HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Blyth Standard, 1908-01-23, Page 7LESSON` IV.—JAN. 26, sea
Jesus C:eanses. the Temple, --John 2t
r3.22,
,ce aey -- 1.- The .desecration of
the 1•uiple (vs, 13, 11). 13. Jews' pass -
over --An iudiciition that this gospel was
'written outside of Pnlestine,'00 one writ -
in;: i1) the country would Hardly have
said the "Jews'" passover, Com.
There were three principal Toasty of,the
,re's.. The Passover in April, the Pette+
cost oar the first of dune, and the feast
of the 1'abernndes in October. All males
over twelve years of age were •required
to attend these feasts unless they had a
legitimate oxcuse. The attendance of
W0111011 was 1105 required, hitt had been
recouunended, The Passover extended
thramgh a whole. week and was of a most
joyful character, in commemoration of
Litt departure of the Hebrews from the
land of Egypt, told of the preservation
of their first-born when the firstborn
of the. Egyptians were slain. The mane
expresses the design of the celebration.
The destroying' angel "passed over? the
Hebrews, According to Josephns, 2,000,-
000 'i„tots were 10 Jerusalem during
Passn:ner 10005, jest'swent--From
Capernsum. T'it's wits the first Pass-
over since he began his public ministry.
At these feasts Jesus could reach great
crowds of people, 14. (wound ie the tem-
ple -The word "temple” has reference
to the courts as weir ns to the building
proper. The trafficking was in the comet
of the Gentiles, which embraces an area
of about fourteen teres. Into this court
all were permitted td enter. Oxen, etc.
—These were the n.ninhtlshised in•saeri.
Mc, 1 erg uteihbels ,of which- would be re•
quit l by the pilgrin(s Who had come'
from distant parts Of Palestine and
from countries beyond, The court had
brew turned into- a market place, with
all tte.confusion'and jangling incident to
extensive. tsaffiel:ing. Changers of money1 +i, 40), a'h(1t this. majestic building,
—The 051(010 brought with their the which •uccupled forty-six year's in build-
* an
ccina;;0 ti 5110(0ow•n country—Syrian, lug, and stood as the supreme. expression
1;e yl Minn, ((reek, as the case aright be— of ceremonial. service, was stoakungly tele
of
body, This wos not a eon end to de.
stroy the temple, neither was it s state-
ment that He would destroy the temple,
which afterwards He was accused 'of
making (Murk xiv. 57, 50), The meaning
is, if you destroy this temple my 51101'
"in three dart's I will raise it up." 'Raise'
it p )ji talo charge. against Jesus. three
Dears later, His itemisers turn this 1111
"build," n word which ,iesus did not, use.
Notice that Christ state„ definitely that
Ile will raise it up, 1lin'iody came forth
Bout the tomb by (lis own Almighty
power.
'20. Forty and six years—this' was the
third temple. Solomon's temple was de.
stroyed• by Nebuchadnezzar, Wilt thou,
etc.—"Am exprietsion of contempt. 11'
Ilerod with' all his wealth and power
Sur been engorged in this work for nearly
half a century, can you an obscure Cali
The agricultural wealth of the Unit-
ed States, Brought to public notice in -
:delis' through statistics shoving figures
ruti1iirigtutu many hundred million dol'-
lu's, and covering the curious 'sources
that the former has at bis .conisnnd,'
Tenn, ananupiish the work in three (('t0aal' a progress dtiriiig the parstde-
„ , cede that is little short 'of marvelous.
doysf 21, Temple of 1135 body,—'ilio 11) 55.0 ' "eC i nib ,e00,1101,1'1s,,
f 0)510
50)15 ('1 .1t bti(ldio (11)11 the 5 (111stinn's f 1 a ns deaLlt m e e y
body is the temple of Cod --Cod's dwell-
ing -place. 005' (1 511(has acluunvledged tbo shpt e mincer
Chrislt's body' was the tem le icy' of this country ats:a wheat. tte'
1 fs au established feet. • In the matter'of
of which ilio Jewish temple was the, type, s 1-01)0• other' food products Ante0icn is in
22, His disciples remembered—Throwing the very fronterunl: front the standpoint
0ltt weds of thoughtrfar She future, of exportation' Through skill toad hard
which could not bear fruit 1)t the time, uorlc.thc msbnndm n•hu, made the ant-
is mm of the characteristics of Christ's 1 a as
teaching, --Cant L'Ib, (.vat the disciples ave so1Ly(eld ham treasu51, that foreign
1 11 "1,10 ,) readily decent in exchanSe
at the time could not understand the fee "olden eche, •
sign; but after the resurrection they re' Bert with all the ingenuity omit lltnkilr for
remembered, understood and believed. g y
superior quality •whether it • applies to
The Se ipture— Jld Testament prophecy the grains 01 the field, the raisiiig.of live
of the resurrection—see l'eu, xvi, 10,
Word which Jesus had said -Jesus gave
th1ula 0 sign to prove (lis authority and
power which could not be gainsaid, Ife
proved His Sonship by .lits resut'reetion,
(Rom. ii. 4).
