John 2:19 - Unitarian Theologica

“Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
John 2:19

Trinitarians claim that since Jesus is saying that he will raise himself from the dead, it proves that he is God, for no one can raise themselves from the dead. If Jesus is just a human being, a man of flesh, who died and laid dead in his grave, how can he say “I will raise up the temple of my body after being dead for three days?” Does he not have a divine soul/spirit/nature which raises his human body from the grave?

No. Context here is critically important for understand what’s taking place here.

Context

John 2:13-22: And the Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. He found in the temple those selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers sitting. And having made a whip of cords, He drove out all from the temple, both sheep and oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overthrew the tables. And to those selling doves He said, “Take these things from here! Do not make My Father’s house a house of trade.” His disciples remembered that it is written: “The zeal of Your house will consume Me.” So the Jews answered and said to Him, “What sign do You show to us that You do these things?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” Therefore the Jews said, “This temple was built in forty and six years, and You will raise it up in three days?” But He was speaking concerning the temple of His body. Therefore when He was raised up out from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

First, we notice that it is the passover. Not an unnecessary detail, but this is meant to be connected to Jesus as the passover lamb.

Second, we note that this is in the temple, which is called “the house of God.”

Third, the Jews ask him for a sign to show that he had the authority to do as he did.

Fourth, Jesus answered their request by what he said.

Fifth, the Jews mistakenly thought he meant the temple they stood in, and did not understand what Jesus truly meant.

Sixth, this was revealed by the Spirit to the apostles after Jesus was raised from the dead.

The Sign of Jonah

Compare this passage to

Matthew 12:38-39: Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from You.” And answering He said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, and no sign will be given to it, except the sign of Jonah the prophet.”

The sign of Jonah is his death and resurrection. Just as Jonah went below the surface of the water for three days to come out, remarkably, alive, so also would Jesus be buried under the ground for three days, and come out alive. Jesus is talking about the same miracle of his resurrection in both places. When these Jews ask him for a sign, his resurrection is the sign they are asking for which will show he is approved by God. We see this account being brought up again at his crucifixion.

Matthew 27:40 And saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross!”

Mark 14:58 “We heard Him say, ‘I will destroy this man-made temple, and in three days I will build another that is made without hands.'”

Mark 15:30 Come down from the cross and save Yourself

How does the death and resurrection of Jesus prove that he is giving them a sign of authority? Many Jews have argued that the death of Jesus invalidates that he is the Messiah. Many Muslims believe that Jesus could not be God’s prophet and die such a terrible death. So they write that he somehow avoided the cross. The death of Jesus is not something of shame and invalidation, but rather it is his resurrection which proves that he has come from God. If a man claims to be from God, and he does powerful works in his name, and he dies, and God abandons his soul to Hades, then we know that he is not of God. The sign of Jonah. The very point is that Jesus cannot resurrect himself. The resurrection proves that he is approved by God, because God raised him from the dead. If Jesus had not really been anointed and approved by God, then he wouldn’t have been resurrected. The sign they would be given that Jesus is truly from God is the sign of a resurrection. This is not something he can do of his own power, but something God must do.

Jesus says, “Many will say to Me in that the day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare unto them, ‘I never knew you; depart you from Me, those working lawlessness'” (Matthew 7:22-23). People will do works and even signs and miracles similar to what Jesus himself did, and they are not his followers. They are not from God. The miracles Jesus did in his ministry are a testimony of his coming from God, but the ultimate proof of this is resurrection. This is a sign no one can replicate even with the most powerful of demons. The sign that will be given to even those who do not wish to believe is the resurrection from the dead. God shows that he approves of Jesus, not by having him miraculously come down from the cross, not by being taken to heaven before his death, but by raising him from the dead.

The Words I Speak Are Not Mine

However, the sign they are given is also in what Jesus said. “Destroy this temple and I will raise it up.” How can we say that Jesus’ point is that he cannot resurrect himself when he seems to so bluntly say that he does? Jesus does not speak his own words. The Father speaks through him. His authority is not his own, it’s the Father’s authority. Jesus does not testify to himself, it is the Father’s testimony as the Father speaks through him. “By what authority do you do these things?” Jesus speaks from the Father. The answer is, “by the Father’s authority;” And he will demonstrate that authority by raising this man from the dead. Compare the following verses:

John 5:19: Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son is able to do nothing of Himself,

John 5:30: I am able to do nothing of Myself.

