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.
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!”
- BSB 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!”
- 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 said, This fellow said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days.
- Matt 4:3And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
- John 2:19–22Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.
- Matt 4:6And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
- Matt 26:63–64But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God.
- Luke 16:31And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
- Rev 11:10And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.
- Luke 14:29–30Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him,
- Gen 37:19–20And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh.
- Matt 27:54Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God.
- Matt 27:42He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him.
- Matt 16:4A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.
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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.'
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Original language
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