Passion Week ~ Tuesday (continued)

In our last post, we examined the final days of Yeshua’s life and ministry. In this post, we walk with Yeshua as He returns to Yerushalayim for the final time. Yes, we are still on Tuesday, BUT…

Discourse on Future Events ~ Part 1

So far, on Tuesday, Yeshua has been at the Temple teaching and condemning the Torah teachers and P’rushim. At the conclusion, He and His talmidim make their way out of the Temple. When one of His talmid comments on the beauty of the Temple and its stones, Yeshua makes a cryptic comment that there will come a time when the Temple will be destroyed. Yeshua and His talmidim then go to the Mount of Olives, just east outside of the city walls. Kefa, Andrew, Ya’akov, and Yochanan come to Yeshua privately, wanting to know more about the Temple’s destruction.

Temple to Be Destroyed

¹ As Yeshua came out of the Temple, one of the talmidim said to Him, “Look, Rabbi! What huge stones! What magnificent buildings!” ² “You see all these great buildings?” Yeshua said to him, “They will be totally destroyed – not a single stone will be left standing!”

What huge stones! What magnificent buildings! The First Temple, built by King Solomon and destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BCE, was a building of great magnificence (1 Kings 6–7). The Second Temple, built under Z’rubavel in 516 B.C.E., could not compare with it (Haggai 2:3). King Herod the Great undertook its renovation to ingratiate himself with the Jewish people and expansion. According to Yochanan 2:20, it took 46 years, but it was successful, and the remodeled Second Temple dominated all of Yerushalayim. A scale model of first-century Yerushalayim on display at the Holyland Hotel in West Yerushalayim impressively demonstrates the majesty of the Temple Yeshua’s talmidim saw.

Not a single stone will be left standing! This prophecy was fulfilled literally in 70 CE when Rome overwhelmed the First Jewish Rebellion by capturing Yerushalayim and sacking the Temple. Excavations made after the Six-Day War revealed enormous stones from the Western Wall of the Temple Court (of which the still-standing “Wailing Wall” is part) lying helter-skelter, not one left on another.

Talmidim Ask Questions

³ As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the Temple, Kefa, Ya‘akov, Yochanan, and Andrew asked him privately, ⁴ “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what sign will show when all these things are about to be accomplished?” ^[1]

Yeshua’s response is lengthy, so we must wait until the next post to find out what He said.

Click here for the PDF version.

^[1] Mark 13:1–4.