Chapter 16—Christ Confronts Corruption in the Temple
This chapter is based on John 2:12-22.
(HLv 96)
“The Jews’ Passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.” Jesus had not yet publicly announced His mission, and He mingled unnoticed with the throng. On these occasions, the coming of the Messiah was often the theme of conversation. Jesus knew that the hope of national greatness was to be disappointed, for it was founded on a misinterpretation of Scripture. With deep earnestness He explained the prophecies and tried to arouse the people to a closer study of God’s Word.
(HLv 96.1)
At Jerusalem during the Passover week large numbers assembled from all parts of Palestine, and even from distant lands. The temple courts were filled with a promiscuous throng. Many were unable to bring with them the sacrifices that were to be offered as typifying the one great Sacrifice. For the convenience of these, animals were bought and sold in the outer court.
(HLv 96.2)
Every Jew was required to pay yearly “a ransom for his soul,” and the money collected was used for the support of the temple. See Exodus 30:12-16. Besides this, large sums were brought as freewill offerings, to be deposited in the temple treasury. And it was required that all foreign coin be changed for a coin called the temple shekel, which was accepted for the service of the sanctuary. The money changing gave opportunity for fraud and extortion, and it had grown into a disgraceful traffic, which was a source of revenue to the priests.
(HLv 96.3)
The worshipers had been taught to believe that if they did not offer sacrifice, the blessing of God would not rest on their children or their lands. The dealers demanded exorbitant prices for the animals sold and shared their profits with the priests and rulers, who thus enriched themselves at the expense of the people.
(HLv 96.4)
Sharp bargaining, the lowing of cattle, the bleating of sheep, the cooing of doves, mingled with the chinking of coin and angry disputation. So great was the confusion that the words addressed to the Most High were drowned in the uproar. The Jews rejoiced over their temple and regarded a word spoken in its disfavor as blasphemy, but the love of money had overruled their scruples. They had wandered far from the purpose of the service instituted by God Himself. Wherever God manifests His presence, the place is holy. See Exodus 19:12, 13. The precincts of God’s temple should have been regarded as sacred. But in the strife for gain, all this was lost sight of.
(HLv 97.1)
The priests and rulers should have corrected the abuses of the temple court, and given the people an example of integrity. Instead of studying their own profit, they should have been ready to assist those not able to buy the required sacrifices. But avarice had hardened their hearts.
(HLv 97.2)
To this feast came those who were in want and distress—the blind, the lame, the deaf. Some were brought on beds. Many were too poor to purchase the humblest offering for the Lord or even to buy food to satisfy their own hunger. These were greatly distressed by the statements of the priests. The priests boasted of their piety, but they were without sympathy or compassion. The poor, the sick, the dying, awakened no pity in their hearts.
(HLv 97.3)
As Jesus came into the temple, He saw the unfair transactions. He saw the distress of the poor, who thought that without shedding of blood there would be no forgiveness for their sins. He saw the sacred, outer court of His temple converted into a place of unholy traffic.
(HLv 97.4)
Something must be done. The worshipers offered sacrifices without understanding that they were typical of the only perfect Sacrifice. And among them, unrecognized and unhonored, stood the One symbolized by all their service. He saw that the offerings were perverted and misunderstood. No link bound the priests and rulers to God. Christ’s work was to establish an altogether different worship.
(HLv 98.1)
With searching glance, Christ took in the scene before Him. With prophetic eye He looked into future years, centuries, and ages. He saw how priests and rulers would forbid the gospel to be preached to the poor, how the love of God would be concealed from sinners and men would make merchandise of His grace. Indignation, authority, and power were expressed in His countenance. The attention of the people was attracted to Him. The eyes of those engaged in their unholy traffic were riveted upon His face. They felt that this Man read their inmost thoughts and discovered their hidden motives. Some attempted to conceal their faces.
(HLv 98.2)
The sound of traffic and bargaining ceased. The silence became painful. It was as if the assembly were arraigned before the tribunal of God. Looking upon Christ, they beheld divinity flash through humanity. The Majesty of heaven stood as the Judge will stand at the last day—not encircled with the glory that will attend Him then, but with the same power to read the soul. His eye took in every individual. His form seemed to rise above them in commanding dignity, and a divine light illuminated His countenance. His clear, ringing voice—the same that on Mount Sinai proclaimed the law—echoed through the temple: “Take these things hence; make not My Father’s house an house of merchandise.”
