What's so striking here is how Jesus uses the word "temple" with a profound double meaning that the people completely miss. They hear him referring to the magnificent stone building, but Jesus is actually talking about his own body, which he knows will be destroyed and then raised again.
Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his body.
English Standard Version (ESV)
After Jesus powerfully cleared the temple courts, the Jewish leaders demanded a sign to prove His authority for such an act. In response, Jesus cryptically declared that they could destroy "this temple," and in three days He would raise it up, speaking not of the physical building but of His own body, which His disciples would later recall after His resurrection.
When Jesus talks about 'this temple,' He isn't just talking about stones and mortar. He’s pointing to something far more sacred and personal. What did He mean by the 'temple' of His own body?
When the Jewish leaders demanded a sign to validate Jesus' actions in cleansing the temple, Jesus gave them a profound and mysterious one: 'Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.'
A Deeper Sanctuary
The Jews understood 'temple' to refer to the magnificent building in Jerusalem. However, Jesus, in His wisdom, used their own word with a double meaning. He was alluding to the sacred dwelling place of God's presence. While the physical temple was a symbol, Jesus declared that His own body was the true sanctuary, the ultimate dwelling place of God.
More Than Stone
This wasn't just a clever wordplay. The physical temple, despite its grandeur, had become a place of commerce and corruption. Jesus was highlighting that the true presence of God wasn't confined to a building but was embodied in Him. His body, the very humanity He took on, was where the fullness of the Godhead dwelled.
Jesus' words about raising the temple in three days sounded impossible to the Jews. But this wasn't just a prediction; it was the ultimate sign that would prove His divine authority. What makes the resurrection so significant?
Jesus' response was deliberately enigmatic. The Jews, focused on the physical temple, heard His words and later twisted them into an accusation during His trial. They couldn't grasp that Jesus was speaking about the temple of His body and His subsequent resurrection.
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The Sign They Demanded
The Jews had demanded a sign to validate Jesus' authority. Instead of a spectacular display they could immediately witness, Jesus pointed to a future event – His resurrection. This event would be the ultimate, irrefutable sign of His identity and mission.
A Promise of Power
By saying, 'in three days I will raise it up,' Jesus was not only predicting His resurrection but also asserting His own divine power. While Scripture often attributes the resurrection to the Father, Jesus here claims it as His own act, highlighting the unity of the Godhead and His unique authority over life and death. This sign would serve as the foundation for the new spiritual temple built by God.
At the time, Jesus' words were a mystery to His disciples. But later, something shifted. What does their eventual understanding reveal about faith and Scripture?
When Jesus spoke of destroying and raising the temple, His disciples didn't fully comprehend His meaning. The prophecy was spoken in a figurative way, intentionally obscure to those who were not yet ready to grasp the profound truth of His impending death and resurrection.
The Seed of Truth
Jesus was planting seeds of truth that would only sprout later. He knew the disciples wouldn't fully understand until after the event had occurred. This is a pattern in Jesus' teaching – revealing divine mysteries progressively.
Remembering and Believing
The Gospel of John tells us that after Jesus was raised from the dead, 'his disciples remembered that he had said this to them.' This act of remembering, coupled with their belief in the Scriptures, brought clarity and deepened their faith. It shows us that understanding God's Word often involves a process of memory, reflection, and the illuminating power of the Holy Spirit.
Understand the original words
naos · Greek Noun
The dwelling place of God’s presence on earth, originally the tabernacle and later the temple, which symbolizes God’s communion with His people; in the New Covenant, it refers to Christ’s body and subsequently the Church.
lyo · Greek Verb
The act of physically or metaphorically breaking down, causing to come to an end, or ruining something established.
egeiro · Greek Verb
To bring back to life or to lift up from a prostrate or fallen state, specifically used in the New Testament to describe the resurrection of Christ from the dead.
naos · Greek Noun
A building or place dedicated to the service or worship of a deity; in the New Testament, it represents the dwelling place of God’s presence, ultimately fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ and His Church.
