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JOHN 2:20 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
John 2:19John 2:21
“Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?”
But the temple he had spoken of was his body — the Evangelist's clarification establishes Jesus' body as replacement for and fulfillment of the temple's mediating function. This Christological reinterpretation transforms the physical building into symbol for Jesus' incarnate presence. The temple's destruction and rebuilding (in 70 CE) becomes eschatologically significant when understood as pointing to Jesus' death and Resurrection.

Church Fathers on John 2:20

The Jews seeing Jesus thus acting with power, and having heard Him say, Make not My Father’s house a house of merchandise, ask of Him a sign; Then answered the Jews and said to Him, What sign show You to us, seeing that You do these things?

Theophylact · 11th century

But were signs necessary for His putting a stop to evil practices? Was not the having such zeal for the house of God, the greatest sign of His virtue? They did not however remember the prophecy, but asked for a sign; at once irritated at the loss of their base gains, and wishing to prevent Him from going further. For this dilemma, they thought, would oblige Him either to work miracles, or give up His present course. But He refuses to give them the sign, as He did on a like…

Chrysostom · 4th century

For inasmuch as they sought a sign from our Lord of His right to eject the customary merchandise from the temple, He replied, that that temple signified the temple of His Body, in which was no spot of sin; as if He said, As by My power I purify your inanimate temple from your merchandise and wickedness; so the temple of My Body, of which that is the figure, destroyed by your hands, on the third day I will raise again.

Bede · 8th century
Read all 18 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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John 2:20 — Community Reflections | HolyStudy