Raising the Temple in Three Days (John 2:18-22)

Scripture reading:
18Then the Jews demanded of him, "What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?"

19Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days." 20The Jews replied, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?" 21But the temple he had spoken of was his body. 22After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.


Observations:
(1) Jesus claims, he delivers.

In the preceding verses, Jesus made a fairly significant claim. He said “How dare you turn my father’s house into a market.”

By referring to god as ‘my father,’ he was essentially claiming to be the son of god – a rather audacious claim. Accordingly, the response of the Jews, to demand a sign to prove his authority, is hardly surprising. Jesus was making a big claim.

They wanted to see proof of authority to make such a claim.

In response to this, Jesus made a big promise.

I feel that this promise was given for the benefit of the disciples, not for the purpose of immediately appeasing the Jews. It certainly was not what the Jews were expecting, or demanding. It is almost certain that many of the Jews would have been immediately satisfied by this response, particularly given that the promise was not fulfilled until several years later.

But the response was not made in the presence of Jews only. It was also made in the presence of the disciples, who were later to put their full trust and belief in him after the promise was fulfilled. It was them who saw the fulfillment of the promise.

Regardless of whoever the promise was primarily made for, the promise was fulfilled in completion. It may not have been fulfilled in the way expected by many, but it was fulfilled in completion. The body of Jesus, the temple of god, (see below) was raised three days after his death – exactly as promised.

Jesus promises, he delivers - a true sign of the pure integrity of our great lord.


(2) The church is not just a building.

What images enter your mind at the mention of the word ‘church?’

When I was a young kid, the word ‘church’ represented a place that I did not find particularly exciting. Sitting through long services with many old people was not much fun for a kid.

The common world view of the church relates to a building. The world see the church as a place that people (usually old) go to on a Sunday, as well as being where you go for baptisms, confirmations, marriages or funerals. They see it a place that you go to.

In the same way, the Jews at the time of Jesus saw the temple as a physical place.

Yes, it was a place of worship, but a physical place nonetheless.

Coming from this perspective, it was little wonder that the Jews could not understand the promise of Jesus. After all, a temple, in the literal sense, is a physical place. It’s where they went to worship god.

But Jesus was talking figuratively, not literally. Figuratively speaking, the body of Jesus Christ is the temple of god. Jesus, as part of the holy trinity, was god in the flesh – in the form of a man.

Therefore, the body of Christ was indeed the body of god.

Secondly, and most importantly, it was Christ’s body that was sacrificed on the cross and raised again. It was the body of Christ which took the entire punishment for the sin of man. Without this action, our relationship with Christ could not have been healed. Without this action, we not be reconciled to god, we would have no reason to worship god and physical temples would not serve a worthwhile purpose.

The body of Christ represents, in figurative terms, the true temple of god, the centerpiece of the kingdom of heaven.

Yes we go to physical buildings in order to worship. But the act of worship is not about buildings – it’s about Christ, and his death and resurrection. That’s what we celebrate. A temple is where we worship. Jesus is why we worship.


Prayer:
Dear heavenly father,

Lord, I thank you that you didn’t stay dead on that cross, that the promise was fulfilled and you raised the holy temple of your own body.

Lord, we know we can have full confidence in your word. We know that you are a god of integrity, that when you promise that something will happen, it does.

Lord, we go to physical buildings to worship you. But let us not forget that the building is simply a venue, and what matters is why we worship, lord. And the reason why we worship is because of your great sacrifice on the cross – the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus.

That is why we are there, lord. It’s because of who you are. It’s because of your wonderful name.
It’s because of the amazing justice and love that you showed for us on the cross.

And in that, lord, we can only look at you in awe of your greatness.

In the name of Jesus Christ, our lord.

Amen.