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The New Temple - Mark 13
The New Temple - Mark 13
“And as he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”” (Mark 13:1–2, ESV)
The temple was the center point of the Jewish religion. It was the ‘dwelling place’ of God among them. They knew that God didn’t literally ‘live there’, but that was where He made is presence known (see Solomon’s statement at the dedication of the temple in 1Kings 8:27). It was sacred to them.
The first temple was destroyed by the Babylonians in 686 B.C. It was rebuilt when Israel returned from captivity under Ezra and Nehemiah. It was then desecrated during the inter testament period which necessitated the cleansing and rededication of it in 164 B.C. (this is what the feast of dedication in John 10:22 was all about). In Jesus day, Herod was finishing up a major ‘remodel’ job on the temple. Typical of Herod, he spared no expense to make it beautiful and impressive. The disciples were impressed!
Here Jesus foretold that this earthly temple was going to be completely destroyed by being torn down with not a stone remaining upon another. This was done when the Romans destroyed the city of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. However, such destruction didn’t matter to the Christians.
With the coming of the New Covenant came a new priesthood (Jesus the new high priest all believers as priests), a new sacrifice (the sacrifice of Jesus for sin), and a new temple.
God is building a new temple wherein he does dwell - the church. Believing Jews and Gentiles are ‘being built TOGETHER into a holy temple in the Lord; they are "built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit” (Eph. 2:19-21). “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s spirit dwells in you?” (1Cor. 3:16). As part of this glorious temple each one of us as living stones needs to ensure the holiness of it. This is why Paul later wrote: ““What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” (2 Corinthians 6:16, ESV). Hugh DeLong
