ACC ~ Matthew 24 v2

THE KINGDOM WILL BE TAKEN FROM YOU

ORIGEN: After Christ predicted everything that was about to happen to Jerusalem, he who had preserved the temple left it, lest it collapse while he was still in it. [1] The temple stood safe and secure as long as the Word and the kingdom of God were with the Jews, as did all things Jewish. Subsequently, however, the kingdom of God was taken from the Jews and given to the Gentiles, as it is written, “The kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to the nations who produce its fruit.” [2] Both Jesus and the kingdom of God were then established among the Gentiles. Therefore neither Jesus nor the kingdom of God is to be found among the Jews, because they were abandoned “like a booth in a vineyard and like a hut in a cucumber field and like a city besieged,” [3] on account of the crime they committed against Christ. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 29. [4]

[1] According to the exegetical theme already mentioned (cf. p. 92 n. 19), the function of the temple was exhausted with the advent of Christ. In this sense, Christ’s distancing himself from it signified its end, which in a short time was actually accomplished by the Roman soldiers.

[2] Mt 21:43.

[3] Is 1:8.

[4] GCS 38.2:55.

NOT ONE STONE UPON ANOTHER

HILARY OF POITIERS: The magnificent splendor of the temple’s design was shown to Christ immediately after he had warned of Jerusalem’s desolation, as though to move him. Yet he said that everything had to be destroyed and the scattered stones of its entire foundation demolished, for an eternal temple was being consecrated as a dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. This eternal temple is the man who is made worthy of becoming God’s habitation through knowledge of the Son, confession of the Father and obedience to the commandments. ON MATTHEW 25.1. [1]

[1] SC 258:180.