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Luke 21:5–7
“While some were speaking of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings, [Jesus] said, ‘As for these things that you see, the days will come when there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down’” (vv. 5–6).
Large buildings and monuments often cause their spectators to marvel at the beauty and ingenuity seen in their design and craftsmanship. This was no less true in the ancient world, as we see in today’s passage. The text begins with Luke 21:5, which tells us that the disciples were speaking of how the Jerusalem temple “was adorned with noble stones and offerings.”
Also known as Herod’s temple because Herod the Great initiated a vast beautification and enlargement of the temple complex, the Jerusalem temple stood as the most significant religious structure for first-century Judaism. First-century Jews could not fully practice their religion without it. It featured such beauty and construction so as to be considered virtually indestructible. The white marble stones used in the building were up to sixty-seven feet long, twelve feet high, and eighteen feet wide, and the building was covered with so much gold and silver that it shone brightly in the sunlight. It is understandable, then, that the disciples found themselves struck with awe when they saw the temple in person during the last week of our Savior’s earthly ministry.
Many Jews thought that Herod’s temple would endure forever, but as we see in Luke 21:6, Jesus told His disciples that the temple would eventually fall and be destroyed. This prompted them to ask, “Teacher, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when these things are about to take place?” Jesus would give a lengthy answer to their question, and this answer is perhaps better known as the Olivet Discourse, since Matthew 24 tells us that Jesus delivered His speech while He was on the Mount of Olives.
The Olivet Discourse may be one of the most difficult passages in the Gospels to interpret, with commentators differing on whether it is about the fall of the temple and Jerusalem to the Romans in AD 70, the coming of Jesus at the end of history, or some mixture of both. Given that the discourse answers a question about the temple’s destruction, it seems best to view the discourse as a prediction of the events of AD 70, though that does not mean that there is no reference whatsoever to Jesus’ final coming at the end of history. Dr. R.C. Sproul notes in his commentary on Luke that many prophetic predictions have a near-term fulfillment that serves as a picture or type of a greater fulfillment later on. We should not be surprised if this dual fulfillment characterizes the Olivet Discourse.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
First-century Jews may have thought that the temple was virtually indestructible, but we know that it was not. Only those things that have God’s blessing endure, and the Lord’s blessing on the temple came to an end with the death of Christ and the cessation of the sacrificial system. Only what we do in and for Christ will last forever.
For further study
- Malachi 3:1–4
- 1 Corinthians 3:10–15
The bible in a year
- Isaiah 50–52
- 1 Thessalonians 2:1–16
- Isaiah 53–58
- 1 Thessalonians 2:17–3:13