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Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

John 2:19

 

Now the chief priests and the whole Council were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death, but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. At last two came forward and said, “This man said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to rebuild it in three days.’”

Matthew 26:59-61

 

And some stood up and bore false witness against him, 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.’”

Mark 14:57-58

 

The Claim: Matthew and Mark clearly say that it was false testimony that Jesus would destroy the temple and build it again in three days, but clearly in John 2:19, Jesus said that he would destroy the temple and raise it again.

 

The Explanation: If you read John 2:19 again, Jesus never said that he would destroy the temple. This is why the men giving testimony against Jesus were giving false testimony.

 

Yet even about this their testimony did not agree.

Mark 14:59

 

The next verse in Mark even explains that the testimony these men were giving did not agree with each other. Hence, it is called false testimony. There is no contradiction here.