Jesus' cryptic statement about destroying and rebuilding the 'temple' in three days wasn't about the physical building, but about His own body. This prophecy, made during His dramatic cleansing of the Temple courts, would only be understood by His followers after His resurrection, becoming a cornerstone of their faith and a stark contrast to the eventual destruction of the literal Temple.
c. 20 BC - AD 63
Herod's Temple Reconstruction
King Herod the Great began a massive renovation and expansion of the Second Temple in Jerusalem. This ambitious project took decades to complete, significantly altering and enlarging the existing structure.
c. AD 27-30— this verse
Jesus Cleanses the Temple
Jesus enters the Temple courts in Jerusalem and drives out merchants and money-changers, asserting His authority and condemning the commercialization of the sacred space.
c. AD 30
Jesus' Crucifixion
Jesus is arrested, tried, and crucified by Roman authorities in Jerusalem. This event directly fulfills the prophecy He made about the 'temple' of His body being destroyed.
c. AD 30
Jesus' Resurrection
Three days after His crucifixion, Jesus is resurrected from the dead, validating His claims and fulfilling the prophecy that He would raise the temple of His body.
c. AD 30 - 70
Post-Resurrection Ministry
The disciples, remembering Jesus' words after His resurrection, begin to understand His prophecy. The early church grows, with believers seeing themselves as the new temple of God, built on Christ's sacrifice and resurrection.
AD 70
Destruction of the Second Temple
The Roman army destroys the Second Temple in Jerusalem during the First Jewish-Roman War. This catastrophic event marks the end of an era for Jewish worship and powerfully underscores the shift Jesus inaugurated.
Jesus directly references this same 'sign' of His resurrection in response to a demand for a miracle, highlighting the resurrection as the ultimate proof of His authority.
1 Corinthians 3:16This passage expands on the 'temple' concept, identifying believers, and by extension the Church, as the temple where God's Spirit dwells, paralleling Christ's own body as the true temple.
Matthew 26:61This verse shows how Jesus' words here were twisted and used as false testimony against Him during His trial, demonstrating the misunderstanding and opposition He faced.
John 10:17-18Jesus speaks about His authority over His own life and body, stating He has the power to lay down His life and take it up again, which directly supports His declaration in John 2:19.
Acts 2:22-24This passage emphasizes that God the Father raised Jesus from the dead, a concept that clarifies the Trinitarian nature of the resurrection that Jesus alludes to in John 2:19.
ellicottJohn 2:19: "Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."
(19) Here, as in Matthew 12:38 , a sign is given referring to His resurrection. The sign is in its nature an enigma, meaningless to him who does not seek to understand it, but full of meaning for him who earnestly examines into the thing signified, and in such a form as impresses itself on the memory and educates the moral powers. We have had an example of this enigmatic teaching in John 1…
calvinJohn 2:18-22: "Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?"
- The Jews then answered and said to him, What sign [51] showest thou to us, that thou doest these things? 19. Jesus answered and said to them, Destroy this temple, and I will raise it up in three days. 20. The Jews therefore said, Forty and six years was this temple in building; and wilt thou raise it up in three days? 21. But he spoke of the temple of his body. 22.…
What's so striking here is how Jesus uses the word "temple" with a profound double meaning that the people completely miss. They hear him referring to the magnificent stone building, but Jesus is actually talking about his own body, which he knows will be destroyed and then raised again.
After Jesus powerfully cleared the temple courts, the Jewish leaders demanded a sign to prove His authority for such an act. In response, Jesus cryptically declared that they could destroy "this temple," and in three days He would raise it up, speaking not of the physical building but of His own body, which His disciples would later recall after His resurrection.
After Jesus powerfully cleared the temple courts, the Jewish leaders demanded a sign to prove His authority for such an act. In response, Jesus cryptically declared that they could destroy "this temple," and in three days He would raise it up, speaking not of the physical building but of His own body, which His disciples would later recall after His resurrection.
"Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his…" — What's so striking here is how Jesus uses the word "temple" with a profound double meaning that the people completely miss. They hear him referring to the magnificent stone building, but Jesus is act…
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Last reviewed October 2026
