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John

About this book
Chapter 2

1 Now on the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine ran out, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no wine left.”⁠ 4 Jesus replied, “Woman, why are you saying this to me? My time has not yet come.” 5 His mother told the servants, “Whatever he tells you, do it.” 6 Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washing, each holding 20 or 30 gallons.⁠ 7 Jesus told the servants, “Fill the water jars with water.” So they filled them up to the very top. 8 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the head steward,” and they did. 9 When the head steward tasted the water that had been turned to wine, not knowing where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), he called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the cheaper wine when the guests are drunk. You have kept the good wine until now!” 11 Jesus did this as the first of his miraculous signs, in Cana of Galilee. In this way he revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him. 12 After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there a few days. 13 Now the Jewish Feast of Passover was near, so Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 He found in the temple courts those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers sitting at tables. 15 So he made a whip of cords and drove them all out of the temple courts, with the sheep and the oxen. He scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.⁠ 16 To those who sold the doves he said, “Take these things away from here! Do not make my Father’s house a marketplace!” 17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will devour me.” 18 So then the Jewish leaders responded, “What sign can you show us, since you are doing these things?” 19 Jesus replied, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up again.”⁠ 20 Then the Jewish leaders said to him, “This temple has been under construction for 46 years, and are you going to raise it up in three days?” 21 But Jesus was speaking about the temple of his body.⁠ 22 So after he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the scripture and the saying that Jesus had spoken. 23 Now while Jesus was in Jerusalem at the Feast of the Passover, many people believed in his name because they saw the miraculous signs he was doing. 24 But Jesus would not entrust himself to them because he knew all people. 25 He did not need anyone to testify about man, for he knew what was in man.

Texts in conversation

Compare John 2:19 and Gospel of Thomas 71

New Testament · Nag Hammadi

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Summary

In John, Jesus promises to restore the destroyed temple, identified as his body. In the Gospel of Thomas, he will destroy the house himself and no one can rebuild it, reversing both his role and the saying's hopeful outcome.

Passages

John 2:19

New Testament
18 So then the Jewish leaders responded, “What sign can you show us, since you are doing these things?” 19 Jesus replied, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up again.” 20 Then the Jewish leaders said to him, “This temple has been under construction for 46 years, and are you going to raise it up in three days?” 21 But Jesus was speaking about the temple of his body.
90–110 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in John

Gospel of Thomas 71

Nag Hammadi
70 Jesus said, “If you bring forth what is within you, what you have will save you. If you do not have that within you, what you do not have within you will kill you.” 71 Jesus said, “I will destroy this house, and no one will be able to rebuild it.” 72 A man said to him, “Tell my brothers to divide my father’s possessions with me.” He said to him, “Man, who has made me a divider?” He turned to his disciples and said to them, “I am not a divider, am I?”
135–200 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Gospel of Thomas

References

“... A study of the incident and saying in John 2:13–22 suggests that earlier tradition, some of which may be historically accurate, did indeed find its way into the Fourth Gospel. A careful examination of this passage further suggests that we might not always need the Synoptics in order to identify such earlier traditions. Even without the Synoptics or Thomas, the evidence within the Gospel of John itself may well provide sufficient basis for scholars to recognize that an earlier saying was being reinterpreted. When John’s information about this particular incident and saying is compared with the Synoptics, it retains its value. If the information about the date of the event fits so well by a mere fluke, then it is certainly an impressive one (see Robinson 1985, 130–31). John’s placement of the saying on the lips of Jesus in the context of his temple action is historically plausible. Further, if the wording of the saying in John represents an alteration from its original form, the changes are not more extensive than is the case in the other works in which the saying appears. In Mark’s version, the contrast about the temple being made with hands is inserted and the words are depicted as something Jesus did not in fact say (Mark 14:58). In Matthew’s version, the wording is changed to “I am able” (Matt 26:61), while in Luke the saying is omitted altogether, except in some hints in the accusation brought against Stephen (Acts 6:14). In the version in Thomas, the second half of the saying is changed, either to reflect the fact that the temple was not rebuilt or simply as part of a negative view of the temple (Gos. Thom. 71). John’s version resembles the most likely original form of the saying, at least as plausibly as the versions found in other written sources. ...”
James F. McGrath, “‘Destroy This Temple’: Issues of History in John 2:13–22,” in John, Jesus, and History: Aspects of Historicity in the Fourth Gospel, ed. Paul N. Anderson, Felix Just, and Tom Thatcher, ECL 2 (Atlanta: SBL, 2009), 2:41.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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John 2:19 and Gospel of Thomas 71

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