John 2:19

Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.

What Jesus meant by this is plainly given in John 2:21, "He spake of the temple of his body"; but such a simple answer is rejected by some. This pointed reference to his own death, burial and resurrection cannot be allowed by those who would spiritualize every historical fact out of this Gospel. As one has declared:

"Destroy" is a prophetic command meaning, "Go on as you are doing and you will bring this temple down in ruins (at the hands of Rome); but in a brief time (three days) I will raise up another center of worship." Jesus is predicting that through his work there will arise a new spiritual building in which the new Israel, the Church, will worship God![18]

Of course, such an interpretation is sheer nonsense. In Jesus' true words, the same temple envisaged as destroyed is exactly the same one Jesus promised to raise up in three days; and added to that obvious fact is the emphatic statement of the inspired evangelist himself that Jesus "spake of the temple of his body"!

This verse shows that Jesus fully knew the consequences of casting out the money-changers; and, by this prophecy, he clearly foretold that they would indeed put him to death and that he would rise from the dead on the third day. This statement made in response to the demand for a sign is similar in the Lord's answer to the demand of the Pharisees recorded in Matthew 12:38ff. In both instances, the only sign the Pharisees were promised was the Lord's own death, burial, and resurrection; but here he used the analogy of the destroyed temple raised again in three days, while there the "sign of the prophet Jonah" had exactly the same meaning!