by Dr. Ralph L. Keiper
SUS COME AGAIN? to His disciples before the cross. He had yet to be betrayed; He had yet to be denied; He had yet to go before Pilate and to suffer in the garden, and of course, He had yet to die. What did He mean, then, when He said, “ If I go away, I will come again” ? Where was He going? The answer is easy for us on this side of the cross and the resurrection. But when we realize that those to whom He was speaking were on the other side of the cross before the resurrection, we can well understand that His state ment would puzzle them no end. They were greatly confused. They expected to find in the Lord Jesus Christ a great political king who would deliver them from the Roman yoke. They regarded Him as the conquering Messiah, James and John even going so far as to get their mother to plead with Him to make them His chief ministers. They expected to become well- known princes; they were about to become unknown peasants, scattered and disowned. Even as He speaks to them they do not believe Him. Thus, He says to them ever so kindly, “Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me [and you don’t you know], ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe” (John 14:28, 29). The question we ask is simply this: Did Jesus Christ know that He would rise from the dead even before His death? When He said to the disciples, “ If I go away, I will come again,” did He really believe that He would go and by going He meant His resurrection, His ascension into Heaven and that by returning He meant His coming again? Upon this “ i f ’ of our Lord Jesus hangs the greatest truth in all of Scripture — the resurrection of Jesus Christ. For if Christ be not risen, our hope is vain, our preaching is vain and we are of all men most miserable. As we turn to a study in the Gospel before us, there are three great instances in which the Lord Jesus Christ has given clearcut testimony to His own belief in His resurrection. This knowledge did not come, as the critics would have us believe, through a dawning consciousness of Messiahship. Our Lord Jesus Christ speaks as the God- Man Who made Himself of no reputation, took upon Himself the form of a servant and humbled Himself, becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross. But though He was a servant, though He was in the form of man, essentially He was God incarnate, and thus He speaks. The first instance occurs in the second chapter of John’s Gospel. He has just been to the Temple and cleansed it of its religious racketeers. This causes a great stir among official Israel. They ask Him by what right He does this; what sign does He have to show for His authority? Imme diately He meets the challenge: “ Then answered the OCTOBER, 1959
Jews and said unto him, What sign do you show unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and will you rear it up [will you build it up] in three days? But he spake of the temple of his body” (John 2:18-21). There can be no doubt of the fact that the Jews were very proud of the Temple. Even the disciples at the close of our Lord’s ministry take Him on a tour of the building to show Him its wealth and its greatness. It took 46 years to build it, so we can appreciate the shock that the answer of our Lord must have given to the Jews when He said, [ “ If you] destroy this temple, I will raise it in three days.” It has been my privilege to visit the two great cathe drals in the city of New York — the Episcopal Cathedral of St. John the Divine and the Roman Catholic Cathedral of St. Patrick’s. The mass of masonry of each covers several city blocks. They have taken many years to build. Well can I imagine if some tourist were to say to Cardinal Spellman or to Bishop Donahue, “ I believe your cathedral should be run differently,” and if they should say to the tourist, “What right have you to say this to us? What sign do you give us of your authority?” and the tourist would reply, “ Destroy this church, and in three days I will build it up,” the shock of the Bishop and the Cardinal would doubtless be tremendous. But this shock is not worthy to be compared with the shock which is to follow. Notice the text: “ Then said the Jews, Forty-six years did it take to build this temple, and will you build it in three days?” Now the shock. “ But he spoke of the temple of his body.” The true God from Heaven does not stop to argue as to whether He can build a temple in three days. After all, all creation came into existence at the breath of His Word. In effect He says, “ Not only could I raise this temple in three days, but I will do something greater. I will rise from the dead.” The words which our Lord Jesus uses here refer to more than a spiritual resurrection. The words “ temple” and “ body” force us to acknowledge physical, bodily, historical resurrection. Take for example 7 the word “ temple” itself, a metaphorical word. The temple is the place where the worshipers assemble to worship God. The temple is not the worship; the temple is not the worship ers; the temple is but the place where worshipers may gather to worship God in spirit and in truth. He equates this with the word “body,” this body which was prepared for Him, this holy thing which was bom of Mary, the house in which He was to make His home while on earth. He does not refer to Himself, saying, “ I shall rise from the dead.” He sharpens the focus with more precision. John says, “For he spoke of the temple of his body.” To assure that our Lord spoke of His phvsical, bodilv, histor- (CONCLUDED ON NEXT PAGE) 11
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