that made up the temple were as large as seventy feet long, ten feet wide, and eight feet tall. It would be very difficult to calculate the weight of such enormous stones. We have seen stones of this size in the deepest portions of the retaining wall that still stands on the western side of the temple mount. There is a tunnel that has been excavated under the old city along the foundation of this wall. It is amazing how they even moved them into place, and the temple is said to have been made of marble stones. Josephus tells of how the Romans not only destroyed it but burned it. Why such a destruction is a wonder, although it was prophesied and Jesus said it would be so, but still there must have been such hatred by the Romans for the Jewish people within forty years of what seemed to be a peaceful time under the command of Pontus Pilate, who was instructed by Caesar to do just that. After the conquest of the people of a nation, Rome was more about a peaceful occupation and collecting taxes for its own glorification. Still, forty years and the war was in Israel by the hands of the Romans. Today, for the most part, at least in our country, we live in peace. There are believers who are warred against and their lives are destroyed, both in the material sense and even they are put to death by the hands of those who hate them. Here, we may not be openly hated, but there has been a growing movement to remove any evidence of God from the public square. We are still allowed our churches, although some have experienced hate crimes against them. However this movement against God is still growing and there is in a sense a destruction of the truth of God at hand, the tearing down of acknowledging him it at hand. Humanism is on the rise, and the corruption of the seat of power has become the place of worship by many, looking to this powerful overreaching seat of governance for all their needs, being deceived by those who claim that power. Jesus warned his disciples about not being deceived, that many would come in claiming to have the power of salvation, that they were the Messiah. History reveals this is the case as between the time just after Jesus up to the late seventeenth century there are twenty-four names of men who claimed to be the Messiah. But today we may not have a single named person, but it seems we have a whole group of supposed leaders, who appear to want to replace faith in God, with faith in their ability to provide all our needs. In essence, they may have this Messiah complex and many are being deceived. We cannot ever allow this deception to take hold of us, for our faith resides in Christ and Christ alone. We are now the temple of God and we cannot allow any stone to be removed. Although the temple in Jerusalem has been thrown down, We, the temple, still stand.