This Too Shall Pass

Read Mark 13:1-27

As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!”

“Do you see all these great buildings?” replied Jesus. “Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.” –Mark 13:1-2

When David brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6), he petitioned God for the honor of building a “house” in which God could dwell, similar to the tabernacle in which God had traveled among the Israelites in the wilderness. God denied David’s request but allowed his son Solomon to complete the work. Solomon’s temple was built upon Mount Moriah—the same site where Abraham had been spared from offering his son Isaac. Solomon’s temple was completed in seven years, and for four hundred years it stood as the central place of Israelite worship and pilgrimage.

In 587 BC, the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem’s walls and Solomon’s temple and took a large portion of the population into exile. In 539 BC, the Babylonians were defeated by the Persians. The Persian king Cyrus allowed the Israelites to return to their home, establishing a man named Zerubbabel as their governor. The first thing Zerubbabel did was oversee the construction of a new temple.

The “second temple” took nearly twenty years to complete (three times as long as Solomon’s temple), but it was a far shadow of the original temple—the people of that time had less wealth and resources than Solomon had enjoyed. Fast forward five centuries later, to when Herod the Great became the ruler of Israel as part of the Roman Empire. Herod was known for his great building projects—he saw architecture as a way to leave a lasting monument to his own greatness. And he identified the Jerusalem temple as the place to leave his mark.

Herod’s expansion of the Jerusalem temple began in 20 BC, but it was not fully completed until 64 AD (seventy years after Herod’s death). Herod employed over 10,000 skilled laborers for this project, 1,000 of whom were specially trained priests (since only priests could enter the sacred spaces of the temple). Under Herod’s design, the Jerusalem temple footprint doubled from 35 to 70 acres, making it the world’s largest religious sanctuary at that time.

In order to accomplish this, massive foundations had to be built to extend the site of Mount Moriah. To the south, a series of underground vaults was built to extend the temple over the slopes (known today as “Solomon’s stables”). To the west, a massive foundation was constructed (which we know today as the “Wailing Wall”). Some of the stones within the Western Wall are estimated to weigh fifty tons, so just imagine the engineering and hydraulics necessary to move and place them!

On top of this massive foundation, courtyards were expanded, judicial courts were constructed, and a Roman colonnade was erected at the southern end to house market vendors and money changers. The temple became more than a place of worship—it became a place of assembly and commerce.

While construction still continued upon the temple complex in Jesus’ day, the great majority of the work (the foundations and the main buildings) were complete. The humble “second temple” had become the jewel of the ancient world. We can understand why the disciples marveled at its size and wonder. Jesus, though, saw something beyond the scale and grandeur of Herod’s vision. He knew that the temple would not last.

Just two years after the Jerusalem temple finished construction, the great Jewish revolt against Rome began. Titus (who would eventually become emperor of Rome) laid siege to the city of Jerusalem, and in 70 AD, the Jerusalem temple was destroyed. The Arch of Titus in Rome, which still stands today, commemorates his victory over the Jewish people.

So why do I share this long history of the Jerusalem temple? Only to make a simple point—that the things that feel fixed and eternal in our time may be far less permanent than we suppose. The ancient people of Jerusalem thought Solomon’s temple was indestructible. It wasn’t. The Babylonian Empire seemed unconquerable. It wasn’t. The glory of Herod’s temple seemed unsurpassable. It wasn’t. The power and authority of Rome seemed eternal. It wasn’t. All things fade, except the promises of God. “Heaven and earth will pass away,” Jesus explained to his disciples, “but my words will never pass away.”

This raises for us the question of where we place our faith. If our faith is built on the trappings of this world—on our jobs, our income, our possessions, our towns—then our faith can be toppled when one or more of those stones are turned over. But if our faith is built on God’s promises, then we are secure. Even when the world seems dark, even if we despair that evil has the upper hand, we can remember—this too shall pass. For nothing is eternal except the promise and the presence of God.

I praise You, O Lord, for You are the cornerstone upon which God has built his kingdom—a kingdom not made with human hands but one built instead upon Your eternal covenant. When my faith gives way, help me to rest on the solid ground of Your promises. Amen.