Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days. John 2:19
In Pontiac, Michigan, a demolition company bulldozed the wrong building. Investigators believe that the owner of a house scheduled to be demolished nailed the numbers of his own address to a neighbor’s house to avoid demolition.
Jesus did the opposite. He was on a mission to let his own “house” be torn down for the sake of others. Imagine the scene and how confused everyone must have been, including Jesus’ own disciples. Picture them eyeing one another as He challenged the religious leaders. “Destroy this temple,” Christ said, “and I will raise it again in three days” (John 2:19). The leaders retorted indignantly, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” (v. 20). But Jesus knew He was referring to the temple of His own body (v. 21). They didn’t.
They didn’t understand He’d come to show that the harm we do to ourselves and to one another would ultimately fall on Him. He would atone for it.
God has always known our hearts far better than we do. So He didn’t entrust the fullness of His plans even to those who saw His miracles and believed in Him (vv. 23–25). Then as now He was slowly revealing the love and goodness in Jesus’ words that we couldn’t understand even if He told us.
What emotions do you usually associate with Jesus’ “cleansing of the temple”? How can you see something more merciful and compassionate now that you understand what Jesus meant?
Father in heaven, please help me to believe that You’re always working in the background doing far more—and much better—than I know or understand.
INSIGHT
The magnificent temple built by Solomon for God (1 Kings 6) was plundered and destroyed in 586 bc. When exiles of Israel returned after the Babylonian captivity (538 bc), the temple was rebuilt under the leadership of Zerubbabel (c. 516 bc). Over the years, however, this rebuilt temple also was ravished and destroyed. In 19 bc Herod the Great initiated the refurbishing of the structure, and it came to be known as Herod’s Temple. Though functional in Jesus’ day (see John 2:13–22), it wasn’t completely finished until ad 64, only to be destroyed again in ad 70 by the Romans.