The Destruction of the Temple. Luke 21:5-7 The temple in Jerusalem was built under Ezra’s leadership when a remnant of Jews returned to Israel after the Babylonian captivity. That was about six hundred years before Jesus was born. It had been desecrated during the Seleucid invasion and then restored and rededicated by the Maccabees two hundred years before Christ came. Herod expanded the entire temple complex and the temple itself with elaborate decorations and stonework. Josephus said the stones Herod used in the temple were white, and there was an extravagant use of gold in the decorations. The temple had become a symbol of national pride.
To the Lord Jesus, when He came to the temple early in His ministry, the temple had become a “den of thieves.” When He visited Jerusalem for the last time, it had again turned into a commercial marketplace under the guise of religion. He went there daily to teach the people, but even in this place, which was supposed to be dedicated to teaching and the worship of God, the temple leaders and religious guides opposed and rejected Him. The temple had ceased to be the house of God and the focus of God’s attention. From then on, the term “house of God” is used to describe local gatherings of God’s people as they come together worldwide in the name and person of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The temple was no longer essential to God's work and became unnecessary. Forty years later, the Romans destroyed the temple just as the Lord had predicted. “Not one stone was left upon another.” Some stones remain at the Western Wall, which were part of the temple Herod built. Jews visit there to pray and place petitions on pieces of paper in the cracks between the stones. They revere this site as a reminder of their past and possibly as a hope for the future for some.
Outward appearances may seem very important to those who make a show of religion. The house of God today is made up of “living stones,” forming a spiritual house that is “built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ being the Chief Corner Stone.” He is the capstone of the wall that unites different parts of the spiritual house in harmony. The visual splendor of buildings designated for religious purposes is far less valuable than the spiritual importance of the church, which is His body.
Luke later wrote in the book of Acts that Stephen said Jesus would “destroy this place,” and he dismissed the temple as the house of God. It is only natural that when religious leaders fail in their responsible roles, the entire religious institution will collapse and fall apart. God is so far above and greater than any religious organization that He is unaffected in His sovereign purposes by a magnificent building turned into a pile of rubble. The limited perspective of human imagination falls far short of the reality of God's spiritual dwelling place with those who belong to Him. His great building project, unseen by human eyes, is advancing toward completion across the earth. What may seem like a remarkable success to people falls far below the work of grace that is constructing a building; the gates of hell cannot overpower it.