Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his body. When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken. (Joh 2:19-22 ESV)
Many take Jesus words to mean that he brought himself back to life. For example:
“Christ, having thus cleansed the temple, gave a sign to those who demanded it, to prove his authority for so doing. He foretells his death by the Jews’ malice, Destroy ye this temple; I will permit you to destroy it. He foretells his resurrection by his own power; In three days I will raise it up. Christ took again his own life.” (Matthew Henry’s Commentary)
But if the definition of death is the absence of life, power, ability and activity that would have to mean that Jesus was not really dead.
However, it is important to point out the specific wording in verse 22:
“When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this”
This clearly indicates that John did not understand Jesus to have raised himself from the dead but that he was raised meaning his resurrection was performed for him by an outside source.
This agrees with other statements in the scriptures regarding Jesus resurrection.
He was raised up:
From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. (Mat 16:21 ESV)
But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” (Mar 14:28 ESV)
saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” (Luk 9:22 ESV)
and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. (Act 3:15 ESV)
but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, (Rom 4:24 ESV)
And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. (1Co 6:14 ESV)
knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. (2Co 4:14 ESV)
Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— (Gal 1:1 ESV)
that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, (18) having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, (19) and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might (20) that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, (Eph 1:17-20 ESV)
and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come. (1Th 1:10 ESV)
who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. (1Pe 1:21 ESV)
In view of the fact that John 2:19 is the only place where Jesus speaks of raising his body, coupled with the fact that it was God the Father who raised him, there must be a way of understanding Jesus words in such a way that resolves this apparent contradiction. Was Jesus speaking metaphorically? Or did Jesus really raise his body? I think the answer lies in understanding the nature of the resurrection.
In What Sort of Body?
In his first letter to the Corinthians the apostle Paul raised the question: But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” (1Co 15:35 ESV)
In this chapter Paul, by a series of illustrations strives to make the point that the body that is resurrected is not the same as what is sown or buried in death.
You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. (1Co 15:36-45 ESV)
Paul seems to draw a distinction between a body of flesh and a resurrected spirit body:
For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. (2Co 5:1 ESV)
Interestingly, this is similar to the expression the Jews accused Jesus of saying:
“We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands.’” (Mar 14:58 ESV)
Of course, the Jews repeating this thought he was talking about the temple in Jerusalem. Although they misunderstood what Jesus meant, they may not have misunderstood what he said. But John definitely indicates that he understood that Jesus was speaking literally about his body. How can we be sure? Because he ties it to Jesus resurrection.
In Paul’s description about the resurrection, he seems quite confident about what form those resurrected would take, namely that it would be spiritual.
This agrees with the apostle Peter’s statement:
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,” (1Pe 3:18 ESV)
Prior to coming to the earth the Bible speaks of the Word as being with God. (John 1:1) In what sort of body did he exist at that time? John seems to indicate that it was not a body of flesh for that is what he became when he came to earth. (John 1:14)
In anticipation of his impending death, in his final prayer he asked to return to the glory he had alongside his Father. (John 17:5)
I have never heard anyone refer to God as being flesh. (John 4:24)
If Jesus words “tear down this temple and in three days I will raise it up” are to be taken as referring to his fleshly body being raised, how can it be said that his resurrection is a returning to his former glory?
But how can it be said that Jesus was raised by God as a spirit and that he also raised his own body? How can both statements be true?
I think an important key to a correct understanding lies in the ability of a spirit being. In the book of Jude we read about a dispute between Michael and the Devil over Moses body:
But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you.” (Jud 1:9 ESV)
The account does not tell us for what purpose the Devil wanted Moses body but we can most likely agree that it must have been for some form of deception. The Bible on occasion reports about spirits having the ability to inhabit the bodies of their hosts whether human or animal either for the purpose of causing misery or deception. (Matt. 8:28-32; Acts 16:16-18)
Since the Bible states that God raised Jesus as a life giving spirit, it seems perfectly conceivable that he had this same power and ability but of course would use it for good. After his resurrection Jesus could then raise his own body and use it to appear to his disciples in order to prove he had been resurrected. In fact, unless he could see the print of the nails and the wound made by the spear in his side, Thomas would not believe.
Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (Joh 20:24-29 ESV)
Rather than scold Thomas or reject him as an apostle for his lack of faith, Jesus simply appeared to Thomas by inhabiting his body in order to strengthen his faith.
However, it is not necessary to believe that Jesus was tied to his fleshly body. It would only be used temporarily before he ascended to heaven.
Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” (Joh 20:17 ESV)
According to Paul, being resurrected as a spirit means being given a body that is suited to a new environment, life in the spirit realm. A body of flesh and blood cannot exist in the spirit realm.
I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. (1Co 15:50 ESV)
So as Jesus ascended to heaven his fleshly body was no longer needed. All other appearances of Jesus after that were either in the form of a vision or as a powerful blinding light. (Acts 7:55,56; 9:1-9)
So, based on the scriptures, the answer appears to be that Jesus did not raise himself, but after being raised from the dead by God as a life giving spirit, he then gave life temporarily to his fleshly body, his temple as he said in John 2:19, in order to appear to his disciples.