Does there need to be a physical third temple in Jerusalem for Jesus to occupy when he returns?
Robert Sungenis answers no: Jesus will not occupy any temple when he returns, since 1 Thessalonians 4 and Apocalypse 19 describe him coming on the clouds with the faithful caught up to meet him in the air. He holds that the only figure who takes his seat in a temple is the man of sin of 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4, the Antichrist, not Christ.
A viewer asks about the idea of a third temple and whether there needs to be a physical temple in Jerusalem for Jesus to occupy when he comes back a second time.
Answer
First, Jesus is not going to occupy any temple when he comes back. First Thessalonians 4 says Christ will come back on the clouds of glory, the same thing Apocalypse 19 describes, and we will meet him in the air; he is not coming back to earth, to Jerusalem, or to a temple. We are the ones who will leave the earth and be caught up to him in the air. The only figure who could occupy a temple is the man of sin, the Antichrist, of whom 2 Thessalonians 2:3 to 4 says that first there will be an apostasy, then the man of sin will arrive, declare himself God, and sit in the temple. So it is not Jesus but the devil, or the man the devil completely possesses, who takes his seat in the temple.