Matthew 24:1-2

1 Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. 2 But he answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”

What Jesus predicts here is actually what happened: the Temple in Jerusalem--a stunning architectural and engineering achievement-- was pulled down, stone by stone, by the Romans in AD 70.

Why did God permit the destruction of the Temple? Because Israel refused to accept Jesus as Messiah and instead—in the generation after Jesus—preferred to seek military salvation by trying to overthrow the Roman empire. That action provoked vicious Roman retaliation, retaliation that included the destruction of the Temple. Jesus foresaw all that would happen.

How painful it must have been for him to know what was going to happen and yet still see his people stubbornly persist in the way that was leading to destruction.