PRACTICA5, APPLICATIONS,
In this lesson, as in many other places
in Seriptere, the word "temple" has evi-
dently two distinct but closely related
significatioris. Its first reference is to
the subliiu'o structure which crowned
Moriahs' sacred summit;: the,(deseerated
courts of which were. the seem, of the
earliest exercise of public :(uthocity; on
tine partsof Christ, mentioned onlyrhy
John (vs. 1.4-11)), as well as the latest,
recorded ' by all the other evangelists
(Hatt, xxi, 12; Mark xf,,1G; Luke xix.
std 111011' honey wns either not current
hi Palestine, or, as being stamped with
tho symbolsof heathen worship. coild
not be received into ,the treasury of the
teuple—1311icott.
I1, The traffickers driven out (vs. 15-
17)• 15. A scourge—Jesus took cords and
made a whip. No mention is made of a
scourge in the oncoud, cleansing. Drove
them all out—He asci( the scourge to
drive hut the oxen and sheep, not the
men. "''All' does not telex to the sellers
and exchangers,-, but anticipates the
sheep, any] -the oxen. ;The men probably
fled et once"—Can,-Bib. Poured out
money—He emptied out the money
Jeal of that other temple of which the
lesson speaks—the "hody" of Jesus—
many scriptures plainly slaw '(Matt,
xxcn 31; Hob. x. 19-27). That -tile tem-
ple, saoifiees and services, and indeed
the very occasion of Christ's presence,
found'in hint their true interpretation
and. only virtue, is equally epp:)'ent
(Heb, lx, 11.14; x. 10, 10, 22; I, Co', v.
7).
1. The temple profaned. By Itis action
Jesus fore -01' settles the question of a
moral distinction in places. What is
proper in one place may be profane in
another. In itself the traffic which was
indignantly expelled from the temple
on the stone pavement, and turned over cants mss legitimate, and had received
the tables;; thus stopping the traffic: expees3 divine sanction (Dept, xiv, 21 -
Th,, in charge must have fled terrified 26). Rd even the necessity of purchase
in precipithtc haste to leave their niom f
unpeoteeted. "Meantime the rulers
the nation and the keepers of the temple,
as if spellbound, retreat in confusion or
loo(: on with e strange and tame salmis.
lion "—Wheddn, •
• 16. Sold dove's—,The caged doves Muhl
not be driven out,, therefore Jesus com-
manded the owne•s to take them out.
My Father's house—As in His childhood
(Lu1a• 2, 40, 11. V.), so now, Jesus claims
the temple as 1iis PPother's; and as His
own, therefore, by heirship, In the most
natora1 and sponttaneows minter, yet-
with a profound significance, He claims
ti, he God's Son.—W'heden, - An house
of merchandise—The spirit of prayer and
110ve6rrl WAS thsp 0005100011. lo Mott,
91, le, Jesus tells them that JIis house
wits to be a (louse of prayer (Isa, 30, 7),
bob they had mhde it "a dot of thieees."
aha csurt -1)f the Gentiles was the only
p of aboflt-tile temple into. which ;tate.
Gentiles 001ild enter, awos the place
where they' arrived instruction end
where they worshipped. put in the noise
and confusion of the market -place, wo1-
ship was 0111 of the question,
17. :Vs disciples—The five or six IIs
had chosen, of whom John, Ole writer o1
this gospel,;.was one, and the•efo'e 'a
wi100r0 of this scene he is describing, It'
Was written—In Pisa, 07,9, The ancient
,lows nplied this Psalm to the Messiaah.
Zeal for Thy house (R, Vi—The' intense
mesio He had to preserve the sacredness
of His Father's house. Shall cat me up
(it. 1',)' --Shall consume ale 'Wear me
oft -Coln. Bib,: A fin 1)'c in all ages to
express the consuming; emaciating ef-
fects of care and passion:-Whed0n,
's. '
Christ ;was mightily moved against this
flligrntt desecration. of ,the-,teuple: 150
luted sin, and •His righteous' soil was
stirred to its depths in bis-nig, to pro-
test the 110110(' •of His' b'athe'rs house.
