NOTES for Mat 24:1-13
The disciples see in the buildings of the Jerusalem Temple a sign of God's firmly established rule in this world. The Temple was built forever; even when destroyed, it was rebuilt and became still more majestic. The solidity of stone buildings symbolizes the unshakable foundations of life and the steady course of history.
But the Lord says that the destiny of the world is more complex than human ideas about it. The human freedom to choose good and evil means that salvation can be attained only as a personal choice requiring endurance. He says that for the name of Christ the disciples will have to endure rejection and suffering. This twofold destiny of the world - terrible disasters and the mystery of hearts turning to God - is an important revelation about human freedom.
No less important for us are Christ's words that the triumph of evil has a limited, temporary character, that the end of the world is coming, and that it will come when the possibility of choosing Christ as shepherd has been offered to everyone.