Call it an interesting quirk of humanity butit doesn’t seem to matter
where you travel, people just seem to know what the tallest thing
is, in their corner of the world. Whether its a water tower or a tall
building where they live. There is some thing about the architecture
of tall buildings and great cathedrals that inspires us, and makes us
proud even if we didn’t build it ourselves.
While the temple in Jerusalem wasn’t as grand and gilded as it
had been in King Solomon’s day, it still must have been something
of an architectural marvel even when Jesus walked the earth.
Maybe its a guy thing, but I can just hear the disciple’s voice filled
with a sense of enthusiasm, and just a touch of pride and awe
as I read Mark 13:1.
As he was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him,
"Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!"
While Jesus’ reply is the sobering, predicting the destruction ofthe
temple, which occurred after his death and resurrection. I am left to
wonder how much the temple had changed between the time Jesus
was 12 and still hanging out at the temple when his parents headed
back to Galilee after celebrating Passover, and his experience
20 years later as an adult.
Leaving Jesus and the disciples to discuss the fate of the temple,
lets go from Chapter 13 back to Chapter 11 - Jesus has just chased
the money changers out of the temple, and is standing there with the
disciples when the chief priests and the teachers of the law arrive
on the scene to see what all of the commotion is about, as recorded
in Mark 11:17
And as he taught them, he said, "Is it not written:
" My house will be called
a house of prayer for all nations' ?
But you have made it `a den of robbers. "
Doesn’t it stand to reason... that if God’s house is to be a place of prayer,
that God’s people should be know as "a people of prayer?"
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