But I tell you that something greater than the temple is here.
Parallel translations
- WEB But I tell you that one greater than the temple is here.
- KJV But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple.
- NKJV Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple.
- NASB But I say to you that something greater than the temple is here.
- NLT I tell you, there is one here who is even greater than the Temple!
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jesus declares that one greater than the temple is here, namely Himself. His presence and authority surpass even the holiest institution of Israel.
Overview
If temple service rightly overrides Sabbath strictness, how much more does the One greater than the temple. Jesus claims an authority above the center of Israel's worship, an implicit assertion of His divine identity and lordship over the Sabbath (12:8). He is the true meeting place of God and man, to whom the temple itself pointed.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Matt 12:41–42The men of Nineveh will stand at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now One greater than Jonah is here.
- 1 Pet 2:4–5As you come to Him, the living stone, rejected by men but chosen and precious in God’s sight,
- 2 Chr 6:18But will God indeed dwell with man upon the earth? Even heaven, the highest heaven, cannot contain You, much less this temple I have built.
- Hag 2:7–9I will shake all the nations, and they will come with all their treasures, and I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of Hosts.
- Eph 2:20–22built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone.
- Mal 3:1“Behold, I will send My messenger, who will prepare the way before Me. Then the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple—the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight—see, He is coming,” says the LORD of Hosts.
- John 2:19–21Jesus answered, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up again.”
- Matt 23:17–21You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes it sacred?
- Col 2:9For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity dwells in bodily form.
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Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 12:6 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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