JESUS IS GREATER THAN THE TEMPLE
When Jesus was twelve years old, He went to the temple, but His parents did not see Him there. After they returned to the temple and found Jesus, they were anxious and upset. Jesus said to them, “Why were you searching for me? Didn’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?”
“But why did you need to search?” he asked. “Didn’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?”
( Luke 2: 49 )
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In all Bible translations, such as the ESV, NIV, NASB, NLT, CSB and others, we see that Jesus referred to it as His Father’s house. This understanding aligns with the Old Testament, where God told David that He would build a temple for Him.
He said to me, ‘Your son Solomon will build my Temple and its courtyards, for I have chosen him as my son, and I will be his father. ( 1 Chronicle 28: 6 )
Jesus came from His Father’s house in Nazareth to His own Father’s house, the temple in Jerusalem. Although He left Nazareth and His parents behind, He chose to stay in His Father’s temple, where He spoke profound truths and challenged the superstitions and man-made principles of the time. Beyond the joy of being in His Father’s house, Jesus’s purpose was to reveal the great secrets of the kingdom of heaven to the people.
“But why did you need to search?” he asked. “Didn’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?”
( Luke 2: 49 )
God instructed the people to build a tabernacle so that He could dwell among them: “They are to make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them”.
“Have the people of Israel build me a holy sanctuary so I can live among them. ( Exodus 25: 8 )
While the tabernacle was necessary for that time, God later decided to establish a permanent temple where He would dwell among the Israelites forever: “I will dwell among the children of Israel forever”.
The LORD said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place where I will rest my feet. I will live here forever among the people of Israel. They and their kings will not defile my holy name any longer by their adulterous worship of other gods or by honoring the relics of their kings who have died.
( Ezekiel 43: 7 )
Furthermore, God promised, “I am coming to dwell among you, says the Lord”.
The LORD says, “Shout and rejoice, O beautiful Jerusalem, for I am coming to live among you.
( Zechariah 2: 10 )
In the fulfillment of these prophecies, the Lord spoke of the birth of the Son of God in Bethlehem. The Apostle John wrote, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us”. 14 So the Word became human and made his home among us.
He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son. ( John 1: 14 )
During His ministry, Jesus used to teach His disciples that His body was the temple.
“All right,” Jesus replied. “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 “What!” they exclaimed. “It has taken forty-six years to build this Temple, and you can rebuild it in three days?” 21 But when Jesus said “this temple,” he meant his own body. 22After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered he had said this, and they believed both the Scriptures and what Jesus had said.
( John 2:19- 22 )
He was speaking about His body. After His resurrection, the disciples remembered the Scriptures and the words Jesus had spoken. These words will be understood if we have the grace to recognize that the true temple among us is His body.
Mark clarifies what Jesus meant in His gospel. There is a temple built with human hands, but the disciples understood that Jesus’ body is a temple not made with hands.
Even if that body were destroyed, the Lord could rebuild it in three days. In AD 70, Titus came and completely destroyed the temple built by human hands. However, the temple not made by hands is still growing.
Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, ( 1 Corinthians 6: 19 )
Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you? 17God will destroy anyone who destroys this temple. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.
( 1 Corinthians 3: 16- 17 )
Of course! Here’s another version with good readability:
Therefore, anyone who asserts that salvation comes from temples built by human hands, they are not in Christ.