Words of Grace – July 24, 2014

Jesus and the twelve disciples went to the temple in Jerusalem at the time of the Jewish Passover. When he saw all the buying and selling going on, Jesus drove the money changers out.

After he poured their money on the floor and overturned their tables, Jesus said to them, “Take these things hence; make no my Father’s house a house of merchandise” (John 2:16).

It was after this that the people asked Jesus what sign he would show them. “Destroy this temple,” he answered, “and in three days I will raise it up.”

Jesus was referring to the temple of his body which would be raised up after the crucifixion. They thought he was talking about the actual building, which was forty-six years in the making. “Wilt thou raise it up in three days?” they asked.

When Jesus was hanging on the cross, they remembered his words. “Thou that destroys the temple, and builds it in three days, save thyself,” they mocked. “If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross” (Matthew 27:40).

The mocking continued as the chief priests said, “He saved others; himself he cannot save,” Then they said that if Jesus would come down from the cross, they would believe.

But Jesus did not come down from the cross to save himself. Instead, he died on the cross to save us.