Destroy This Temple: The Prophecy They Missed

The Sign They Missed

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The leaders asked Jesus for a sign. Jesus gave them one, but almost nobody understood it until after the cross.

The sign. “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19). Jesus pointed ahead to the greatest sign of all.

What the leaders heard. They thought of the stone building: “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” (John 2:20).

What Jesus meant. “But He was speaking of the temple of His body” (John 2:21). In Jesus, God the Son became a man and lived among us.

God with us. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory” (John 1:14). In Jesus, God came to live among people.

Words twisted. At Jesus' trial, some people falsely said He had promised to destroy the Temple Himself (Mark 14:57-58). But Jesus had said, “Destroy this temple.” Others would do the destroying.

Mocked at the cross. While Jesus hung on the cross, people passing by mocked Him with these same words (Mark 15:29-30). They did not know they were watching His words come true.

I will raise it up. Jesus did not say someone else would raise Him. He said, “I will raise it up.” Jesus has power over death, and He also said, “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25).

Three days. After He rose, Jesus explained, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day” (Luke 24:46).

It happened. Christ “died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).

Jesus knew ahead. At the very start of His work, Jesus already knew He would die and rise again. The cross did not take Him by surprise.

Why it matters. Because Jesus rose, we know everything He said is true. He has power over death, and He gives life to everyone who trusts Him.

The proof. The empty tomb answered the leaders' question. Jesus had every right to clean His Father's house, because He is God's Son.

Remembered. “When He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them” (John 2:22). Then they believed.

What to do. Jesus keeps every promise. This week, write down one promise of Jesus and thank Him that it is true.

In John 2:18 the leaders demanded a sign. Jesus answered with words that only made sense after the resurrection. How they were misunderstood, and how they came true, point to Jesus as the risen Lord.

A sign on Jesus' terms. The leaders wanted a miracle on demand (2:18). Jesus would not perform for them. He pointed to the one sign that would settle everything.

Naos. Jesus used naos (say: nah-OSS), the holy house where God's presence lived, not the word for the whole Temple area. His body was the true dwelling place of God.

Egeiro. The verb egeiro (say: eh-GAY-roh) means to raise up. It was used for putting up a building, and the New Testament uses it for raising the dead. The same verb comes back in 2:22: “when He had risen from the dead.”

Misunderstood by the leaders. They heard a boast about Herod's building (2:20). At His trial it was twisted into a threat (Mark 14:57-58), and mockers at the cross threw it back at Him (Mark 15:29-30).

Misunderstood by the disciples. Even His friends did not grasp it until after He rose (2:22). Jesus later told them plainly, more than once, that He would be killed and rise again (Mark 8:31).

The Father and the Son. Scripture says God raised Jesus (Romans 10:9), and Jesus said, “I will raise it up.” Jesus also said He had authority to lay down His life and take it again (John 10:18). The Father and the Son act together.

Three days, as reported. Jesus died and was buried, and He rose very early on the first day of the week (Mark 16:2). He kept His promise right on time.

Marked out as the Son. Paul says the resurrection marked Jesus out as the Son of God with power (Romans 1:4). The empty tomb is God's answer to the question of 2:18.

Psalm 16:10. David wrote, “Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption” (Psalm 16:10). Peter preached it at Pentecost as a promise of Jesus' resurrection.

First of many. “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:20). His raised body is the promise of ours.

Application. The resurrection is the sign God gives every generation. You do not need a new miracle to trust Jesus; you have the empty tomb.

A New Temple

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The Temple in Jerusalem was where God chose to meet His people. Because of Jesus, God now meets people in a new and better way.

God wanted to be near. Long ago God said, “And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them” (Exodus 25:8). A sanctuary is a holy place.

The glory came. When Solomon's Temple was finished, “the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord” (1 Kings 8:11).

A curtain in the way. Deep inside the Temple hung a thick curtain called the veil. Only the high priest could go behind it, once a year (Hebrews 9:7). Sin kept people from coming close to God.

Jesus, the true temple. Jesus “was speaking of the temple of His body” (John 2:21). In Him God came close: “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14).

The curtain torn. When Jesus died, “the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom” (Matthew 27:51). Many Christians see “from top to bottom” as God Himself opening the way. The way to God was open.

A new and living way. We can enter God's presence “by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way… through the veil, that is, His flesh” (Hebrews 10:19-20).

Come boldly. “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace” (Hebrews 4:16). You can pray to God anytime, anywhere, because of Jesus.

You are God's temple. Everyone who trusts Jesus becomes a home for God's Spirit: “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16).

A temple made of people. God's people together are growing “into a holy temple in the Lord” (Ephesians 2:21). The church is people, not just a building.

Bought at a price. “For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body” (1 Corinthians 6:20).

A clean heart. David prayed, “Create in me a clean heart, O God” (Psalm 51:10). Jesus answers that prayer for everyone who trusts Him.

Together. God's temple today is His people. That is one reason to gather with your church family and worship God together (Hebrews 10:25).

The end of the story. One day God will live with His people forever: “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them” (Revelation 21:3).

What to do. Jesus cleaned His Father's house. Ask Him to keep your heart clean, and honor God with how you use your body this week.

Jesus' words about the temple of His body open one of the Bible's biggest themes: God making His home with people. The cross and the resurrection changed how God's people meet Him.

From tabernacle to Temple. God told Moses, “let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them” (Exodus 25:8). His glory filled both the tabernacle (Exodus 40:34) and Solomon's Temple (1 Kings 8:10-11).

The Word pitched His tent. John 1:14 says the Word “dwelt among us.” The Greek verb pictures a tent being pitched. The glory that once filled the tabernacle was seen in Jesus: “we beheld His glory.”

A copy and shadow. Hebrews says the priests served “the copy and shadow of the heavenly things” (Hebrews 8:5). The Temple was real, but it pointed beyond itself.

The veil torn (Matthew 27:51). The veil closed off the Most Holy Place. It was torn “from top to bottom.” Many Christians see that as God Himself opening the way. The way into God's presence was opened by the death of Jesus.

Our High Priest. Christ came “with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands” and “with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:11-12).

A new and living way. Hebrews 10:19-20 calls Jesus' flesh the veil through which we enter. His body, given up and raised again, is the doorway to God.

The Spirit's temple. At Pentecost the Holy Spirit came to live in believers (Acts 2:1-4). So Paul can say, “your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you” (1 Corinthians 6:19). He lives in each believer.

A temple being built. The church together is “being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit” (Ephesians 2:22). Peter calls each believer a living stone in that house (1 Peter 2:5).

Holiness. If God lives in us, how we live matters: “you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit” (1 Corinthians 6:20). Jesus' zeal for His Father's house becomes our desire for a clean heart.

The final dwelling. “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men” (Revelation 21:3). In the new Jerusalem John saw no temple, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple (Revelation 21:22).

Application. Meeting God does not depend on a place. Through Jesus you can come to the Father anytime. Belong to His people, and let His Spirit keep His house in you clean.

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