(John 2:19)
�Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.�
The Temple in which these events happened was the third temple. The first, of course, was Solomon�s Temple. This Temple was destroyed by the Babylonian hordes when they conquered Jerusalem. The second temple was that of Nehemiah in the return under Cyrus. The third Temple was built by Herod. It was a magnificent structure which had taken decades to build.
I�m not sure just how much of a concept of the omnipresence of God the Jew of that day understood. The purpose of the Temple, in the Old Testament, was to serve as the �House of God.� Many probably understood that this was the place where God resided. That is, possibly, why the considered it proper to go to Jerusalem for these annual feast and sacrifice days.
They believed that they were going to �God�s House.�
We use this same term, The House of God, in speaking of our churches even in this day. We are wrong. Paul, via the medium of inspiration, tells us, �Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of god dwelleth in you?� (I Corinthians 3:16) The several churches are the buildings in which the Christians, who each singularly are the Temple of God, meet together to praise His Name.
If this can be said of the Christian, because of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in salvation, how much more could this statement be made of Jesus. �For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.� (Colossians 2:9) As God in the flesh, that human body of Jesus was certainly a Temple in the literal sense - especially as understood by the Jew who would have been at this festival.
In a greater sense, God is not restricted by a body of clay. Even Jesus said of Himself, when speaking with Nicodemus, �And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.� (John 3:13)
Jesus is God. Make no mistake about this fact. Although we often think of Him as being of a human body during His sojourn upon this earth - and He was via the incarnation. He was not, as God, limited to that earthly existence. Even as He was speaking with Nicodemus, Jesus was in Heaven.
He is not limited as we would often like to consider Him as limited. He is God and is without limit.
All of this, of course, just �flew over the head� of those religious leaders to whom He was speaking. They did not understand that God in human flesh was standing before them. They did not understand that the physical body of Jesus was a Temple in every sense of the word.
Their minds wafted to that with which they were familiar. They looked at the brick, stone and mortar of a temporal building, a building which was the third edition which served its purpose, and neglected the very Son of God Who stood before them.
How often have we been guilty of the same? We consider this temporal existence as important. It is, of course. But, of even more important are the eternal realities of the spirit. We use this phantom of time to prepare for the reality of eternity.
Jesus gave an answer to the question of these religious leaders. �Jesus answered��
The answer of Jesus was concise. He didn�t elaborate. He just said, �Destroy this Temple and I�ll rebuild it in three days.�
When many people look at the Bible they see 1651 pages. That�s what is in the edition I�m using right now. They think the Bible is a long Book. It�s really not. Consider how much of human history, not to mention prophecy, which is spoken in this Book. The story flows, quickly sometimes, because God doesn�t waste time with His Words.
There is something that we need to understand. The entire Bible is important. Yes, that includes the genealogies. The fact is that God would not have included any words which were not central to His message to humanity.
All of us have favorite parts, of course. But all of us will do well to study the Message in its entirety.
Just looking at the statement of Jesus, and not considering the entirety of the Message, the religious leaders completely misunderstood that which Jesus had told them.
They had asked for a sign; Jesus gave them a sign. Pointedly, He said to them, not to someone else, �Destroy this Temple and I�ll rebuild it in three days.� This statement was a sign, and it was a prophecy. These very men, from this group, were - humanly speaking - responsible for His death. They sought to destroy the Temple of His body.
It looked, for a time, that they had succeeded. His body lay in the repose of death. But, then that first Easter Morning, He arose! There was the answer to the �sign� they had requested. But, they rejected it. They rejected Him.
These religious leaders had read the passages which they loved. But, they did not consider the entirety of the Message. They hoped, as was probably natural for them in their situation of servitude to Rome, for the Conquering Messiah. They seemed to overlook those passages which spoke of the Suffering Savior.
The message is concise. That, itself, is a sign to us that every portion is important.