(HLv 98.3)
Raising the scourge of cords gathered up on entering the enclosure, Jesus ordered the bargaining company to depart from the temple. With a zeal and severity He had never before manifested, He overthrew the tables of the money-changers. The coins fell, ringing sharply on the marble pavement. None questioned His authority. None dared stop to gather up their ill-gotten gain. Jesus did not smite them with the whip of cords, but in His hand that simple scourge seemed as a flaming sword. Officers of the temple, priests, brokers, and cattle traders, with their sheep and oxen, rushed from the place with the one thought of escaping from the condemnation of His presence.
(HLv 98.4)
Panic swept over the multitude, who felt the overshadowing of His divinity. Even the disciples trembled, awestruck by the words and manner of Jesus, so unlike His usual demeanor. They remembered that it was written of Him, “Zeal for Thy house has consumed Me.” Psalm 69:9, RSV. Soon the courts of the temple were free from unholy traffic. Deep silence and solemnity settled on the scene of confusion. The presence of the Lord had made sacred the temple reared in His honor.
(HLv 99.1)
In cleansing the temple, Jesus announced His mission as the Messiah, and entered upon His work. The temple was designed to be an object lesson for Israel and for the world. It was God’s purpose that every created being should be a temple for the indwelling of the Creator. Darkened and defiled by sin, the heart of man no longer revealed the glory of the Divine One. But by the incarnation of the Son of God, God dwells in humanity, and through saving grace the heart becomes again His temple.
(HLv 99.2)
God designed that the temple at Jerusalem should be a continual witness to the high destiny open to every soul. But the Jews did not yield themselves as holy temples for the Divine Spirit. The courts of the temple, filled with unholy traffic, represented all too truly the temple of the heart, defiled by sensual passion and unholy thoughts. In cleansing the temple, Jesus announced His mission to cleanse the heart from sin—the earthly desires, selfish lusts, and evil habits that corrupt the soul. “The Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple; the Messenger of the covenant in whom you delight... . But who can endure the day of His coming, and who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire... . He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver.” Malachi 3:1-3, RSV.
(HLv 99.3)
“Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him will God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.” 1 Corinthians 3:16, 17.
(HLv 100.1)
No man can of himself cast out the evil throng that have taken possession of the heart. Only Christ can cleanse the soul temple. But He will not force an entrance. He says, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him.” Revelation 3:20. His presence will cleanse and sanctify the soul, so that it may be a holy temple unto the Lord, “a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.” Ephesians 2:22, RSV.
(HLv 100.2)
Overpowered with terror, the priests and rulers had fled from the temple court and from the searching glance that read their hearts. In this scene Christ saw symbolized the dispersion of the whole Jewish nation for their wickedness and impenitence.
(HLv 100.3)
Why did the priests flee? Why did they not stand their ground? He who commanded them to go was a carpenter’s son, a poor Galilean. Why did they not resist Him? Why leave their ill acquired gain and flee at the command of One whose appearance was so humble?
(HLv 100.4)
Christ spoke with the authority of a king, and in His appearance, and in the tone of His voice, there was that which they had no power to resist. At the word of command they realized their true position as hypocrites and robbers. When divinity flashed through humanity, they felt as if before the throne of the eternal Judge, with their sentence passed on them for time and eternity. For a time many believed Him to be the Messiah. The Holy Spirit flashed into their minds the utterances of the prophets concerning Christ. Would they yield to this conviction?
(HLv 100.5)
Repent they would not. They knew they had been guilty of extortion. Because Christ discerned their thoughts they hated Him. His public rebuke was humiliating to their pride, and they were jealous of His growing influence with the people. They determined to challenge Him as to the power by which He had driven them forth.
(HLv 101.1)
Slowly and thoughtfully, but with hate in their hearts, they returned to the temple. What a change had taken place! When they fled, the poor remained behind; and these were now looking to Jesus, whose countenance expressed His love and sympathy.
(HLv 101.2)
The people pressed into Christ’s presence with urgent appeals: Master, bless me. His ear heard every cry. All received attention. Everyone was healed of whatever disease he had.
(HLv 101.3)
As the priests and temple officials witnessed this great work, what a revelation were the sounds that fell on their ears! The people were relating the story of the pain they had suffered, of disappointed hopes, painful days and sleepless nights. When hope seemed dead, Christ had healed them. The burden was so heavy, one said, but I have found a helper. He is the Christ of God, and I will devote my life to His service. Parents said to their children, He has saved your life; lift up your voice and praise Him. Hope and gladness filled the hearts of children and youth, fathers and mothers, friends and spectators. They were restored soul and body, and they returned home proclaiming the love of Jesus.
