Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
//The desolation of the “house” in Luke’s writing probably refers to the Temple of God in Jerusalem. It was often named the “House” of God in scripture. As we all know, the Temple was destined to be destroyed only 40 years after Jesus died.
This “house of God” phrase may be taken from the song of Psalm 118:26:
Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD: we have blessed you out of the house of the LORD.
Note not only the reference to the house of God in Psalms, but to “he that comes in the name of the Lord.” Now we move to another Lukan verse, 19:38, which tells how it is Jesus who came in the name of the Lord:
Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.
See how the verse in Psalms ties the two verses in Luke together? This last verse tells how the psalm was sung about Jesus as he approached Jerusalem. Jesus has, according to Luke’s theology, replaced the Temple. He has become the Temple of God. It may take two or three readings to catch the subtle meaning.
