Juan 2:19-22

Tear down this house of God. He speaks of the miracle of Jonah (see note on Juan 2:4). The "house of God" is his own human body. Even his disciples didn't understand this, until after he raised from death. It has taken forty-six years. Solomon had built the first temple, which had been destroyed. After Captivity, a new temple had been built.

Herod the Great had torn it down and started construction of this present temple forty-six years before this, and it was not yet completed. When Jesus was on trial before the Council, what he had said was brought up as evidence against him.