The Referent and Timing of Matthew 24:2 and the Temple

Matthew 24:1--2 says:

"And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.’’

The immediate context defines "these things’’ as the buildings of the then-standing temple. The disciples are looking at the actual Herodian temple complex: its sanctuary, courts, surrounding structures, and the monumental platform. Jesus explicitly directs their attention to those buildings and then predicts that not one stone will be left upon another.

To make "these things’’ refer instead to some future temple associated with the abomination of desolation would require us to say, in effect, that when Jesus pointed at the existing structures and said "these things,’’ he really meant "other things that will exist centuries later.’’ That strains ordinary language. The jury of common sense is not easily persuaded that "these things’’ actually means "those things that are not here yet.’’

Furthermore, the temple buildings Jesus and the disciples were viewing did, in fact, meet a catastrophic end in 70 AD under the Romans. Historically, that is when the visible fulfillment of "not one stone upon another’’ took place. It could conceivably have occurred earlier or later—prophecy, understood as contingent, does not fix the exact year—but in God’s providence it was 70 AD.

Prophecy, contingency, and 70 AD

Under the premise that every prophecy carries contingency, Jesus’ statement in Matt 23:39 is closely related:

"Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.’’

This establishes a condition for the national experience of his return. The temple’s fate, the city’s fate, and the kingdom’s establishment are all bound up with Israel’s response to her Messiah. It was entirely within the realm of possibility—had the leadership and nation repented—that events in Jerusalem would have unfolded differently. The Romans might have chosen a different course; the timing of destruction could have shifted; contingencies were in play. The prophecy of total destruction, however, stands as a real warning of what would happen if they persisted in rejection. In 70 AD, that warning was historically realized.

Distinguishing 24:2 from the later discourse

After verse 2, the conversation moves. In verse 3, on the Mount of Olives, the disciples ask privately:

"Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?’’

They cluster three concerns: (1) the destruction of the temple they have just heard about ("these things’’), (2) the sign of his coming, and (3) the end of the age. Jesus’ answer from verse 4 onward ranges over events associated with the consummation of the kingdom, including the future abomination of desolation mentioned explicitly later in the chapter.

It is reasonable to distinguish between:

• Verse 2: a specific prediction about the then-standing temple complex, historically realized in 70 AD (under the contingencies of Israel’s response and Roman policy).
• The subsequent discourse: a broader prophetic description of future tribulation, the abomination of desolation, and the second coming, which looks beyond 70 AD to the consummating events of the age.

Some resist identifying 24:2 with 70 AD because they hold that no prophecy is fulfilled in the present dispensation of grace, which they date as beginning before 70 AD. If one assumes a sharp mutual exclusion—no prophetic fulfillment at all within the overlap—then 24:2 cannot be about 70 AD. However, if one allows for an overlap period in which the kingdom offer to Israel continues alongside the revelation of the mystery (for example, up through Acts 28 and certainly up to 70 AD, when the temple, priesthood, and Sanhedrin still function), then it becomes quite natural to see 24:2 as a kingdom-related judgment prophecy fulfilled within that overlapping era.

On that understanding, Matthew 24:2 refers directly to the destruction of the second temple, which in fact occurred in 70 AD, while the later parts of the discourse address the yet-future events associated with the abomination of desolation and the second coming.

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