Luke 21:5-19

General Context

If you have ever been to visit magnificent architecture – St. Peter’s in Rome, the U. S. Capitol Building, the Hagia Sophia or the Taj Mahal, you can almost hear the chatter of camera-carrying tourists commenting on the beauty and size of the Temple in Jerusalem. It was a matter of esthetics, of religion and of politics and it was the center of Jewish life, thought and identity. If you spoke negatively about the Temple, you could be charged with blasphemy. If you wanted to guarantee something, you swore by the Temple. 

It was reminder of the presence of God with his people. Built by Ezra and Zerubbabel on the return from exile, it was later enhanced by Herod, who made the ornate changes more for his own glory and power than for…