When Jesus’ disciples pointed out the temple buildings, He said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down.” Matthew 24:1-2.
This temple complex had taken 46 years to build (John 2:20). It was one of the wonders of the ancient world. It was built of stones weighing up to 400 tons. The entire complex, with its multiple courts, was capable of accommodating up to one million people.
The temple was the epicentre of the entire Jewish religion.
Think about that. Jesus declared it would be totally destroyed! Torn down.
For the disciples to hear such words from their Master would have shocked them to their care.
Jesus often used the phrase truly I say unto you when about to say something extremely surprising and unbelievable. He used this phrase as if to warn them they were about to be shocked. He used this expression again in verse 34.
This event was the most shocking and tumultuous thing any Jew could imagine would happen. This struck at the very heart of Judaism, their religion, God’s house. This was unimaginable, incredible, beyond belief.
The Jerusalem temple was everything to them.
The destruction of the temple will happen because it was now no longer God’s house, but ‘desolate’ (Matthew 23:38). In a few days, Jesus would make the sacrifice once for all (Hebrews 10:9, 12, 14, 18). See also Jesus’ words recorded in Luke 21:24. We know today that the Roman army under Titus destroyed the temple in 70 AD along with the city of Jerusalem.
In this shocking announcement, Jesus provoked the disciples to ask questions. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? (v3).
The first: ‘Tell us, when will this happen?’ The ‘when’ question.
The second: ‘What sign will signal your return and the end of the world?’ The ‘what sign’ question.
Some people say there were three questions. But there are only two questions. The disciples understood his return would coincide with the end of their current age. The Jews believed there were two ages. First the age of the whole sacrificial and temple system. And second, the age to come when their Messiah would come and reign.
Verses 14-26 and 32-44 deal with the ‘when’ question and 27-31 deal with the ‘what sign’ question.
Jesus said (v14) And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world so that all nations [peoples] will hear it; and then the end will come.
Please note that the word ‘whole world’ translates the Greek oikemene, i.e., the Greco-Roman world, the inhabited world, not the whole planet.
History shows us how this actually happened in the 1st century. Paul wrote that the Good News had been proclaimed throughout the Greco-Roman world—see Romans 1:8, 15:19; Colossians 1:6.
Does this not show that “the End” has already come? The age to come has arrived along with Jesus’ return long ago.
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Ian Thomson 