Pastor's Column 3/17/2024

PASTOR’S COLUMN

“All right, Jesus replied.” “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” “What!” they exclaimed. “It has taken forty-six years to build this Temple, and you can rebuild it in three days?” But when Jesus said, “this temple,” He meant his own body. After He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered He said this and they believed both the scriptures and what Jesus said.”     John 1:19-22, NLT

“Greater Than A Building!”

More often than not, it takes a sufficient amount of time to construct the things in life that have meaning and value. Some years ago, the city of Boston began work on what was then, the largest public works project of any urban city in America. The new highway system that was to snake through the Central Artery was dubbed, “The Big Dig,” because a major section was built underground. This new system replaced the aging, obsolete. raised highway of steel that first opened in 1959. Actual work began on the project in 1991 and work was completed in 2007. That 15-year period created its own traffic problems. A large sign near the entrance of a tunnel read, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” What we pursue takes time, and can bring about some discomfort. Perhaps this is why when Jesus glanced at the Temple in Jerusalem and said, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up,” the religious leaders and discipled were stunned. The Temple in Jerusalem had been reconstructed under King Herod’s massive rebuilding program. It would take 46 years to complete the work, so how could Jesus make such an assertion, they thought. The Temple would be fully completed some thirty years after the death of Jesus. But this was their teaching moment. Jesus was referring to the “temple of His body,” being crucified, buried; and raised from the dead. This was one of many early prophecies Jesus spoke concerning His redemptive death and glorious Resurrection. The Scriptures says it was after Jesus was resurrected that the disciples came to understand what He was saying to them on that day as they all stood near the Temple. The roads we travel in this life can be long and arduous. The path to eternity has been paved by Christ. Our trust in Him, will take us to the joy of eternity.