Only One Thing Lasts
We can only imagine the splendor of the temple in Jesus’ day. In fact, scholars cannot even agree where the exact buildings stood. Now, the temple grounds are under strict Muslim control and we cannot even excavate or worship there. This is because Jesus’ words came true. When the Jews revolted against Roman rule, the Romans did more than simply destroy the temple and surrounding area. Convinced the Jews were hiding massive amounts of gold and jewels, the soldiers overturned each and every stone. The very foundations were pulled away and the ground rummaged through in an attempt to find every last bit of finery the Jews had dedicated to their God. Neither before or after has there ever been a destruction as complete as the destruction of Jerusalem’s temple.
God allowed the destruction because the temple was no longer needed. A new covenant had been brought into place with the preaching and sacrifice of Jesus. No longer did the people need the blood of animals to attempt to lesson the stain of their sins. Christ provided the perfect, once for all, sacrifice. The temple and its practices were brought obsolete by Calvary. So no one could be confused, or insist on what was familiar rather than embrace the new, the temple and all its practices were brought to nothing.
I can only imagine what this disciple must have thought when Jesus told him this grand building he so admired was to be destroyed. A few years ago, I traveled to Denver, Co where a traveling exhibition of the Dead Sea Scrolls was set up in their Natural History Museum. Along with many artifacts and, of course, the scrolls themselves, they brought one of the stones from the temple. It was awe inspiring and emotional. I could have sat and simply stared at the stone for a very long time. The history it witnessed… the care and love that was taken in precisely carving its perfect edges. Anything used for building the temple was considered holy from the moment it was first cut, first poured, first chiseled. In fact, there is a burial cave which was used for Levites which contains a large piece of glass. While constructing the temple, the edge of the glass broke, making the piece unusable. Because the glass was consecrated for the temple, it was holy and could not be thrown away or used for anything else. Therefore, the builders buried it in a holy man’s grave. Everything about the temple was meant to be holy and yet it was trashed like a common stable with no regard for the prayers of consecration laid upon it. One man’s sacrifice is another man’s garbage.
The image of the temple being utterly destroyed helps me keep things in perspective. Nothing I create with my life will ever be as magnificent. No legacy I leave behind will be talked about two thousand years after my body’s destruction. And yet, my life will come to an end as surely as the temple and all it stood for did. We can spend our entire lives trying to make a name for ourselves, but that name will fade. Maybe a generation or two will remember, but eventually, none will be able to tell you the unadulterated truth of my life. The only thing I can hope to leave behind is Jesus. His name lasts. His legacy will not faulter or diminish as the years go by. There is a Casting Crowns song called Nobody that contains the words, “And if they all forget my name, well, that's fine with me I'm living for the world to see nobody but Jesus.” Why spend my life building what will not last? I want to shine Jesus and nothing else because nothing else will last forever.
(Written by Keegan Harkins.)
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