Matthew 24:1

Christ, when He had foretold all that should come upon Jerusalem, went forth out of the temple, He, who while He was in it, had upheld the temple that it should not fall. And so each man, being the temple of God by reason of the Spirit of God dwelling in him, is himself the cause of his being deserted, that Christ should depart from him. It is worthy of note how they show Him the buildings of the temple, as though He had never seen them. We reply, that when Christ had foretold the destruction that should come upon the temple, His disciples were amazed at the thought that so magnificent buildings should be utterly ruined, and therefore they show them to Him to move Him to pity, that He would not do what He had threatened. And because the constitution of human nature is wonderful, being made the temple of God, the disciples and the rest of the saints confessing the wonderful working of God in respect of the forming of men, intercede before the face of Christ, that He would not forsake the human race for their sins.

Everyone who receives the Word of God into himself is a temple. Everyone who does not completely fall away from God after sinning but retains some vestiges of faith and devotion to the commandments of God remains a temple, albeit partially destroyed. Whoever fails to take care of his soul after he sins, however, but continues to walk away from the faith and from the life of the gospel is progressively alienated until he has fully departed from the living God. Then he will be a temple in which “there will not be left one stone” of the teaching of the commandments of God “upon another that will not be destroyed.” …The temple of God was a building composed of distinct words, every Scripture from the Old Testament plainly having been constructed according to the historical sense. By their arrangement of words and phrases, Moses and the prophets built it in such a way that the beauty of the stones, that is, the meaning of their carefully chosen sayings, would command the admiration and praise of everyone. When the disciples of Jesus attempted to direct his attention to the structure of the temple, he responded by saying that this first, merely physical building must be destroyed by the Word so that another, more divine, more mystical temple might be constructed in its place. That other temple is the Scripture, as has already been demonstrated.

For in the last days false prophets shall be multiplied, and such as corrupt the word; and the sheep shall be changed into wolves, and love into hatred: for through the abounding of iniquity the love of many shall wax cold. For men shall hate, and persecute, and betray one another. And then shall appear the deceiver of the world, the enemy of the truth, the prince of lies, [2 Thessalonians 2:3-12] whom the Lord Jesus "shall destroy with the spirit of His mouth, who takes away the wicked with His lips; and many shall be offended at Him. But they that endure to the end, the same shall be saved. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven;" [Isaiah 11:4; Matthew 24:1-51] and afterwards shall be the voice of a trumpet by the archangel; and in that interval shall be the revival of those that were asleep. And then shall the Lord come, and all His saints with Him, with a great concussion above the clouds, with the angels of His power, [Matthew 16:27] in the throne of His kingdom, to condemn the devil, the deceiver of the world, and to render to every one according to his deeds. "Then shall the wicked go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous shall go into life eternal," [Matthew 25:46] to inherit those things "which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man, such things as God has prepared for them that love Him;" [1 Corinthians 2:9] and they shall rejoice in the kingdom of God, which is in Christ Jesus.

For inasmuch as He said, "Your house is left desolate," and had previously forewarned them of many grievous things; therefore the disciples having heard these things, as though marvelling at it, came unto Him, showing the beauty of the temple, and wondering, if so much beauty was to be destroyed, and materials so costly, and variety of workmanship past utterance; He no longer thenceforth talks to them of desolation merely, but foretells an entire destruction. "See ye not all these things," saith He, and do ye marvel, and are ye amazed? "There shall not remain one stone upon another." How then did it remain? one may say. But what is this? For neither so hath the prediction fallen to the ground. For He said these things either indicating its entire desolation, or at that spot where He was. For there are parts of it destroyed unto the foundations.

And together with its we would say another thing also, that from what hath been done, even the most contentious ought to believe concerning the remains, that they are utterly to be destroyed.

(Hom. Ixxv.) How means He this, that one stone shall not be left upon another? Either as conveying the notion of its utter overthrow; or with respect to the place in which it stood, for its parts were broken up to its very foundations. But I would add, that, after the fate it underwent, the most captious might be satisfied that its very fragments have perished.

(Chapter 24 - Verses 1, 2.) And Jesus went out of the temple and was going on his way. And his disciples came to show him the buildings of the temple. But he answered and said to them: Do you see all these things? Amen I say to you: there shall not be left here a stone upon a stone, that shall not be destroyed. According to the manifest sense of the story, when the Lord departed from the temple, all the buildings of the law, and the composition of the commandments, were so destroyed that nothing could be fulfilled by the Jews; and with the head removed, all the members fight among themselves.

Figuratively; When the Lord departed from the temple, all the buildings of the Law and the structure of the Commandments were so overthrown, that none of them could be fulfilled by the Jews, but, the Head being taken away, all the parts were at war among themselves.

Some were pointing out to Christ the magnificent things in the temple and how it was adorned by the gifts that had been dedicated to God. For they supposed that Jesus would admire with them all there was to see, although being God he has heaven as his throne! He does offer a teaching concerning them, but he had already predicted that according to the times the temple would utterly fall. The Roman army is being gathered for this very thing, demanding the surrender of Israel itself as all Jerusalem suffers the punishment of the slaying of the Lord. For let me tell you, it came to pass that they suffered these things after the crucifixion of the Savior. But they did not understand the meaning of Jesus’ teachings. They supposed his teachings concerned the consummation of the age.

So it was ordained of God, that as soon as the light of grace was revealed, the temple with its ceremonies should be taken out of the way, lest any weakling in the faith, beholding all the things instituted of the Lord and hallowed by the Prophets yet abiding, might be gradually drawn away from the purity of the faith to a carnal Judaism.

The historical sense is clear, that in the forty-second year after the Lord's passion, the city and temple were overthrown under the Roman Emperors Vespasian and Titus.