Preparing the disciples for His death, the Slave-Savior first told them, in chapter thirteen, the things to come. These are the things that would take place in the world during the church age after His resurrection until the time of His coming back. The Lord Jesus did not leave His disciples in darkness concerning the following matters: the destruction of the temple (vv. 1-2), which would take place in A.D. 70; the plagues at the beginning of birth pangs, which would begin after His resurrection and continue until the great tribulation (vv. 3-8); the preaching of the gospel and the persecutions in the church age (vv. 9-13); the great tribulation in the last three and a half years of this age and His coming back (vv. 14-27); and watching, praying, and awaiting the Slave-Savior throughout the church age (vv. 28-37). Such an enlightening word to the Slave-Savior’s suffering followers is like a “lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns” (2 Pet. 1:19).
In 13:1 the situation concerning the Lord Jesus was very serious. However, the Lord bore the situation in a very comfortable way. He brought certain of His disciples out of Jerusalem to the Mount of Olives, to a higher level where the atmosphere was clear. Sitting on the Mount of Olives with them, He spoke about the future in order to prepare them for what was coming. This was the environment in which the Lord spoke to His disciples the prophecy recorded in Mark 13. Let us now consider this chapter verse by verse.
Mark 13:1 says, “And as He was going out of the temple, one of His disciples says to Him, Teacher, behold, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” The fact that the Lord went out of the temple indicates that He was leaving it. This was a fulfillment of His word in Matthew 23:38 concerning leaving the temple to the rejecting Jews as their house of desolation. This is equivalent to God’s glory leaving the temple in the ancient time (Ezek. 10:18).
In Matthew 23:38 the Lord Jesus says, “Behold, your house is left to you desolate.” Since “house” in this verse is singular, it must denote the house of God, which was the temple (Mark 11:15, 17). It had been the house of God, but now it became “your house,” because it had been made a den of robbers.
When one of His disciples spoke to Him about the wonderful stones and buildings, the Lord Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There shall by no means be left a stone upon a stone which will not be overthrown” (v. 2). This was fulfilled in A.D. 70, when Titus with the Roman army destroyed Jerusalem.
The Lord’s word in 13:2 corresponds to “desolate” in Matthew 23:38. The temple was left desolate when Jerusalem was destroyed.
We have seen that the Lord Jesus received a warm welcome from the people, that He cursed the fig tree, and that He cleansed the temple. The cleansing of the temple stirred up the opposers. For this reason, on the day after He cleansed the temple, He confronted the opposers, who examined Him and asked Him different questions. All these things took place before the eyes of His close followers. Nevertheless, in 13:1 one of them could still say, “Teacher, behold, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!”
The Lord Jesus had sought to impress His followers with the fact that at this point He no longer had anything to do with the Jewish nation or with the temple. He cursed the fig tree, the symbol of the Jewish nation, and He cleansed the temple. These actions indicated that He, as God, was through with Israel and the temple for that period of time.
Mark 13:1 speaks of the Lord Jesus “going out of the temple.” When He went out of the temple, He forsook it. As we have pointed out, the temple was no longer God’s house; it was “your house,” the house of those who had made it a den of robbers. Therefore, their house was left to them for desolation. After the Lord walked out of the temple, He never returned to it. According to the Lord’s prediction, the temple was completely destroyed.
The Lord’s disciples witnessed the cursing of the fig tree and the cleansing of the temple, but they did not understand the significance of these things. This was the reason they could still marvel at the wonderful stones and wonderful buildings. This made it necessary for the Lord Jesus to speak further to them in order to prepare them for His death.
In 13:2 the Lord says to the disciples, “Do you see these great buildings? There shall by no means be left a stone upon a stone which will not be overthrown.” This prophecy was fulfilled in A.D. 70. In his writings, Josephus, a Jewish historian, records the details of the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. Jerusalem was utterly destroyed.