Jesus Remembered: Christianity in the Making, vol. 1

§15.3 Who Did They Think Jesus Was?
council, and whether by direct information or through the popular account circulated
in the marketplace and Temple courts is of less moment. 88
According to the tradition, the key charge brought against Jesus was that he
had threatened to destroy the Temple (Mark 14.58 pars.):
Matt. 26.61
I am able to
destroy the temple
of God
and to
build it in three
days.
Mark 14.58
I will destroy
this temple
that is made with
hands, and in
three days I will
build another, not
made with hands.
John 2.19
Destroy
this temple,
and in
three days I will
raise it up.
GTh 71
I will destroy
[this] house,
and no
one will be able to
Ireibuild it...
Acts 6.14
We have heard
him say that this
man Jesus of
Nazareth will
destroy this nlace
and will change
the customs that
Moses handed to
us.
The core of the tradition is clear, as also its diverse elaboration in the different
versions: Jesus' talk of destroying (katalysai) the Temple. 89 The case for recognizing
a historical memory enshrined here is surprisingly strong. Jesus is recalled
elsewhere as predicting the destruction of the Temple, 90 a possibility
which no one with any political sensitivity could easily discount. 91 Matthew and
Mark also record that the accusation was echoed by the crowd later (Mark
15.29/Matt. 27.39-40). And though Luke omits the charge at this point in his
Gospel, it reappears in the testimony brought against Stephen in Acts 6.14. 92
88. The often repeated comment that there were no later Christian witnesses present (as
in Becker, Jesus of Nazareth 197) is rather facile: were all present sworn to secrecy? were no
inquiries made of any of those present by curious outsiders?
89. 'Made with hands/made without hands (cheiropoietos/acheiropoietos)' probably reflects
the transposition of the tradition into Hellenistic Jewish categories (cf. Acts 7.48); similarly
Pesch, Markusevangelium 2.434; R. E. Brown, The Death of the Messiah: From Gethsemane
to the Grave. A Commentary on the Passion Narratives in the Four Gospels (2 vols.;
New York: Doubleday, 1994) 439; though O. Betz, 'Probleme des Prozesses Jesu', ANRW
11.25.1 (1982) notes that acheiropoietos ('made without hands') is derived from Aramaic (631
n. 184) and draws attention particularly to 4Q174 (4QFlor) 1.2-3, 6 (631-32); and Ädna argues
for the significance of Exod. 15.17 to conclude that the contrast was probably an original element
of the Temple word (Jesu Stellung 90-153).
90. Both in Mark (Mark 13.2/Matt. 24.2/Luke 21.6) and in Q material (Matt. 23.38/Luke
13.35). Holmen notes the possible allusion to Hag. 2.15 (Jesus 295-96, 302-303).
91. C. A. Evans summarizes the various premonitions and prophecies of the destruction
of the Temple in 'Jesus and Predictions of the Destruction of the Herodian Temple', Jesus and
His Contemporaries: Comparative Studies (Leiden: Brill, 1995) 367-80.
92. This is in line with Luke's tendency to delay important sayings and developments till
his second volume (cf. particularly Mark 7 with Acts 10; also Mark 6.17-29 with Acts 24.24-
26, and Mark 4.12 with Acts 28.25-27).
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