Luke 21:5

And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and offerings, he said, As for these things which ye behold, the days come in which there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

THE PROPHECY OF THE TEMPLE'S DESTRUCTION

There cannot be imagined a more shocking statement of Jesus, as this must have been viewed by the apostles. Mark identified the ones speaking here as Peter, James, John, and Andrew. To every Jew, the temple was the most sacred and beautiful thing ever seen on earth. Josephus (Book V, Chapter 5) described the snow-white stones of such great size, some of which were overlaid with pure gold, and the magnificence of this structure which required the labor of thousands of men from 20-19 B.C. to 64 A.D. to build. Although not completed until long after Jesus' words, it was nevertheless sufficiently built, even then, to justify what is said of it here.

In addition to the fundamental structure, there were adornments of the most extravagant and expensive kind, given by people out of gratitude to God for various deliverances, or by such people as Herod for political considerations. Herod's gift was a golden vine with clusters larger than a man.

Spence thought there might have been some kind of connection between Jesus' praise of the widow's gift and the apostles' calling attention to the precious stones and adornments within the temple with an implication in their remarks that "If only such gifts as you have just praised had been made, never had that glorious pile been raised in the honor of the Eternal King!"[8]

Jesus' mention of the stones that would be "thrown down," however, focuses attention, not on the adornments, but upon the foundations. All three synoptics mention this prophecy that not a stone would be left intact in the temple; and this must rank as one of the greatest prophecies ever uttered among the sons of earth. There can be no quibbling about this prophecy. Jesus made it, much to the astonishment of his disciples, and against all probabilities that such a thing was even possible. Why should every stone be moved, especially in view of their size? The occasion for this was the gold plating, which when the temple burned, ran down into the crevices; and the soldiers of Titus made a thorough search for the yellow metal. Also significantly, the temple was destroyed contrary to Titus' orders.[9] After the fire, however, Titus ordered the destruction to be completed.[10] See my Commentary on Matthew, Matthew 24:1-2.

There cannot be any doubt of Titus' making every conceivable effort to spare the glorious temple. Near the end of the siege, when he was trying to negotiate with some of the Jewish leaders, he said, "I will endeavor to preserve you your holy house, whether you will or not."[11] Jesus, however, had condemned the temple to destruction, and not even the word of a man so powerful as Titus could stand against the word of Jesus.

Although the destruction of Jerusalem itself is not mentioned in these verses, it is clearly implied; and so the apostles understood it.

The temple was the last link between God and the hardened Israel. "How gloriously God had revealed himself there to his faithful worshipers!"[12] Isaiah was called to his prophetic work in the temple (Isaiah 6); and in the temple an angel of the Most High had appeared to Zachariah with the announcement of the birth of John (Luke 1:11ff).

[8] Ibid.

[9] James MacKnight, A Harmony of the Gospels (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1950), p. 412.

[10] Flavius Josephus, Wars and Antiquities (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston), p. 831.

[11] Ibid., p. 814.

[12] Norval Geldenhuys, Commentary on the Gospel of Luke (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1951), p. 524.