“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!”
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.
- 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.”
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 man said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days.’”
- Matt 4:3The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”
- John 2:19–22Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
- Matt 4:6and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, ‘He will put his angels in charge of you.’ and, ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you don’t dash your foot against a stone.’”
- Matt 26:63–64But Jesus held his peace. The high priest answered him, “I adjure you by the living God, that you tell us whether you are the Christ, the Son of God.”
- Luke 16:31“He said to him, ‘If they don’t listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if one rises from the dead.’”
- Rev 11:10Those who dwell on the earth rejoice over them, and they will be glad. They will give gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.
- Luke 14:29–30Or perhaps, when he has laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, everyone who sees begins to mock him,
- Gen 37:19–20They said to one another, “Behold, this dreamer comes.
- Matt 27:54Now the centurion, and those who were with him watching Jesus, when they saw the earthquake, and the things that were done, feared exceedingly, saying, “Truly this was the Son of God.”
- Matt 27:42“He saved others, but he can’t save himself. If he is the King of Israel, let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him.
- Matt 16:4An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and there will be no sign given to it, except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” 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.'
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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