More than any other of the Gospel writers, John alludes to the temple theme as it relates to Jesus Christ. I have referenced some of this in prior posts, but I will pull together briefly in this post the way that John draws attention to this theme.
The Gospel opens with connections to the first chapter of Genesis ("In the beginning" followed by references to the Word as the agent of creation and as the source of all life). As we pointed out in an earlier post, Genesis 1 portrays God as constructing his temple and appointing his priests. More explicitly, John boldly pulls in the temple theme at verse 14, where he says that "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us." As is pointed out by many commenters on this text, the word translated "dwelt" is not the usual one that would be expected to convey this idea. The word contains the idea of pitching a tent. Some go so far as to translate it "tabernacled," which makes for a rather ugly English verb. That said, the verse continues, "...and we have seen his glory...." The combination of the idea of pitching a tent with the reference to witnessing divine glory clearly alludes to Exodus 40:33-34, where Moses finishes the work of tabernacle construction and "the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle." Of interest, the theme of glory becomes prominent throughout John's Gospel. Perhaps counterintuitively, John frequently associates Jesus' glory with his humiliation and suffering.
At the end of John 1, Jesus has a conversation with his new disciple Nathaniel, in which Christ promises that "you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man." This is a reference by which Jesus associates himself with Genesis 28 and Jacob's vision of a ladder from heaven. The dream resulted in Jacob receiving from God a reaffirmation of the promises made to Abraham. In response, Jacob built an altar and named the place Bethel, which means house of God.
In John 2, Jesus claims authority over the temple by cleansing it, driving out the money changers. Following that event, in verse 19 Jesus explicitly refers to himself as a temple, declaring, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."
In John 4, Jesus tells the Samaritan woman at the well that if she asks he would give her "living water....a spring of water welling up to eternal life." This associates Jesus with the river that emerges from the temple in Ezekiel 47 and becomes a spring of life that enlivens the Dead Sea. Jesus proceeds to tell her, beginning with verse 21, that because he has come, that true worship is not determined by the location of a physical mountain (including the temple mount in Jerusalem) but has been reoriented by the coming of the Messiah.
Finally (for purposes of this post), in John 7 at the Feast of Tabernacles Jesus again associated himself with the temple, crying out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'" Though Jesus cites Scripture as a background source for this saying, he is not actually quoting any statement from the Old Testament. However, once again, his listeners would have caught the clear reference to the living water of Ezekiel 47.
Cumulatively, these statements and citations provide an impressive testimony to the reality of Jesus as the true temple who had come.
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