John 5:31-32: If I bear witness concerning Myself, My testimony is not true. It is another bearing witness concerning Me, and I know that the testimony which he bears witness concerning Me is true.

John 8:44: You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

John 8:54-55: “If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing; it is My Father glorifying Me, of whom you say, ‘He is ourd God.’ And you have not known Him, but I know Him. And if I say that I do not know Him, I will be a liar like you.”

John 10:17-18: Because of this, the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life, that I might take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it again. This commandment I received from My Father.

John 10:37: If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me

John 12:27-28: Now My soul has been troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But on account of this I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name.

John 12:44-45: The one believing in Me, does not believe in Me, but in the One having sent Me. And the one beholding Me, beholds the One having sent Me.

John 12:49: For I did not speak from Myself, but the Father Himself, having sent Me, gave Me a commandment, what I should say and what I should speak

John 14:10: The words that I speak to you, I do not speak from Myself; but the Father dwelling in Me does His works.

John 14:24: And the word that you hear is not Mine, but that of the Father having sent Me.

Matthew 10:20: for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

Think very carefully about all of these verses. Jesus tells us that his authority comes from the Father, because it is not he who speaks or does the works, it is the Father speaking through him. When they asked “by what authority do you do these things,” the Father speaks through him. The Father speaks his words. “I will raise it up.” Who raises Jesus from the dead? It is very clearly the Father (Acts 2:24, 29-32, 3:15, 4:10, 5:30, 10:40, 13:30-33, 17:31, Romans 6:4, 8:11, 10:9, 1 Corinthians 6:14, 15:15, 2 Corinthians 4:14, Colossians 2:12, Ephesians 1:20, Galatians 1:1, 1 Thessalonians 1:10, Hebrews 5:7, 13:20, 1 Peter 1:21). Scripture does not testify that Jesus raised himself from the dead anywhere. This verse is in question. The authority to overturn them in the temple comes from God, because God did this work through him, and now God speaks these words through him (Acts 2:22). God was at work in Christ, but they did not recognize this sign… so they say. Nicodemus, a Pharisee himself, testifies: “we know that You have come from God as a teacher, for no one is able to do these signs that You do, unless God should be with him” (John 3:2). “These signs.” And, “God is with him.”

John 10:17-18

What about John 10:17-18? Doesn’t Jesus say he “takes up his own life?” Does this mean he raises himself from the dead?

“I lay it down so that I might take it up again?” Does Jesus take his own life back up again from himself and his own power and authority? The translation “take” should be called into question here. In this passage, the same word is used three times, λαμβάνω (λάβω – aorist subjunctive active, λαβεῖν – aorist active infinitive, and ἔλαβον – aorist indicative active). Another word, αἴρω, is used once. Notice how they are used:

“That I might λάβω it again. No one αἴρω it from me. I have authority to lay it down and I have authority to λαβεῖν it again. This commandment I ἔλαβον from my Father.”

Most translations will have:

“I might take (λαμβάνω) it again. No one takes (αἴρω) it from me. I have authority to lay it down and I have authority to take (λαμβάνω) it again. This commandment I received (λαμβάνω) from my Father.”

In this passage, λαμβάνω is translated as both “take” and “receive,” while αἴρω is translated as “take” as well. I would argue that λαμβάνω should be consistently translated as “receive” in this passage, and αἴρω should be translated as “take.” If so, we have:

“Because of this, the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life, that I might receive it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to receive it again. This commandment I received from My Father.”

In this reading, Jesus is not saying that he is actively taking his life back up from the dead, but he lays it down so that he can receive it, that is, from the Father. Is this just a theologically motivated translation to suit a presupposition? No. This is similar to how other translations have translated this passage (CEV, WNT). Further, it does not make much sense to translate this differently in this passage when only the grammatical mood has changed. “I take it, this I received from my Father.” We wouldn’t assume that Jesus take “taken” this command from the Father, as if it were something he came to seize from him. Similarly, Jesus’ resurrection is not something he has come to seize upon, but something that he receives from the Father, just as he has received the Father’s words. Would it also make sense that Jesus begins this sentence with, “for this reason the Father loves me, that I raise myself from the dead?” If you can bring yourself back to life, then the act of dying doesn’t seem to be so much of a sacrifice. It lessens the nature of the giving of his life. The Father loves him because he lays down his life so that he can receive his life back from the Father. The Father loves his sacrifice and rewards him for it with life again. Think too of this: “For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.” (Matthew 16:25) To receive your life back, is to lose it. We must place our lives down and not seek to save our lives to take it up again in resurrection.

