No Greater Love

The Jews replied, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?"  But the temple He had spoken of was His body.  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.  Now while He was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs He was doing and believed in His name.

                                                       
Jesus had told those who opposed Him for clearing the temple that if the temple (meaning His body) were destroyed, He would raise it up again in three days.  This is the most amazing statement ever made by anyone, at any time, anywhere in the world.  It was His first defense to opposition of His earthly ministry (in the gospel of John).  Right from the start Jesus makes it very clear what He is capable of doing and willing to do for the benefit of humanity.  This statement shows us His determination, focus, courage, purpose....and love for us.

The reply from the Jews is full of sarcasm.  A building project that has taken a nation with all its manpower and resources almost half a century to build, Jesus would build again in seventy two hours?  Not a statement of a rational thinking individual.  It's easy to understand why the Jews couldn't believe His statement.  It was irrational and simply insane since they thought Him to be talking about the temple building not His body.

Three Points:

1. Make sure when talking to God you are talking about the same thing.
2. When you read a statement in Scripture that you can't understand ask Him to make it clear to you.
3. Have faith in what Jesus is telling you in/ through Scripture. 

It's a curious thing to me that it took the disciples until after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ to remember the words He spoke at the temple clearing.  Were they too busy to ask, to shy, or maybe they didn't want to look foolish for asking.  Whatever the reason, it wasn't until after the resurrection that they had the understanding and faith to believe.

Yet at the time Jesus was at the temple feast, we are told that He was doing more miracles and that many people believed in His name.  Why did unnamed people believe in Him when the religious rulers and His own disciples didn't?  It must have been that these 'common' people were in such an earnest search for the Savior that when they saw what He was doing and heard what He was preaching, it fulfilled perfectly the old testament scriptures.  They needed no other confirmation, they believed because He was the perfect representation of what the prophets had foretold.

Can you believe Jesus' statement that He would raise up the temple in three days?
How does Jesus resurrection affect your life today?