This Shoveletter came from a recent Shovel Shack post I made that had been suggested as making for a good Shoveletter. You can thank Dave for the suggestion. :)

And Jesus came out from the temple and was going away when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him. And He answered and said to them, "Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here shall be left upon another, which will not be torn down." And as He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?" And Jesus answered and said to them, "See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will mislead many. And you will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs."
Matthew 24:1-8

Take a look at the intro that brought Jesus to later say what he did. Try to catch the flow of this scene. Jesus just came out of the temple and was going away, and his disciples stopped his departure to "point out the temple buildings". Why do you think they may have done that?

And Jesus came out from the temple and was going away when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him. And He answered and said to them, "Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here shall be left upon another, which will not be torn down. Matthew 24:1-2

As one who loves sightseeing and picture-taking, I often grab the attention of those who may have overlooked some fascinating points of interest. Those of you I have visited know that I will wander off to take an endless number of photos. The truth is that I am quite impressed by many scenes, especially the grand ones.

I suspect they were in awe of the temple structure itself, and may have been a little perturbed that Jesus didn't even pay attention to it. I also suspect that they didn't get to see these structures as often as I used to assume. After all, they were often on the outskirts of the city. Even when in Jerusalem, I think their attention was drawn elsewhere, and this particular situation gave them a rare chance to actually admire the majesty of the buildings around them. However, why would I be wasting so much time on this point? Simply to get a clearer picture of what may have been going on in their minds, and I think the results say a lot. For here they were, waiting for Jesus to validate that which awed them: the earthly temple of God. And how did Jesus respond? He told them that everything they were impressed with on that day would be destroyed. And that was the end of that scene.

Now, the Mount of Olives is not far from the temple, but I don't know how long it really took before they made it there. However long it was, the wheels must have been spinning wildly in their imaginations. I mean, why would God let the temple be destroyed ... and when will this happen?! That's what I would be thinking, wouldn't you? I'll bet they were about to wet their pants in anticipation. But didn't they miss the real reason Jesus said what he did about the temple being torn down? Wouldn't their misunderstanding reflect the same as in this famous scene:

and to those who were selling the doves He said, "Take these things away; stop making My Father's house a house of merchandise." His disciples remembered that it was written, "ZEAL FOR THY HOUSE WILL CONSUME ME." The Jews therefore answered and said to Him, "What sign do You show to us, seeing that You do these things?" Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." The Jews therefore said, "It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?" But He was speaking of the temple of His body. When therefore He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture, and the word which Jesus had spoken.
John 2:16-22

They misunderstood what the true temple of God was, and they wanted Jesus to be impressed with their perspective. It must have been a real downer to have it hit them like this, but after his resurrection they came to see it differently. However, as the passages of Matthew 24 and Luke 21 details Jesus' words to them before the resurrection it must be understood in view of their misperception. Now, I don't mean that Jesus was pandering to their misunderstanding, only that we can't simply ignore what was going on. Otherwise, we skip right over the obvious.

And as He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?" And Jesus answered and said to them, "See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will mislead many. And you will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs."Matthew 24:3-8

The obvious is: what are they really asking ... and then, what is Jesus really answering? They want to know when it is happening, but Jesus' first answer goes right to the lie that WILL come from those who WILL try to mislead them, all under the guise that the answer comes from one who is anointed of God. They are looking for specific signs by which they can nail down the time, but Jesus sums up all potential signs given by those who use signs to make claims as merely being "the beginning of birth pangs". In other words, many will come after Jesus and point to physical signs, especially relating to the temple of God on earth, to validate their own authority. To all this he says, Don't listen to them! Impressive physical signs have always been used by those who do not understand what the real temple of God is, and so the destruction of any physical representation of this temple only highlights the the truth that cannot be seen according to outward appearance.

Jim