This is one of the problems I have with much of modern textual criticism. Many have begun to follow the lead of the Modernist from the early parts of the 20th century. Those Modernist�s argued that the Bible only �contained� the Word of God.
The Fundamentalist, who argued then that the Bible was - in it�s entirety - The Words of God, has back slidden into the same concept as did the Modernist. So many of the Fundamentalist�s, and their colleges and universities, now teach a �concept inspiration.� They teach that God didn�t really inspire the Words of Scripture; He only inspired the general concept, or story of Scripture.
This is an obvious necessity for those who have departed from the Traditional Text of God, and have gone after the eclectic text of man. How else, since these newer texts argue that the �True Words� of Scripture have been lost to history as those old, �Original Manuscripts� have decayed into dust. The only argument they have left to consider inspiration is to downgrade the historic and Biblical concept of a plenary and verbal inspiration.
That concept of plenary and verbal inspiration is that God originally inspired even the very Words of Scripture. Listen to the argument of Paul, who was writing Inspired Scripture at the time, �Now to Abrham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.� (Galatians 3:16)
This is an argument for the very letters, much a Jesus did when He said, �Not one jot or tittle� which extends all the way to parts of letters. It is inconceivable that one who has immersed himself in the totality of Scripture could ever argue for a �concept inspiration!�
God has said what God has said. As Christians we have no right to limit His message to what we, or a textual critic, might wish to allow Him to have said. We need His entire message.
What Jesus answered was also convicting. God promised that His Words would not return to Him void. �So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.� (Isaiah 55:12)
God sends His Words out for a purpose. Woe unto sinful man who refuses to heed His Words. Back in the time of The Food, before sin had shortened the lifespan of man, God said, �And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.� (Genesis 6:3)
There is another well known verse that I�d like to reference on this point. �For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.� (Ephesians 2:8)
If you ever want to talk about Charismatic Gifts from God, this is the greatest. Note that faith is not of ourselves. It is a gift from God. Unless the Spirit quickens our hearts we cannot come to Jesus in faith and access this great salvation.
Properly speaking we do not come to Jesus. He comes to us. �For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.� (Luke 19:10) It is His Spirit, placing conviction upon our spirit, which allows us to respond to Him.
In effect, we are not saved, even in the accepting of Him, by any effort or work of our own. It is His convicting power which calls us to the place of repentance. These religious leaders who were interrogating Him we so enmeshed in their own concept of �religion� that they failed to accept the Savior.
We need to consider the audience to which Jesus spoke. ��and said unto them��
Look and see that Jesus gave a directed response. He spoke to these men.
I worked, a couple of times, as a counselor at some meetings for a large evangelistic organization. All of us �counselors� would wear large name tags identifying us. We were instructed to come forward at the invitation. When we reached the front we were to find those without the name tags and try to lead them to the Lord.
On one of these occasions the only ones who came forward were the �counselor�s.� The appearance was given of a great revival. It didn�t happen. Well, it didn�t happen that particular time.
The point is that we�ve all seen these great crusades on our televisions. We have watched hundreds of people respond to an �alter call.� This only seems like a great crowd. In actuality, this was a picture of God working personally with each single individual. God can do that!
Each person comes to Jesus because the love of Jesus calls them to Himself. If we come in a crowd, it is still the individual who is called. Each individual even if the appearance, and reality, is that there are thousands repenting. We are not saved in groups, even when we are in a group.
The Spirit works upon individuals.
Jesus also gave a dignified response. He could have said, �I don�t need to answer you. You�re not going to accept anything I have to say.� He�d have been right, history shows us, if He had said this. But, He offered even these which He knew would reject Him the opportunity to have an audience with Him.
God is so good to all. He offers, freely, His salvation. He has given us the responsibility to carry forth the message of that offer. We are not �salesman.� It is the Spirit which adds the true Power to our obedience.
But, notice His example. He was patient and respectful of those to whom He spoke. He didn�t �pull any punches. He spoke the truth even when it was unpleasant. Later we will see Him more confrontational with these religious leaders. They were those which would keep men and women from coming to Him.
