Jesus
went out from the temple, and was going on his way. His disciples came to him to show him the buildings of the temple. But he answered them, “You see all of these things, don’t you? Most certainly I tell you, there will not be left here one stone on another, that will not be thrown down.”
Matthew 24:1-2
Matthew 23 [37.] “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets, and stones those who are sent to her! How often I would have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you would not! Behold, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me from now on, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’”
Matthew 24 [1.] Jesus went out from the temple, and was going on his way. His disciples came to him to show him the buildings of the temple. But he answered them, “You see all of these things, don’t you? Most certainly I tell you, there will not be left here one stone on another, that will not be thrown down.”
Matthew 24 [3.] As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? What is the sign of your coming, and of the end of the age?”
Meaning:
Jesus had spent his last days of public teaching in the temple courts, answering his critics and warning the scribes and Pharisees. He ended with a lament over Jerusalem and the words, “Behold, your house is left to you desolate” (Matthew 23:38). Now he walks out of the temple for the last time. As the disciples point out its magnificent buildings, he gives a startling prophecy that sets the scene for his whole teaching on the Mount of Olives in Matthew 24 and 25. Mark and Luke record the same moment (Mark 13:1; Mark 13:2; Luke 21:5).
- “Jesus went out from the temple”
This simple statement carries weight. Jesus had cleansed the temple and called it “a house of prayer”, yet its leaders had rejected him. When he leaves, it is like the glory of God departing from the house. Long before, Ezekiel had seen the glory of Yahweh leave the first temple before its destruction by Babylon (Ezekiel 10:18). Jesus, God with us, now leaves the second temple, and its fate is sealed.
- “His disciples came to him to show him the buildings of the temple”
The temple of Jesus’ day had been rebuilt and greatly enlarged by King Herod the Great. The work began about twenty years before Jesus was born and was still going on during his ministry. When Jesus spoke of raising the temple in three days, the Jews replied, “It took forty-six years to build this temple!” (John 2:20). Its white stone and gold made it one of the wonders of the ancient world, and some of its foundation stones were enormous. In Mark’s account a disciple exclaims, “Teacher, see what kind of stones and what kind of buildings!” (Mark 13:1). Luke adds that the temple “was decorated with beautiful stones and gifts” (Luke 21:5). The disciples were proud of it, as any Jew would be. It stood for God’s presence among his people.
- “there will not be left here one stone on another”
Jesus’ answer must have shocked them. The building they admired would be completely demolished. This was fulfilled in AD 70, about forty years later, when the Roman army under Titus captured Jerusalem after a long siege. The temple was burned, and its stones were thrown down. Only part of the platform’s retaining walls remains today.
Jesus had already wept over the city as he approached it: “They will not leave in you one stone on another, because you didn’t know the time of your visitation” (Luke 19:44). The destruction was not an accident of history but a judgement on a people who rejected their Messiah.
- God had warned before
The same thing had happened once before. When Solomon dedicated the first temple, God warned that if Israel turned away from him, he would cast “this house, which I have made holy for my name, out of my sight” (1 Kings 9:7). Centuries later the people of Judah trusted in the temple as if it guaranteed their safety. Jeremiah rebuked them for calling it a “den of robbers” (Jeremiah 7:11) and reminded them of Shiloh, where the tabernacle had once stood before God allowed it to be destroyed (Jeremiah 7:12-14). Babylon burned Solomon’s temple in 586 BC. Jesus quoted Jeremiah when he cleansed the temple, and now he speaks as Jeremiah did: a beautiful building cannot protect people whose hearts are far from God.
The Significance of Matthew 24:1-2
- Our security is in God, not in buildings
The disciples were impressed by stone and gold. Jesus pointed them to what lasts. Religious buildings, traditions and institutions have their place, but they cannot replace a living relationship with God. Jesus told the Samaritan woman that true worshippers would worship the Father “in spirit and truth”, not tied to one mountain or temple (John 4:23).
- A new temple
Jesus spoke of “the temple of his body” (John 2:21). Through his death and resurrection he became the meeting place between God and people. The apostles later taught that believers together are now God’s temple, built on Christ (1 Corinthians 3:16).
- Taking God’s warnings seriously
Forty years passed between Jesus’ words and their fulfilment. To many it may have seemed that nothing would happen. Yet every word came true. God is patient, but his warnings are real, and his word does not fail.
Cross-References:
Mark 13:2: "Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone on another, which will not be thrown down." The parallel in Mark.
Luke 19:44: "They will not leave in you one stone on another, because you didn’t know the time of your visitation." Jesus weeps over Jerusalem.
1 Kings 9:7: "and I will cast this house, which I have made holy for my name, out of my sight;" God’s warning about the first temple.
John 2:19: "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." Jesus, the true temple.
Conclusion: As Jesus left the temple for the last time, his disciples admired its great buildings. He told them that not one stone would be left on another. The prophecy was fulfilled when the Romans destroyed the temple in AD 70, as Babylon had destroyed Solomon’s temple centuries earlier. Matthew 24:1-2 teaches that no building can stand in place of faithfulness to God, and that Jesus himself is now the place where we meet with God.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible