Herod's rebuilding of the Jerusalem Temple, begun in 20 BC, was the most important and well-known of his building projects during the height of his reign. He decided that Zerubbabel's Temple no longer matched the quality of the surrounding architecture, so he undertook an enormous reconstruction that was not truly completed until AD 64, only six years before its destruction. Its beauty was acknowledged throughout the Roman world and became proverbial: "He who has not seen Herod's building has never seen anything beautiful." Herod tried to follow biblical criteria by including no images, allowing only priests to work on the Temple proper, and never entering the inner rooms himself. Yet late in construction he enraged the Jews by placing an eagle image on the entrance gates. The Jews also found his claim to piety hypocritical, since he was only half-Jewish and had built temples to other gods in other provinces, including Apollo and Baal, as well as a temple to Augustus at Caesarea. The Temple project belonged to his wider program of Hellenization, which aimed to win Augustus's favor and which left the Jews restless and suspicious. The Temple therefore stood as both a splendid achievement and a sign of Herod's divided loyalties, and it helped shape the Jewish world into which Christ was born.

Herod the Great reconstructed the temple that Jesus came to. According to Josephus, Herod died in about 4 BC before Passover of that year. There was a lunar eclipse before his death, which was likely the one on the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles in 5 BC. Herod died about 4 or 5 months later in February, followed by a long period of mourning. He was buried in the midst of the Days of Unleavened Bread in the year 4 BC.

Herod's temple replaced the temple Zerubbabel built. The Jews still considered it the Second Temple, as it was a rebuilding of that Second Temple. The glory that Jesus brought into Herod's temple was greater than the glory of the Temple Solomon built, being Himself and the Kingdom of God. However, even Herod's ornate temple was destroyed by the Romans.

In the span of approximately 75 days between Lazarus' resurrection and Pentecost, significant events unfolded, including the ripping of the veil in the Temple during Christ's death. This incident, briefly mentioned in Matthew 27:51, would have been profoundly unsettling to Jews of that time, akin to witnessing a sacred national symbol being destroyed inexplicably. Additionally, in the mid-60s, the Pharisees, having gained political dominance, evicted the church from the Temple, severing the Jerusalem congregation's connection to the central place of worship. This disconnection facilitated their eventual flight from Jerusalem as Roman armies approached. The Temple's destruction by the Romans about five years later further stripped the Jews of their central place of sacrifice and worship, a loss less impactful to Christians who recognized a heavenly Temple and altar.