(HLv 101.4)
At the crucifixion of Christ, those who had been healed did not join in crying, “Crucify Him, crucify Him.” Their sympathies were with Jesus, for they had felt His wonderful power. They knew Him to be their Saviour. They listened to the apostles, and they became agents of God’s mercy and instruments of His salvation.
(HLv 101.5)
The crowd that had fled from the temple court slowly drifted back after a time, but their faces expressed irresolution and timidity. They were convinced that in Jesus the prophecies concerning the Messiah were fulfilled. The sin of desecrating the temple rested, in a great degree, on the priests. By their arrangement the court had been turned into a market place. The people were comparatively innocent. But the priests and rulers regarded Christ’s mission as an innovation and questioned His right to interfere with what was permitted by the authorities of the temple. They were offended because the traffic had been interrupted, and they stifled the convictions of the Holy Spirit.
(HLv 102.1)
The priests and rulers should have seen in Jesus the Anointed of the Lord, for, in their hands were the sacred scrolls that described His mission. They knew that the cleansing of the temple was a manifestation of more than human power. Much as they hated Jesus, they could not free themselves from the thought that He might be a prophet sent by God to restore the sanctity of the temple. With a deference born of this fear, they went to Him with the inquiry, “What sign showest Thou unto us, seeing that Thou dost these things?”
(HLv 102.2)
Jesus had shown them a sign. In doing the work which the Messiah was to do, He had given convincing evidence of His character. Now He answered them by a parable, showing that He read their malice and saw to what lengths it would lead. “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
(HLv 102.3)
In these words He referred not only to the destruction of the Jewish temple and worship, but to His own death—the destruction of the temple of His body. This the Jews were already plotting. As the priests and rulers returned to the temple, they had proposed to kill Jesus and thus rid themselves of the troubler. Yet they took His words as applying only to the temple at Jerusalem, and with indignation exclaimed, “Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt Thou rear it up in three days?” Now they felt that Jesus had justified their unbelief, and they were confirmed in their rejection of Him.
(HLv 102.4)
Christ knew that His words would be misconstrued by His enemies and turned against Him. At His trial and on Calvary they would be flung at Him. But to explain them now would give His disciples a knowledge of His sufferings and bring on them sorrow which as yet they were not able to bear. And an explanation would prematurely disclose to the Jews the result of their prejudice and unbelief. Already they had entered on a path which they would steadily pursue until He should be led as a lamb to the slaughter.
(HLv 103.1)
Christ knew that these words would be repeated. Spoken at the Passover, they would come to the ears of thousands and be carried to all parts of the world. After He had risen from the dead, their meaning would be made plain. To many they would be conclusive evidence of His divinity.
(HLv 103.2)
The Saviour’s words, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up,” had a deeper meaning than the hearers perceived. The temple services were typical of the sacrifice of the Son of God. The entire plan of sacrificial worship was a foreshadowing of the Saviour’s death to redeem the world. The ritual economy had no value apart from Him. When the Jews sealed their rejection of Christ by delivering Him to death, they rejected all that gave significance to the temple and its services. Its sacredness had departed. It was doomed to destruction. From that day sacrificial offerings were meaningless. In putting Christ to death, the Jews virtually destroyed their temple. When Christ was crucified, the inner veil of the temple was rent in twain from top to bottom, signifying that the great final sacrifice had been made. The system of sacrificial offerings was forever at an end.
(HLv 103.3)
“In three days I will raise it up.” From the rent sepulcher of Joseph, Jesus came forth a conqueror. By His death and resurrection He became the minister of the “true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.” Hebrews 8:2. Men reared the Jewish temple; but the sanctuary above was built by no human architect. “The Man whose name is The Branch ... shall build the temple of the Lord: ... and He shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon His throne; and He shall be a priest upon His throne.” Zechariah 6:12, 13.
(HLv 104.1)
The sacrificial service that had pointed to Christ passed away; but the eyes of men were turned to the true sacrifice for the sins of the world. The earthly priesthood ceased; but we look to Jesus, the minister of the new covenant. “The way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing: ... but Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, by His own blood He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.” Hebrews 9:8-12.
(HLv 104.2)
“Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them.” Hebrews 7:25. Though the heavenly sanctuary and our great High Priest would be invisible to human sight, yet the disciples would realize no break in their communion and no diminution of power because of the Saviour’s absence. While Jesus ministers in the sanctuary above, He is still by His Spirit the minister of the church on earth. His parting promise is fulfilled, “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” Matthew 28:20. His energizing presence is still with His church.
(HLv 104.3)
“We have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:15, 16.
(HLv 104.4)