Tho fact must not be lost sight of that
trite love will oppose the .wrong. "An
English writer said trio he had found
boys enough who loved God; he, wanted
to fled'nee who hated the devil." " "There
ate times -when love must be, indignant,:
He does not love righteousness who is
not indignant at sin. He does 1105 love
men who:does not flame and burn lila( a1'
voles, against nil that 15 01(0015 and
and exchange in providing offerings for
the vast cud varied .multitude (Acts fit ,
7-11) could riot excuse the in6asi015 of
the sacred courts, "flake Ilea pay, $e-
ther's house at house of meehandise,"
is a command of wile application and
permanent obligation,"the jviolitfion of
which has, unfortunately continued' tit
modern times and temples. Theaspilit
of''traffic, thought melsitritely legitimate
elsewhere, is, entirely foreign to the
sanctity of ydristton' as well as ctrc:l.on-
ial temple,, and tato purposes fot'-whi'd5
they stand. It is utterly' forbidder in
the above eolnn110151 by Dins whose pres-
ence in worshipping assemblies i, the
endien of promise and the chaos of fail-
filmeit'(lJn'tt xif.-20). The sensuous feet
of pleasure and the greedy hands of gain
are forgidden' the sacred portals 00)1
pavements, Whatever appeals to tato
merely sensuous and selfish ie. profanity
in sacred places, and its introdnetion
cannot but aim a deadly 'blow at the
spirit of reverence Odell is iesepanble
from true worship. Tho present appal-
ling deesulence of this clement so essen-
tial to both church and state, may find
here all explanation and remedy "Ye
have made it a den- or' thieves,' There
was the double dcseeratiojnpf dishonest
processes as well as profane praeticey,
11. The temple' purified,:Itctregresion
and reform eo nience at the same Point.
Dswot-Mind decline, ancient and modern,
discovers itself in the neglect or misuse
of the pl;ice of 'onO(4ip. This is ever
the centre of religions life and is also
in$iesstcly'Icauroeted with elide well.
being. Hence"judgment must begi41(at'
the :house of God." Jesils 02010 as the
"great reformer," and boot aline li
place were eminently in-acoo'd'with an -
dent
practice and his, 00'15 'purpose (2
Kings 23; 4, 23; 2 Citron, 30; 14, 15.)
The great truth receives oddcd emphasis
from the fact that his.9ub150 ministry
closed as It commenced, by authorita-
tively severing • traffic frbni temples,
"Aly house shall be called of ell nations
the house of ,prayer," fixes per'nta(fently
the world -elide character, and piu'pose
of the place, Sind estsblislien the lines of
conduct appropriate thereto; Under tire
ceremonial dispensation the "dedicated
things" became holy, and even "the
desitoying meth The nt09t 1'nrihl^ bowls before the altar" weresgrred, 11e1-
w'orde ever uttered ''against Hi11 were ut- sluuzm's impiety- readied itshe00eledar-
tei"d by' incarnate 1550,"—PelPnbet,
111, The sign of Christ's authority (vs,
(1h 22). 19, What sign shcwest Thyu—
' You have taken the law into your own
halal; if you arc a prophet with author-
ity to do this bring the{ proof; 'show,,
your credentials "Itis display of Wright
and their paralysis of themselves a
sign, had they not been too blindof
heist to see it "—Wheelon, .Otir,traasla-
tion is ambiguous. They wished to known
by wlt1at militcle-Ire liad'shown, or 00)114,
show, Hied right to do these:things. They
had been accustomed to miracles in the
life of (loses and Elijah, and the other
prophets, so they demanded similar evi-
dence that. Ile had authority to cleanse
the temple, --Barnes. 19, Destroy this
temple—John tells 05 (v, 21) that in the
1190 of the word temple He meant Ms
1115 elimnx in the prostitution 'of these'
sacred vessels to ,the uses. of sensual' 1n-
velry. "In the; same (tour" judgment' Was
written on 'the wall of the banqueting
house: "Ilcliness beconeth thins house,
O Lord,1foeverl".."Worship 011Lord in
the beauty of holiness" (Pse, 29; 2.). A
pure and spiritual worship instinctively
seeks a pure temple in which to pour
forth its praises and petitions, whose
Courts are nos even the path,t%ay for
worldly pursuits (Mark 11;, 10).
III. The temple destroyed,' Snell .an
assumption of authority and exercise of
power could not pass unchallenged, The
demand for a "sign," which should des
ninflstrate the source and right of both, b tl lyai
sirs may lee said Ln teeth independently.
of each of -her, The profit slmein;;