Forty Six Years to Build and You'll Raise It in Three days - John 2:20

John the apostle shared how Jesus turned water into wine, and he wrote how Jesus, “went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples: and they continued there not many days. And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, and found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting. And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables. And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things from here; make not my Father's house a house of merchandise. And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of your house has eaten me up. Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign show you unto us, seeing that you do these things? Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up”, and in chapter two and verse twenty of his book, John shared how the Jews said, “forty and six years was this temple in building” where we read:

Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building,

and will you rear it up in three days?

The verse reads, “Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, ...” John began with the words, “Then said the Jews” which means “at that time uttered, declared and proclaimed the people within the Jewish nation”, “Forty and six years” which means “forty six years” “was this temple in building” or “it took for this sacred worship place to be constructed”. John shared how the “Jewish people or rulers” who were questioning Jesus began to respond to Him by referring to the “forty six years” it took for the “temple” to be constructed.

The verse goes on to say, “... and will you rear it up in three days?” John continued with the words, “and will you rear it up” which means “and shall you, Jesus, rebuild, construct and erect the temple” “in three days” or “within three sunrises to sunsets”? John shared how the “Jewish” people who questioned Jesus asked Him whether He believed He could “reconstruct” the “temple” in “three days”.

When we meditate upon John's words in this verse, we see how these “Jewish rulers” were only seeing in the natural rather than the spiritual world like Jesus. Jesus was not speaking about the physical “temple” in Jerusalem, but rather the “temple” of His own body as we shall discover in our next verse. God desires to “cleanse” people from within, and because Jesus would “die” for the sins of mankind, be buried and raised from the dead “three days” later, mankind has the opportunity to receive Him as “Savior and Lord”. When a person believes and trusts in Him, they shall be forgiven of their sins and inherit everlasting life with God. Let all who consider this “temple” Jesus could “rebuild” yield their lives to Him and allow Him to “reconstruct” their lives as well.

Next time John shares how Jesus, “spoke of the temple of his body”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".