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The Destruction of the Temple and the Beginning of Calamities (Mt. 24:1-14)

Jesus left the temple area and was going away, when his disciples approached him to point out the temple buildings.  2 He said to them in reply, “You see all these things, do you not? Amen, I say to you, there will not be left here a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down.” 

3 As he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples approached him privately and said, “Tell us, when will this happen, and what sign will there be of your coming, and of the end of the age?”  4 Jesus said to them in reply, “See that no one deceives you.  5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and they will deceive many.  6 You will hear of wars and reports of wars; see that you are not alarmed, for these things must happen, but it will not yet be the end.  7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be famines and earthquakes from place to place.  8 All these are the beginning of the labor pains.  9 Then they will hand you over to persecution, and they will kill you. You will be hated by all nations because of my name.  10 And then many will be led into sin; they will betray and hate one another.  11 Many false prophets will arise and deceive many; 12 and because of the increase of evildoing, the love of many will grow cold.  13 But the one who perseveres to the end will be saved.  14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the world as a witness to all nations, and then the end will come.'

From the Christian perspective, once the Divine presence, Jesus, left the Temple there was no longer a purpose for the Temple.  The Temple was used for offering sacrifices to atone for sins.  Since through Jesus’ death he would atone for all the sins of mankind (Mt. 26:28), the function of the Temple would no longer be necessary (Mt. 27:51) and that is what Jesus was foretelling.  The physical destruction of the Temple was in 70 AD (Mt. 23:38).  

The Temple and the city of Jerusalem could be seen from the Mount of Olives.  Jesus’ discourse was about the Parousia, the coming of the Son of Man and the end time (v. 3).  Jesus warned his disciples about false prophets (Mt. 7:15-20), and about tangible, disturbing world events that would take place before the end time (vv. 4-7).  Jesus’ predictions were addressing the disciples’ short-term horizon so to interpret events throughout the centuries as predictions made by Jesus is probably anachronistic.  In Jewish apocalyptic literature, the woes that Jesus was speaking about were called birth pangs of the Messiah (v. 8).  The community will be persecuted and killed; there will be internal divisions leading to hatred and betrayal among early Church members; many will fall away from the Church; there will be an increase in evil and many will not have the love of Christ in their hearts (vv. 10-12).  Having been warned, the disciples should not be alarmed when these things happen.  All who persevere and remain faithful to the end will be saved (Mt. 10:22).

Almighty God, all things were made new by the death and resurrection of your Son, so we give You glory for his birth.  Help us not to focus on the turmoil around us but to keep our eyes fixed on Christ so that we can persevere to the end in spreading the good news of salvation.  This we pray through Christ our Lord.  Amen!

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References

Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.

Faculty of the University of Navarre. The Navarre Bible: New Testament Expanded Edition. Expanded Edition, Four Courts / Scepter, 2008.

Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.

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