John 2:18-19

“¹⁸ So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” ¹⁹ Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

In the last passage Jesus had seen what happened in the temple and how there was a whole store front opened up in front of the temple and His response was to chase them all out with a whip He made while His disciples watched on and connected this to Old Testament prophecy. In this passage we can see the response from the religious leaders to this. At first glance we have to take an objective look at their perspective where this man came in and stirred up the day-to-day business, but as we understand the perspective of the author John we know why he put the religious leaders’ response after what Jesus did—to show the Biblical backing to Jesus’s actions which will be confirmed further in this passage.

            What was the religious leaders’ actual response to what Jesus did? It was to ask Him what sign did He show for His actions. This was a call for Jesus to give His credentials in a way, and the religious leaders asked this another way later by asking what authority did Jesus do what He did. This contrasts with what John showed in the response from the disciples. They saw what Jesus did and they brought it back to Old Testament prophecies, but when the religious leaders saw, they wanted a sign. John showed the difference of those who understand and those who do not as one seeking to understand through God’s Word and the other seeking to understand through outside influences. John was making the point that no sign should be necessary as what Jesus was doing was obviously right and what all the Jews should have been doing.

            John’s record of how Jesus responded is very telling. When Jesus was talking about the temple in this verse it was not the physical temple in which He was just standing but the temple of His body. He was saying He would be destroyed and in three days He would raise Himself back up. John was showing how Jesus was not there to convince those who would not understand but to give understanding to those who want to know. His first act was recognized by the disciples right away but this second one would only be truly understood by them after it happened.

            As Christians, it is important for us not to get wrapped up in outward signs as these can be not only misleading but also might not be from God at all. What John shows us is that we understand Jesus through the understanding of scripture. Our journey with scripture only begins when we are saved and set apart. Then we are to read it all the time to understand our own culture and how we are to react when there is a store front in our temple so to speak. We must be like His first disciples calling out prophecy and understanding actions through the lens of scripture.

For those who are not Christians, Jesus knew there would never be a sign that would convince the people that He was talking to of His true identity. They needed to see what He would ultimately do which was to die on the cross, the temple destroyed, but three days later He was raised again as the ultimate sign of His righteousness. He has proven Himself and He calls for you now to be saved. He has also said that He is the only way to come to God. He is not trying to fool you with signs and wonders. It is just a simple invitation to join Him. Accept that you are a sinner and need Jesus’s righteousness to be saved and you will be.