When Christ Jesus told his disciples, "There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down," Matt. 24:2 it might have been easier for them to envision the destruction of the temple of Jerusalem than the resurrection of their Master after the crushing events of his betrayal and crucifixion. At that point they were unable to comprehend such a vast restructuring of life, even given the last three years in which they had seen a multitude of miracles performed contrary to all conventional expectations. Perhaps it seems equally as anomalous for us today to picture the disciples sleeping just moments before Jesus' arrest which would set in motion a series of world-changing events.
The magnitude of change that the Master was about to undergo was beyond their immediate grasp. Incredulity was so strong that even all they had witnessed of a totally revolutionary nature in terms of theology, metaphysics, and healing had not wholly prepared them for the ultimate meaning of the divine law that underlay Jesus' life and words.
Undoubtedly they viewed Jesus as a spiritual genius, able to penetrate the complexities of traditional law and argument. And as a healer, not only had they seen Jesus restore men and women whose physical condition seemed beyond reasonable hope, but to a significant degree they had already practiced spiritual healing as well. Nevertheless, there was still something they had not sufficiently grasped in order to truly understand the profound metaphysical significance of Jesus' theology.
