Just As He Said

Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” (John 2:19, NIV 1984).

My Musings – Jesus had just driven the money changers, sheep and cattle out of the temple courts, indignant that the turned His Father’s house into a market. Perhaps it was natural for the Jews to mock Him, “it has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” (John 2:20, NIV 1984). Maybe we would have had the same reaction.

But that is not what Jesus meant. “After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. [An] angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said.'” (Matthew 28:1, 5–6, NIV). The first day of the week was the third day after He was crucified. And just as He said, just as the Scriptures had said, “my [Jesus] body also will rest secure, because you [the Father] will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay.” (Psalm 16:9–10, NIV 1984).

My Advice – “After He was raised from the dead, His disciples recalled what He had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.” (John 2:22, NIV 1984). Now it is up to us to believe “the words that Jesus had spoken.”