But, to the sinner on the street He was never confrontational. He offered them love and compassion. If we claim to be His followers we have an obligation to do the same.
Notice, also, that He offered a detailed response. He pointed these men back to the �sign� of Jonah. As Jonah was three days, and three nights, in the belly of the whale, so would Jesus be three days and three nights in the tomb.
The Truth, and the sign they sought, was right there, laid out in an orderly fashion, if these men had only responded to His words.
Folks, we do a disservice to mankind when we begin to preach a cultural message. Sure, some of the sins of humanity are gross and dripping with the violence of man�s inhumanity to man. Certainly, the homosexual lifestyle, and the murder of the innocent in the very womb of their mother, are sins. But, when we begin to harp on these acts, when this is all the world sees of us, we are in danger of preaching a �works� salvation.
No; a change of life style has never saved a person�s immortal soul! They need to Savior. Repentance? Of course! But our duty is to present the Savior. We do not, or should not, attempt to impose our culture on those outside of the Household of Faith.
The natural man can not begin to live a Godly lifestyle without the indwelling of the Spirit. The natural man may begin to look and act as do we. That isn�t salvation. Going to church does not save anyone.
When I was a young child my family lived in what was to become our garage. We lived their while my father was building, by hand and mostly by himself, our house. Even with those years spent living in the garage, I have never become a Studebaker. Salvation is not dependant upon where we live, or how we live! Salvation is dependant upon that relationship with the Savior.
That, in itself, is one reason why we need to be in prayer for those, by name!, with whom we witness. It is not our witness that saves. We are only �pointers.� God does all the Work.
It is such a great blessing that He has asked us to be part of that work! How ennobling it is! But, how responsible we must be to fulfill our part of His Work.
I have, recently, been fulfilling the office of Executor of my father�s estate. One of my sister�s is livid that I have this �authority.� Folks, in this matter I have no �authority.� I am only bound to be �responsible.�
It is the same in our Christian witness. We have no authority. We do, however, have a great responsibility to God and to our fellow human beings to be faithful in that to which we are called.
Jesus answered these religious leaders with a reference to the coming atrocity. ��Destroy this temple��
The atrocity, of course, was that sinful men would lay unholy hands on the Living Word. In truth, of course, this was all in the Great Plan of God. It would be the sacrifice of the human Jesus which would purchase salvation for all who would believe.
Jesus spoke to these religious leaders a word of prophecy. This was His prediction, nay!, His absolute knowledge that these religious leaders would demand that He be put to death.
This prophecy was actually much earlier than this day in Jerusalem at the Temple. Back in Psalm 22, the following words are spoken by David.
�My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest me not; and in the night season, and am not silent. But thou art holy, O thou that inhapitest the praises of Israel. Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them. They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded. But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. All they that see me laugh me to scorn; they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing that he delighted in him.� (Psalm 22:2-8)
Had His tormenters considered these words they might not have been so quick to add their own testimony to the fact that Jesus is the Messiah, promised of God.
The thing is, these people did know these words. They were experts in the Old Testament Scripture. How blinded they must have been by their rage, their fury, their hatred, the fear, and their sin!
The irony is that Jesus gave a word of prophecy and His enemies helped to establish His case. He is the Lord of Glory.
Notice that Jesus answered with the word of the prophets. Jesus gave His sign to this generation by mentioning the story of the Prophet Jonah. Our appeal must, likewise, always be to the Scripture.
When Jesus was assailed by the tempter on the Mount of Temptation, He answered every single assault with an appeal to the Scripture. We need to realize the great spiritual power which resided in this Book.
When we say that the Scripture is inspired, what we mean is that the Scripture contains the very Words of God. This is yet another reason why the true Text of the Scripture could not have been lost for over a thousand years, as is alleged by the modern day Bible critic.
