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And the walls came tumbling down
Jesus and His disciples are finally on their way out of the temple. A lot has happened in this day in Jesus’ life, but it is not over yet. He still has lessons to teach on the way back to Bethany.
The story we are looking at today was also told in Matthew. We got to walk in Andrew’s shoes as Jesus told of the Temple’s fate. Today we are going to see what more God has to share with us in this story.
“Jesus has been in the temple all day. The religious leaders hate Him, but the crowds love Him. Surely He sees this and is getting us closer to Him making His move for power. If only He would give us some kind of sigh so we could be ready.” These might be the musings of some of Jesus’ disciples. Jesus disciples are still waiting for Him to seize power here on earth. They still haven’t accepted what He has said concerning His death.
As they head out of town, one of His disciples points out the strong and beautiful buildings, especially the temple’s structure. Are they trying to convince Him of the wonderful things He would receive and have power over if He would simply act and get the rebellion started? Or were they perhaps trying to distract Him, since they saw how heavy His heart was? We all know how that week would end, but they didn’t. They had a whole different set of plans awaiting His final surrender.
When Jesus gave voice to His prediction for the temple, how did His disciples react? Very shortly we see Peter, James, John, and Andrew ask Him about His predicted destruction of the temple. Were they thinking He was speaking of events that would take place very shortly or were they thinking Jesus’ prediction was a LONG way off? Jesus would answer some of their questions later on, but much of this information was going to be a “wait and see” scenario.
What did Jesus’ disciples think about Jesus’ predictions and its impact on the religious community? Were they concerned about that aspect at all? Did they ever in their lives expect to see a halt to the sacrifices? Jesus did. He knew that the Jews would try to hold onto the status quo as long as possible. That nothing short of the complete destruction of the Jewish way of life was going to allow prompt them to search deeper for the truth of God. They would be forced again, to try and find light in a dark place.
Lord Jesus, thank You for Your warnings. Thank You that You didn’t leave Your followers in the dark. They didn’t really seem to believe You, even though every word You said came to pass. Were they thinking that You were being too pessimistic with Your predictions? Were they trying to cheer You up that week? Did You need cheering up? No matter what was happening in Your life though, You cared for Your disciples and the people. You still care for me too. Thank You for that too.