Yet still, doesn’t Jesus say that he has “authority to receive it again?” Is Jesus saying it is his own authority by which he receives his life back? Listen to what he says just afterwards. “This command I received from my Father.” What Jesus says is the commandment of the Father. It is by “this” authority that he has the authority to say these things. This is the exact same case for our passage in question, John 2:19. “By what authority do you do these things?” This command I received from my Father. If Jesus is God, then he needs no authority from which to receive anything. Jesus says that if he speaks from himself (that is, from his own authority) then he would be a liar just like the Pharisees themselves (John 8:44, 55). Jesus does not speak from himself (John 12:49). Jesus does not do any works from himself (John 5:19, 30). This includes the work of raising himself from the dead. Think about it, if Jesus is God, and the human side of him receives commandments of God, is it the human nature of Jesus that is being commanded to raise himself from the dead? The “Jesus according to the human nature/Jesus according to the divine nature” argument does not work here. If the human nature is the nature in which Jesus receives authority and is subordinate to God, then, is it the human nature that received the authority and commandment to raise himself from the dead? The Trinitarian argument cannot make sense.

The Temple of God

What is the temple of God? The temple was originally the tabernacle. It was a portable “tent” in which the ark of the covenant was kept, which contained the presence of God. This tabernacle was with Israel in the wilderness, and out of the goodness of David’s heart, he wished to make a house for God so that God wouldn’t be living in a tent. God gave this objective to David’s son, Solomon, who made the very famous temple of Solomon. This was the temple of God in which people would come together and meet. In talking to the Samaritan woman at the well, she said, speaking of the temple: “Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you say that in Jerusalem is the place where it is necessary to worship” (John 4:20). Jesus says in response to her: “Believe Me, woman, that an hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is of the Jews. But an hour is coming and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father also seeks such who worship Him. God is Spirit, and it behooves those worshiping Him to worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:21-24).” God no longer looks for a temple or building to be the place in which his presence resides. He no longer wishes for a temple made with human hands to be where worshipers worship our God. The temple is now our bodies, where the Spirit of God resides. Our body is the temple where the presence of God is, by his Spirit. “God is spirit, and we must worship in Spirit.” Not in the temples of hands. “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit in you?” (1 Corinthians 6:13, see also 1 Corinthians 3:16 and 2 Corinthians 6:16). The temple of God is the body of Jesus because this is where God’s Spirit descended and remained upon (John 1:32). The presence of God is in him. (For more on this, see my post on John 1:14 here. Jesus is talking about the raising up of his body as the temple of God, because this is where God’s presence/Spirit resides (see Psalm 51:11). When Jesus says, “I will raise it up,” who spoke these words? Is it the Father in him? Dwelling in his temple? Jesus’ body was the house of the Father, whether they realized this or not. This authority is that of the Father.

Conclusion

We are told that God the Father raised Jesus from the dead, and this verse does not tell us that this was a joint act of the Father and the son (and the Spirit) as Trinitarians would like to believe. This is Jesus, showing them by what authority he has, by the Father speaking his words through him. Jesus is the temple of God, and that man of flesh is where God’s presence remained upon. It is by the authority of the Father that Jesus can do anything, and it is not from himself by which he speaks, but he speaks the words of the Father. God needs authority from no one. Jesus lays down his life, so that God can raise him up. In doing so, God is showing that he approves of what Jesus did in his life. The sign of Jonah. Jonah did not cause himself to be released from the fish, and likewise, Jesus did not raise himself from the dead. The sign being shown to them was an act that no one can do of themselves. Someone who is dead cannot raise themselves back to life (not that God can die anyway). Jesus receives his life again from the Father, who is showing his approval on Jesus, as his Messiah and apostle. “I will raise this temple” is the Father speaking, the authority by which anything can be done.