Funny how conversations start…the disciples are gawking at the temple buildings in Jerusalem like tourists do when visiting special places. Jesus took the conversation in another direction with his comments about the temple’s destruction. The temple was huge 1600 feet by 900 feet and 9 stories high. The quarried stone used to build the temple weighed from 28 tons to well over 500 tons. It was impossible to imagine it reduced to rubble. Yet, that is exactly what happened in 70 AD. Below is a model of the temple which is at the Israel Museum.
Jesus tells of the difficult years to come when the Jewish revolt against Rome would take place. The people defended Jerusalem but were eventually conquered by the Roman army. The days were horrible in the end as the Romans cut off the food supply to Jerusalem. The times would be difficult. That generation of the disciples would live to see Jerusalem destroyed. They would face times of persecution, betrayal, imprisonment and even death because of their faith in Jesus as the Messiah. Amazingly, as he tells the parable of the fig tree, Jesus says that in the midst of these awful events they were to know that the kingdom of God was near.
The chapter closes with us knowing that each day Jesus taught the people in the temple and each night he returned to the Mount of Olives to spend the night.
