And as he was going out of the temple, one of his disciples says to him, Teacher, see what stones and what buildings!
Jesus has just walked out of the temple for the last time. As He goes, one of His followers stops Him to admire the huge stonework. The verse turns on a clash of sight. The disciple sees a masterpiece. The Lord sees something already condemned.
The disciple says this to a Man who has just declared the temple abandoned. One writer ties his words straight to that sentence:
His three years' ministry ended in a solemn, judicial sentence: "See, your house is left to you desolate." And Jesus went out and was going away. But the disciples did not grasp the inner meaning of the Lord's words and action. They came to Him to show Him the buildings of the temple. Their hearts clung to the earthly system that had the temple at its centre. But a temple, however splendid, is worth nothing when its God is disowned. And Jehovah was there in the person of Jesus. The nation did not know Him or recognise Him; or if it recognised Him, it rejected Him. He leaves the temple with sorrow, and desolate indeed is that which Jehovah forsakes.
The admiration was not naive. The building was a genuine wonder, and one writer treats the disciple's words as proof of its scale:
Its stones were white and wonderfully large: some say twenty-five cubits by twelve cubits. We may or may not take that figure as correct. But the words the disciples use in Mark 13:1 make it certain that the stones stood out for their size.
Yet that splendour had a history the admirers were not weighing. The temple was Herod's project, still unfinished. One writer reads the disciple's outburst almost as a plea for it:
Herod's magnificent temple was still not finished, though it had been nearly fifty years building. It was the glory of Israel, despite the murderous hands that built it. The temple drew them still. "What wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!" they urge, as if pleading for that house which He was leaving desolate.
The disciples and their Master looked at the same stones. They reached opposite verdicts. One writer traces the gap to how each of them saw:
They saw the building but not with the eye of Christ. He had seen it, and all around it, with the eye of God. It was costly and beautiful beyond compare, yet He had written its judgment. But the disciples still eyed the beauty of the stones. So Jesus, in patient grace, had to write out the doom of that place again — because they asked, and because their eyes could not see.
A few verses earlier, the Lord had pointed His disciples to something of His own choosing:
He called His disciples to Him, as verse 43 tells us, and pointed the woman out, proclaiming the virtue of her act. This is striking when we notice how Mark 13 opens. His disciples were eager to point out to Him the greatness and beauty of the Temple buildings. They pointed to costly stones shaped by men's busy hands. He pointed to the moral beauty of a poor widow's act. He told them that their great buildings would all crash into ruin. It is the widow's act that will be remembered in eternity.
The remark opens a long prophecy. One writer notes the stamp that prophecy carries in Mark:
Here we find that the Lord's warnings and instructions clearly have their service in view. This has been the character of Mark all through. Christ Himself is the perfect Servant of God. So even in His prophecy He is the Servant still. He gives them what would matter so much, not only for their souls, but in their work. This is not only a prediction of coming judgments. It warns them and instructs them in their testimony.
The same instinct is alive today. One writer turns it into questions you can ask yourself:
What is the tendency of all this church architecture? Does it make us more heavenly? Does it suit our pilgrim profession? Only the eye of faith sees the beauties that attract us. They are the glories of a sanctuary that no human hand has built.
- He leaves. The disciple speaks to a Lord who has just called the temple "your house" and walked out. What Jehovah forsakes is desolate, whatever it looks like.
- They look. The stones were huge, and the building was the glory of Israel. Their hearts clung to the earthly system it stood at the centre of.
- He sees. They saw it with man's eye; He saw it with God's. It was beautiful beyond compare — and already sentenced.
- He points elsewhere. Just before this, He had pointed them to a widow's two coins. Hers is the act that outlasts the stonework.
- He instructs. Their misplaced wonder becomes His opportunity. The Servant answers with a prophecy shaped for His servants' work and witness.
And Jesus answering said to him, Seest thou these great buildings? not a stone shall be left upon a stone, which shall not be thrown down.
Jesus is leaving the temple for the last time. One of His followers stops to point out the huge stones. His answer is a sentence of total demolition. It also raises the question that fills the rest of the chapter: why would God tear down His own house, and what were His disciples to do about it?
The disciples looked at the temple and saw glory. Jesus looked at the same walls and saw a verdict already written.
They saw the building, but not with the eye of Christ. He had seen it, and all that surrounded it, with the eye of God. Costly and beautiful beyond compare as it was, He had already written out its judgment.
The problem was not the architecture. It was where their hearts had settled.
How little man sees as God does! The temple was God's house, but men gave more honour to the house than to its Lord. In fact it had become, in effect, their house.
Why would God let His own house fall? One writer answers by pointing to who had just walked out of it.
His three years of ministry ended in a judicial sentence: "See, your house is left to you desolate." Then Jesus went out and was walking away. The disciples did not grasp the inner meaning of His words or His action. They came to point out the temple buildings to Him. Their hearts were tied to the earthly system that had the temple at its centre. But a temple, however splendid, is worth nothing when its God is disowned. Jehovah stood there in the person of Jesus, and the nation did not know Him, did not recognise Him — or recognised Him and rejected Him. He leaves the temple in sorrow, and whatever Jehovah abandons is desolate indeed.
Jesus does not deny that the buildings were magnificent. He denies that their magnificence could save them.
The Lord admits that the buildings were great. But what men admired so much had become a den of thieves in the sight of God, and it was doomed to destruction. Not one stone would be left on another.
What was really coming down? Far more than a landmark.
The Lord does not try to turn their eyes away from the thing that filled their minds. Instead He foretells the complete destruction of what seemed to be the indestructible palace of their religion. That building was needed to carry out the duties their religion imposed. It was also the one place where they had to bring the offerings, and those offerings were the only way the people could be put in relationship with God. All of it was about to come down, from top to bottom. Their religion, and every dealing they had with God under the ancient covenant tied to the temple, would be completely abolished along with it.
This verse opens a long discourse. In it Jesus speaks as the Servant, preparing other servants for their work.
Christ Himself is the perfect Servant of God, the Prophet here on earth preaching the Gospel and doing works in keeping with its spirit. So even in His prophecy He is still the Servant. He gives them what would matter so much, not only for their souls, but for their work. This is not only a prediction of judgments to come. It warns them ahead of time and instructs them for their testimony.
The word of Christ was set against the word of the mightiest empire on earth. Only one of them could stand.
But the Lord Jesus had said that not one stone should be left upon another. Whose word was to stand? That of a dead Galilean peasant, as the world would judge, or the word of the general of the mighty army of the mightiest empire the world had ever seen?
- Sight. The disciples saw stones. Christ saw a sentence already written on a house whose God the nation had rejected.
- Sentence. Splendour cannot save a house whose Lord is disowned. What Jehovah leaves behind is desolate, however grand.
- Scope. More than a building came down. The temple, its sacrifices, and the whole old covenant relationship tied to them fell together.
- Service. Jesus does more than predict. He warns His servants in advance and equips them for the testimony ahead.
- Standing. The world weighed a dead Galilean's word against the word of the mightiest empire's general — Christ's word is the one that stood.