Mark 13:1-4 — 13 And as he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” 2 And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”
3 And as he sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, 4 “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?”
In Mark 13:1-2, the disciples were assessing things by man’s perspective. Everyone who came to Jerusalem was impressed by the temple, except one person—Jesus Christ, who gave God’s perspective on what was going on there. But the disciples have been unwilling to let go of their unbiblical, preconceived notions about what pleases God and as soon as Christ’s teaching conflicts with those notions, he is challenged. How sad and contrary to what should be the reality!
Paul says in 2nd Cor. 11 that we must be on guard against being led astray from a pure and simple devotion to Christ. What is it that tempts you to do that?—success, respect, commitment to relationships, which prevent you from being faithful to Christ, commitment to our own comfort?
We saw beyond a shadow of a doubt in chs.8-10 that the disciples were pursuing being esteemed by the world and that pursuit was blinding them to the teachings of Christ. That’s what always happens to those who try to add Christ to their heart’s desire—they become more impressed with what man does in the name of Christ than Christ himself. Thankfully, in the end, that won’t be possible and to see that we will continue on in v.5 of Mark 13 next time.