The Olivet Discourse

The event

Leaving the Temple during Passion Week, Jesus predicts to his disciples that "not one stone will be left upon another" — a prophecy of the Temple's destruction that history records as fulfilled in AD 70, when Roman forces under Titus razed Jerusalem and its Temple during the Jewish revolt. Sitting privately with his disciples on the Mount of Olives, which offers a sweeping view across the Kidron Valley to the Temple Mount, Jesus answers their follow-up questions about when this will happen and what will signal his return and the end of the age.

The discourse weaves together near-term warnings — wars, false messiahs, persecution, and the coming siege of Jerusalem — with imagery of Jesus's own future return "on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." He urges watchfulness rather than date-setting, since "of that day and hour no one knows," and closes with parables reinforcing the same point: the wise and foolish virgins, the talents, and the sheep and the goats, all pressing disciples toward faithful, alert readiness rather than speculation.

Scripture references

• Matthew 24:1-25:46
• Mark 13:1-37
• Luke 21:5-36

Other witnesses

• Josephus, The Jewish War 6.4 (on the AD 70 destruction of the Temple)