Sometimes Jesus can be such a downer.
In Mark 13:1-2, the disciples comment on the glory and beauty of the temple, and rather than join them in admiring the structure and stones, He replies, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”
Indeed, the word of Jesus was fulfilled in 70 A.D. when the temple was destroyed by the Roman empire, whose soldiers actually did tear apart one stone from the other in order to extract for Rome’s treasuries as much as possible of the building’s ornamental gold.
In Scripture and in life, we find that God is not the source of evil in our world, but that He often allows pain into the lives of His children. If we are God’s children in Christ, in those times when we feel things precious to us being dismantled stone by stone, we must know that God is not impotent to stop it, nor is He angry or punishing us. Rather, He is using any means possible to keep us from the dangerous idolatry of worshiping the structure, and turn our hearts back to the source.
