DESTROY THIS HOUSE

A demolition company bulldozed the wrong building. It turns out the owner of the house that was meant to be demolished nailed his own house number on to a neighbour’s house so the company would destroy that home instead!

Jesus did the opposite. He was on a mission to let his own ‘house’ be torn down for the sake of others. Imagine the scene and how confused everyone must have been, including Jesus’ own disciples. Picture them eyeing one another as He challenged the religious leaders: “Destroy this temple,” Christ said, “and I will raise it again in three days” (JOHN 2:19). The leaders replied in fury, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” (V. 20). But Jesus knew He was referring to the ‘temple’ of His own body (V. 21). They didn’t.

They didn’t understand He had come to show that the harm we do to ourselves and to one another would ultimately fall on Him. He would pay for it in full.

God has always known our hearts far better than we do. So He didn’t trust the fullness of His plans even to those who saw His miracles and believed in Him (VV. 23–25). Then, as now, He was slowly revealing the love and goodness in Jesus’ words that we couldn’t understand even if He told us.

To pray about . . .

Father in heaven, please help me to believe that You are always working in the background doing far more—and much better—than I know or understand.