Neville Goddard on John 2:18-22 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read John 2 in context

Scripture Focus

18Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?

19Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.

20Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?

21But he spake of the temple of his body.

22When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.

John 2:18-22

Biblical Context

Jews demand a sign; Jesus tells them that the temple will be destroyed and raised in three days, referring to the temple of his body; after the resurrection, the disciples understand and believe the scripture and his word.

Neville's Inner Vision

Here the temple is your inner state, not a brick structure. To 'destroy this temple' is to release the rigid image of self that thinks life must be earned or endured by effort. When Jesus adds, 'in three days I will raise it up,' he points to a rapid inner birth through the power of your imagination and faith in the I AM. The crowd speaks of forty-six years of building a temple; the spiritual teacher bids you to value the unseen, inner edifice, the temple of the body as the visible demonstration of consciousness. Resurrection here is not history but a shift in awareness: a restoration of truth when you acknowledge Scripture and Jesus' word as alive within you. As you believe, you remember and the inner law works; the sign you sought is the sign you now experience as inner renewal, proof that you are the temple and the life that dwells within.

Practice This Now

Imaginative act: Sit quietly, declare 'I AM the temple of God now,' and imagine the temple of your body being rebuilt in light and vitality. Feel it as already accomplished, then carry that sense into the rest of your day.