“Will Your Temple Stand?” - A Closer Look, by Reggie Koop

And as he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stone and what wonderful buildings!” And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” – Mark 13:1-2

Modern-day reconstruction of the temple built by Herod the Great

A Reconstruction of the Temple Complex

The disciples’ amazement is understandable. Josephus, a Roman-Jewish scholar and historian (born 37 AD) describes some of the stones as being thirty-seven feet long, twelve feet tall, and eighteen feet deep. The stones still standing in the Wailing Wall may not be that big, but some may have been. The entire complex covered thirty-four to thirty-five acres.

The Western (Wailing) Wall

The disciples may have idolized these things because they were considered great and sacred. If you remember, one day earlier, on Monday, Jesus cast out the moneychangers and those that bought and sold. Many heard Jesus complain about those who made the Temple a den of thieves and the wickedness that remained. Maybe, they assumed Jesus loved the place as much as they did.

Look again at verse 1:
And as he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stone and what wonderful buildings!”

But Jesus doesn’t put any value in material things. In Mark 10:23 Jesus says: “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!”

And in Luke 9:58 He says: “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”

In Matthew 6:19-21, Jesus tells us what is most important about our riches: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Back to Mark 13:2,
And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”

Here Jesus is prophesying the destroying of the Temple. The Romans destroyed the Temple and the whole city in 70 AD. The Temple was destroyed by fire and then after the fire the remaining walls were pulled down. In Mark 8:31, 9:31, and 10:33-34, Jesus foretells of the destruction of a more valuable Temple that would be rebuilt very quickly.

“See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.” – Mark 10:33-34

Much of the strength of the Temple was in the largeness of the stones. If these were to be thrown down, no remembrance of it would remain. If any part remained standing, there might be some hope of the repair of it. But what hope is there when not one stone is left upon another?

If you remember two weeks ago, I talked about the widow and the two pennies. What is most valuable to Jesus is you and your heart. He has paid it all for the most valuable commodity – you! Jesus overcame death and rose on the third day; that is our hope. Make sure that Jesus is dwelling in your Temple, your heart. Make sure your Temple remains standing.