The Who, Not the How
“Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.’ They 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 Jesus had spoken.” — John 2:19-22 (NIV)
Has someone ever said something to you that made you question everything you thought you knew about a particular situation? Maybe you have been pronouncing a word incorrectly your entire life and had no clue until someone said it the correct way. It is honestly a little comical how many times in Scripture Jesus does this to those listening to him. It seems Jesus gets a little laugh out of messing with people’s heads (metaphorically)...
In John 2, the Jewish leaders are questioning Jesus’ authority to clear the temple courts and call it his “Father’s house” (John 2:13-18). The temple had taken years and years (46 years) to build and was still in progress when Jesus arrived. Now, here Jesus is, saying he will rebuild it in just three days? Of course they thought he was crazy! When Jesus talks about the “temple,” the Jewish leaders naturally assume he is referring to the temple he has just “cleansed.” But Jesus means something entirely different—he is referring to himself as the replacement for the temple.
“But the temple he had spoken of was his body” (John 2:21, NIV).
Now, we have the full story. We know that the cleansing of the temple can be seen as the catalyst for Jesus’ eventual arrest and crucifixion. We know Jesus is not talking about the literal temple building. But the Jewish leaders could only see what was right in front of them—and boy were they confused. They thought he was talking about the building, but he was talking about the body. They thought he was talking about rebuilding, but he was talking about resurrecting. Their limited understanding and calloused hearts caused them to completely miss Jesus’ true message.
How often do we get mad at or upset with God because we don’t understand what he is doing? We get frustrated when we have a promise from God, but we do not have all the information about how he is going to do what he said he would. We question his goodness when our circumstances look different from how we feel they should. We doubt his promise when the situation is not changing on our desired or preferred timeline. Much like the Jewish leaders, we often completely miss the point of what Jesus is trying to say because we are caught up in our limited understanding.
The Jewish leaders had no idea how Jesus could possibly do what he said he would do. Rebuild the temple in three days? No way! But the point was not meant to be the how—it was meant to be the who. The point Jesus was making was that he was the one who would be doing it, so it would be done. They were not meant to understand all the details of his plan or work; they were meant to trust in the person who was doing that work.
The irony of the misunderstanding of the Jewish leaders is that they would be key instruments in the later destruction of Jesus’ body (the temple). The people later mocked him for the very thing they misunderstood: “Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, ‘So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, come down from the cross and save yourself!’” (Mark 15:29-30, NIV). They were completely unaware that they were actually playing a pivotal role in him fulfilling his elusive promise.
“After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words Jesus had spoken” (John 2:22, NIV).
That is so applicable to our lives as we question God — how will we get through this? How will we do this? When is it going to happen? When, above it all, Jesus is trying to get us to see that he is always working in ways far beyond what we can understand or imagine. His ways will not always make sense to us. His timing will often appear confusing. His provision may not come in the ways we prefer or expect. Often, we will see in hindsight the role we had to play in his plan.
“‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the LORD. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts’” (Isaiah 55:8-9, NIV).
We are not meant to understand the mysteries of God’s workings. We are called to trust that he knows what he is doing. Proverbs 3:5-6 instructs, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight” (NIV). When it does not make sense to us, we are called to rely on God’s character rather than trying to figure it out ourselves.
Ecclesiastes 11:5 tells us “As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things” (NIV). The inner workings of God’s plan may remain mysterious to us, but our job is not to understand the how—it is to trust the who.
bytaylormcgee
