and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross!”
Parallel translations
- WEB and saying, “You who destroy the temple, and build it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!”
- KJV And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.
- NKJV and saying, “You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.”
- NASB and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.”
- NLT “Look at you now!” they yelled at him. “You said you were going to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days. Well then, if you are the Son of God, save yourself and come down from the cross!”
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
The mockers challenge Jesus to save Himself and come down if He is God's Son. They taunt the very thing that secures salvation.
Overview
Recalling His words about the temple, the crowd dares Jesus to prove His sonship by escaping the cross. The irony is profound: He stays on the cross precisely because He is the Son of God saving others. His refusal to come down is not weakness but the loving determination to finish the work of redemption.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Matt 26:61and declared, “This man said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’”
- Matt 4:3The tempter came to Him and said, “If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
- John 2:19–22Jesus answered, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up again.”
- Matt 4:6“If You are the Son of God,” he said, “throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He will command His angels concerning You, and they will lift You up in their hands, so that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’”
- Matt 26:63–64But Jesus remained silent. Then the high priest said to Him, “I charge You under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God.”
- Luke 16:31Then Abraham said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’”
- Rev 11:10And those who dwell on the earth will gloat over them, and will celebrate and send one another gifts, because these two prophets had tormented them.
- Luke 14:29–30Otherwise, if he lays the foundation and is unable to finish the work, everyone who sees it will ridicule him,
- Gen 37:19–20“Here comes that dreamer!” they said to one another.
- Matt 27:54When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified and said, “Truly this was the Son of God.”
- Matt 27:42“He saved others, but He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel! Let Him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in Him.
- Matt 16:4A wicked and adulterous generation demands a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” Then He left them and went away.
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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 27:40 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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