As
he went out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Teacher, see what kind of stones and what kind of buildings!”
Mark 13:1
Mark 12 [41.] Jesus sat down opposite the treasury, and saw how the multitude cast money into the treasury. Many who were rich cast in much. A poor widow came, and she cast in two small brass coins, which equal a quadrans coin. He called his disciples to himself, and said to them, “Most certainly I tell you, this poor widow gave more than all those who are giving into the treasury, for they all gave out of their abundance, but she, out of her poverty, gave all that she had to live on.”
Mark 13 [1.] As he went out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Teacher, see what kind of stones and what kind of buildings!”
Mark 13 [2.] Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone on another, which will not be thrown down.”
Meaning:
Mark 13 opens at a turning point. For several days Jesus had taught in the temple courts in Jerusalem. He had answered the chief priests about his authority (Mark 11:27-28), told the parable of the wicked farmers (Mark 12:1-9), and warned against the scribes who “devour widows’ houses” (Mark 12:38-40). His last act there was to point out a poor widow who gave all she had to live on (Mark 12:41-44). Now he leaves, and one of his disciples looks back and marvels at the buildings. That simple remark leads to the longest block of teaching in Mark’s Gospel, Jesus’ words about the future spoken on the Mount of Olives.
- “As he went out of the temple”
When Jesus first arrived in Jerusalem he went into the temple and “looked around at everything” (Mark 11:11). The next day he drove out the traders, saying, “But you have made it a den of robbers!” (Mark 11:17). Now, in Mark’s account, he walks out of the temple for the last time. He will not teach there again. The next time the temple appears in connection with him is at his trial and at his death, when “the veil of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom” (Mark 15:38).
His departure is quiet, but it is full of meaning. The one who came to his Father’s house and found it fruitless is leaving it, and his next words will announce its end.
- A disciple’s admiration
Most of the twelve were from Galilee, many of them fishermen. For people from the villages around the lake, the temple in Jerusalem was the greatest building they would ever see. Herod the Great had begun rebuilding it around 20 BC, and work on its courts went on for decades after his death. In Jesus’ day people said, “It took forty-six years to build this temple!” (John 2:20).
Herod enlarged the temple mount with enormous retaining walls. Some of the stones weighed many tons, and one in the western wall is about thirteen metres long. The sanctuary itself was faced with white stone and gold, and from a distance it shone in the sun. A saying among the rabbis held that whoever had not seen Herod’s temple had never seen a beautiful building. The disciple’s admiration was natural and sincere.
- “Teacher, see what kind of stones and what kind of buildings!”
The contrast with the scene just before is striking. Jesus had sat opposite the treasury and noticed a poor widow who put in two small coins. He called his disciples and told them that she had given more than all the rich, “for they all gave out of their abundance, but she, out of her poverty, gave all that she had to live on.” Jesus had been looking at a heart; the disciple was looking at stones.
God had taught Samuel the same lesson centuries before: “For man looks at the outward appearance, but Yahweh looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). Even Solomon, who built the first temple, knew that no building could hold God: “Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens can’t contain you; how much less this house that I have built!” (1 Kings 8:27).
- Splendour that hid a deeper problem
Herod’s temple was magnificent, but Jesus had seen what went on inside it. Trade had crowded out prayer, and religious leaders who made long prayers for show were taking advantage of the poor (Mark 12:40). The beauty of the building did not prove that God was pleased with the worship offered in it. In the very next verse Jesus answers the disciple’s wonder with a prophecy that its great stones would all be thrown down (Mark 13:2).
The Significance of Mark 13:1
- Looking beyond what impresses
Size, wealth and beauty easily impress us. Paul reminds believers that “the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18).
- Valuing what Jesus values
Jesus noticed a widow’s two coins more than a temple of gold. Faith, love and sacrifice for God are worth more in his eyes than any monument.
- The true dwelling of God
The New Testament teaches that God now builds a living temple from his people: “Don’t you know that you are a temple of God, and that God’s Spirit lives in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16).
Cross-References:
1 Samuel 16:7: "For man looks at the outward appearance, but Yahweh looks at the heart." God sees beyond appearances.
1 Kings 8:27: "Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens can’t contain you; how much less this house that I have built!" Solomon on the limits of any temple.
John 2:20: "It took forty-six years to build this temple!" The long building work on Herod’s temple.
2 Corinthians 4:18: "For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal." What lasts and what passes.
Conclusion: As Jesus left the temple for the last time, one of his disciples looked back in admiration at its huge stones and splendid buildings. Herod’s temple was one of the wonders of its age, yet Jesus had just shown his disciples that a poor widow’s gift mattered more to God than all its gold. The disciple’s remark opens Jesus’ great teaching about the future, and it invites every reader to look past what is impressive to what is eternal.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible