The great flood in the days of Noah has been recorded for our instruction. God destroyed the entire world by means of water as judgment upon their sins as a result of their unbelief in the promises and grace that He bestows. Yet, the Lord God saves believing Noah and his family in the ark. This flood demonstrates to us that the days of transgression and unbelief are numbered. On the Last day, we will find our escape from the wrath to be revealed at the end of time only in our Lord Jesus Christ and in the temple of His body that will not fall or be destroyed.
We see in the beginning of Luke 19 Christ entering the city of Jerusalem to cheers and palm branches. And now we find Him weeping and lamenting over the same city that received Him with such great joy. While Christ has come to His beloved Jerusalem to buy her back from sin, many within her will not receive Christ as Lord. And this is why Jesus predicts that the city will be destroyed. For the destruction of Jerusalem is God’s confirmation that His Son was rejected by her people.
And in the year 70 A.D., the city of Jerusalem was destroyed precisely as Christ depicted. In that year, Jewish historians record a rebellion in Jerusalem against the Roman Empire. In return, the city was destroyed, and it was God’s will to use the Romans to bring about judgment on the city, for at that time, there was nothing in Jerusalem but robbing, stealing, slaying, and murdering daily, and this was considered holy to God. But this gravely offended God, as it was the fruits of their denial of His only begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Then there arose great slaughter and bloodshed beyond description. Every armed man was defeated; every house and street was filled with the dead, and there was such killing and murder that a stone would have pity. †
Our Lord Jesus already knew the calamity that would befall the city that killed the prophets of the Lord, and where kings appointed by God dwelt; Christ had mercy by telling them what would come 40 years later. For the temple would be destroyed as a sign to them, so that they no longer make satisfaction for sins by sacrifices, as those things are fulfilled in the sacrifice of Christ. As well as their security and identity as the people of Israel, no longer rest in a temple made of stone, but instead in the eternal temple of the living flesh of Christ. Some of those in Jerusalem did repent of the murder of Christ, and to those who did not repent, they were given 40 years to continue worshiping in the temple before its destruction and rejection by the Lord.
And like the flood in days of old, the time given for repentance must yield to God’s plan for salvation. For in Christ, we have the very archetype of the temple, as it foreshadowed Emmanuel, God with us in our own human flesh and blood. Now that the Lord Jesus has come and paid the price as the last Levitical sacrifice, there is no longer any need for the temple in Jerusalem. Everything signified by the temple is now fulfilled and accomplished—never to be repeated again. For the sacrifice of the eternal Son of God is good for all people of all times and places. Jesus’ body is our temple, and it is our sanctuary. It is by His wounds that we have peace with God. For this is why Christ tells the Jews, “Destroyed this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” For our new temple is the incorruptible body of Christ.
The destruction of the temple not only teaches that God takes no pleasure in the sacrifices of the temple after His Son, but also teaches us that God is found in Christ wherever the Church is, wherever the Word of God is taught in its truth and purity, and wherever the sacraments are administered according to His institution; that is where Christ is. We do not need to journey to the old city to find Christ, our Lord comes to us wherever His word is carried out, and He comes to us, even now in His body and blood. This very place is a temple of God. And it is also in you as you have been cleansed and washed in baptism, for Saint Paul writes in first Corinthians chapter 6: “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?” For the salvation of the unrepentant of Jerusalem, the city was destroyed so that they may find rest and safety in the one true temple of our God from His righteous judgment.
And though all Christians possess these great promises of Christ, there are still some believers in Him who hold the view that the temple in Jerusalem must be rebuilt before the final Judgment Day. Many American Christians have fallen prey unknowingly to this false theology. Many American preachers have read this passage from Second Thessalonians chapter 2 incorrectly, as referring to a physical new temple in Jerusalem. In this passage, Saint Paul writes, “The son of perdition (the antichrist), who oppresses and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.”
And those have interpreted this passage as referring to the actual temple in Jerusalem, which still existed during Paul’s life. And so they interpret that if the temple is no longer there, it must be rebuilt so that the antichrist can come, then Jesus can come on the last day for his judgment. We Lutherans do not interpret this passage this way. And so, we cannot deny the truth of God’s word. How do we interpret Paul’s words? Well, we know that Paul does not contradict Jesus Christ at all, but especially in his warning about the destruction of the temple of Jerusalem. The temple that Paul is referring to is the church, and is the heart of every Christian believer. And so Paul records that the antichrist will come within the church to steal Christian away.
So the antichrist does not need to come to a physical temple in Jerusalem, but we know that the antichrist is already here because there is false teaching in the wider Christian church. Also, this theology denies what Christ says: that there is nothing you or I or any future construction project in the state of Israel can do to invoke the second coming of Christ. For our Lord says to His disciples in Matthew 24 concerning His coming again in glory, “You also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
As our Lord’s words were fulfilled by the destruction of the temple, we should also be sure that He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead. On the day of our Lord’s visitation that approaches with every passing hour, we do not need to wait in fear. Since we have the Lord Jesus Christ, who is our living Temple, for He will not be demolished by the wrath of men. For Christ was killed by them, and He still lived victoriously. His body was pierced for our transgressions that we may flee for refuge in Him from final judgment, in the Temple of the eternal living God. Aman.
† The Christian Year of Grace, Johann Spangenberg, p. 283, q.31-37
St. John's and Grace Evangelical Lutheran Parish 