Since the Words of the Bible, via inspiration, are the very Words of God, they are of eternal construction. Those Words will retain the same power grand and glorious attributes of Him Who uttered them. They are eternal Words given to humanity in a temporal setting. But, the Words, themselves, are eternal Words. They are not subject to decay. Certainly, the scrolls on which the Words were originally written have long since decayed and perish from this earth.
The scrolls, upon which those Words were originally written, were of time and physicality. They are not eternal. Such was never the purpose. The Words, however, copied and recopied by faithful scribe, priest and Christian, are eternal. Such is their purpose as they proceed from the Will and Purpose of God. Time does not have the power to override the purposes of God.
Also, the answer was the word of proficiency. The answer of Jesus may have been overlooked by the religious leaders. The answer of Jesus was probably even overlooked by the disciples. But, the time came when the Spirit brought these Words to the remembrance of those disciples. They began to understand that the One with Whom they had shared the dusty road, the loaves and fishes, the great teaching of Him, He was the Lord of Glory.
Jesus, they finally understood as these things were brought back into their memories after the resurrection and the Pentecost experience, was more than a great teacher. He was even more than a miracle worker. He was, and is, God in human flesh.
Even while speaking with those religious leaders, Jesus was equipping His disciples to spread the word that He had died in time so that others could live in eternity.
The answer of Jesus also gave a time of astonishment to His questioners. ��and in three days I will raise it up.�
These religious people did not understand that Jesus spoke of a New Building. Not that the Temple at Jerusalem was unimportant. But the New Temple would be a Temple not built with human hands. The earthly temple had only a few, short, decades left to stand in existence. It is gone. It is covered by the dust of history and the shrine of a false religious system.
But, the Temple of His Body stands for all eternity at the Right Hand of God. This Temple also stands near the Christian. Our worship is in Him rather than in the works of former pious men.
I�ve stated before, and it bears repeating, that the modern day English language versions are based on a false textual base. They are founded not in faith, but in the conviction that God is either not powerful, and His Words were overcome by the sands of time, or that He is not loving and He has hidden these Words from the churches He founded, and the Christians who make up the Bride of Christ.
Instead of accepting His Words, we are asked to trust in the �best efforts� of sinful mankind to �recover� what they believe God has lost. What a low view of God this is!
His answer also considers the New Birth. Because of this coming �destruction� of His earthly body, all humanity would be offered the opportunity to accept Him as Savior. He was preparing to die on that cross so that we could be forgiven our sins!
What a glorious consideration this is!
This brings up, of course, the new broadcast. I have been on several radio and television programs. To �broadcast,� in this sense, is to send out a message into the world. Some of these messages thus sent out are good. Some are not.
The message we are asked to broadcast into the world is that Jesus is risen from the dead! The grave could not hold His power and person. He defeated death and sin on the Cross. He proved His victory when He rose from the dead of His Own choice.
He died to save us. He rose again to defeat the foe of all - death and decay. We might go to a grave on this earth. I fully expect to in only a few years, should I last that long in this coil of clay. But, in the final analysis, death is a defeated foe.
I flew to a speaking engagement a few years ago. First, I bought a ticket to the town in which the engagement was to be held. I gave that ticket to a boarding agent. The plane lifted me up from the ground and flew me to Philadelphia.
It wasn�t my power that allowed me to fly. It wasn�t my word that allowed me to get on the airplane. First, I purchased a ticket. This is what allowed me seating on the airplane.
Next, the power of the airplane flew me to my destination.
It all started with the payment for the ticket.
Jesus has paid for our �ticket.� When it comes time, should He tarry His return, He will accompany us through the �Valley of the Shadow.� We will wing our way to the Heavenly home in His power.
This is because He died in time so that I might live in eternity.
Have you gotten your ticket? Have you accepted Jesus as your Savior? Why not do so today? Jesus has already paid the price; He simply asked that you accept the ticket from His nail scared Hand.