John 2:19

“Jesus answered and said unto them, etc.] In a dark and enigmaticai way, though very properly and pertinently; since it was with respect to the temple, and his power over it, and right to purge it, that a sign was required of him: destroy this temple; pointing, as it were, with his finger to his body; for of that he spake, as appears from (<430221>John 2:21), the dissolution of which, by death he means, the separation of his soul from his body, though not of either from his divine person: and it is to be understood, not as a command, or a grant, or as an exhortation, and advice to them, to kill his body; but rather as a prophecy of what they would do; or as putting the case, that should they,…”

“Destroy this temple, &c.--(See on Mar 14:58-59).”

“Destroy this temple - The evangelist informs us John 2:21 that by “temple,” here, he meant his body. It is not improbable that he pointed with his finger to his body as he spoke. The word “destroy,” used here in the “imperative,” has rather the force of the “future.” Its meaning may thus be expressed: “You are now profaners of the temple of God. You have defiled the sanctuary; you have made it a place of traffic. You have also despised my authority, and been unmoved by the miracles which I have already performed. But your wickedness will not end here. You will oppose me more and more; you will reject and despise me, until in your wickedness you will take my life and ‘destroy’ my body.” Here…”

“This temple - Doubtless pointing, while he spoke, to his body, the temple and habitation of the Godhead. John 2:20”

“2:19-21 Destroy this temple: Herod the Great began reconstructing the Temple’s magnificent structure in 20 BC, and work on it continued until AD 64. This explains why Jesus’ audience was amazed when he claimed he could destroy and rebuild it in a few days. However, Jesus spoke figuratively of his own body as the temple where God was present (see 1:14, 51)—his body was destroyed and restored in three days through the resurrection, rendering the Jerusalem Temple and its services obsolete. Later, at his trial, Jesus’ symbolic reference to destroying the Temple was used as evidence of blasphemy (Mark 14:58).”

“Destroy: Mat 26:60, Mat 26:61, Mat 27:40; Mar 14:58, Mar 15:29 and in: Mat 12:40, Mat 27:63 I will: Joh 5:19, Joh 10:17, Joh 10:18, Joh 11:25; Mar 8:31; Act 2:24, Act 2:32, Act 3:15, Act 3:26; Rom 4:24, Rom 6:4; Rom 8:11; Co1 15:3, Co1 15:4, Co1 15:12; Col 2:12; Pe1 3:18 John 2:21”