mark 14

Read Mark 14 at Bible Gateway.

Now the chief priests and all the council sought testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, but found none. For many bore false witness against Him, but their testimonies did not agree. Then some rose up and bore false witness against Him, saying, “We heard Him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands.’” But not even them did their testimony agree. Mar 14:55-59

So the Jews answered and said to Him, “What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” Then the Jews said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” But He was speaking of the temple of His body. Joh 2:18-21

Jesus did not say that He would destroy the temple, but He did say, that if the temple were to be destroyed, He would raise it up in three days. It was actually the Romans who destroyed the Temple in 70 AD, but Jesus destroyed the reason the Temple existed.

When He was crucified, the veil in the Temple, which was a curtain several inches thick, beautifully embroidered — which separated the Holy of Holies where the presence of God dwelt, from the The Holy Place — this veil was torn in two from top to bottom by unseen hands. Jesus is Immanuel, God with us, and when His blood had paid the penalty which our sins incurred, the holy God no longer had to be kept separate from His people. His holiness would not consume His people because of their sins. The blood of Jesus had been shed for their sins once for all, and their sins (and ours) no longer separates us from the presence of God Most High.

It is my belief that when Jesus died, the sins of the whole world were atoned for at that moment (1 Joh 2:2), and the only sin, now, which stands between God and man, is the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. What is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? I believe it is to reject until death the call of the Holy Spirit of God to come and believe in Jesus the Messiah. If you do reject Him, then that sin stands against you, but if you do not reject Him, then there are no sins which stand against you which have not been forgiven (Mar 3:28-29).

So what is the Temple made without hands which Jesus is building? John says that He was speaking of the temple of His body. His body was raised from the dead three days later. Beloved, we are the Body of Messiah. It is us, the  ekklesia, the body of believers, whether they are Jew or Gentile, who is the temple made without hands, where the presence of God dwells:

As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to Him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in Scripture it says:
“See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in Him
will never be put to shame.”
Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,
“The stone the builders rejected
has become the capstone,” and,
“A stone that causes men to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall.”
They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for. But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 1 Pet 2:4-10

Most Bible prophecy teachers teach, that a third temple will be built in Jerusalem, and there the antichrist will declare himself to be God. Beloved, what if it is the church who is the third temple, and the antichrist declares himself to be God in our midst? And we do not notice him, because we are looking for a temple made with hands, and until we see one made with hands, we sleep, thinking the time is not yet? Just something to think about, and to not forget the words of Jesus: “Watch!”