In His Temple
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The
crowd that had fled from the temple
court after a time slowly drifted
back. They had partially recovered
from the panic that had seized them,
but their faces expressed
irresolution and timidity. They
looked with amazement of the works of
Jesus, and were convicted that in Him
the prophecies concerning the Messiah
were fulfilled. The sin of the
desecration of the temple rested, in
a great degree, upon the priests. It
was by their arrangement that the
court had been turned into a market
place. The people were comparatively
innocent. The divine authority of
Jesus impressed them; but with them
the influence of the priests and
rulers was paramount. They 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.
Above
all others 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, and 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
this inquiry, “What sign showest
Thou unto us, seeing that Thou doest
these things?”
Jesus
had shown them a sign. In flashing
light into their hearts, and in doing
before them the works that the
Messiah was to do, He had given
convincing evidence of His character.
Now when they asked for a sign, He
answered them by a parable, showing
that He read their malice, and saw
what lengths it would lead them.
“Destroy this temple,” He
said,” and in three days I will
raise it up.”
In these
words His meaning was twofold. He
referred not only to the destruction
of the Jewish temple and worship, but
also 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 when
He set before them their purpose,
they did not understand Him. 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 had felt
that Jesus had justified their
unbelief, and they were confirmed in
their rejection of Him.
Christ
did not design that His words should
be understood by the unbelieving
Jews, nor even by His disciples at
this time. He knew that they would be
misconstrued by His enemies, and
would be turned against Him. At His
trial they would be brought as an
accusation, and on Calvary they would
be flung at Him as a taunt. But to
explain them now would give His
disciples a knowledge of His
sufferings, and bring upon 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 upon a path which they would
steadily pursue until He should be
led as a lamb to the slaughter.
It was
for the sake of those who should
believe on Him that these words of
Christ were spoken. He knew that they
would be repeated. Being 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.
Because
of their spiritual darkness, even the
disciples of Jesus often failed of
comprehending His lessons. But many
of these lessons were made plain to
them by subsequent events. When he
walked no more with them, His words
were a stay to their hearts.
As
referring to the temple at Jerusalem,
the Savior’s words,
“Destroy this temple, and in
three days I will raise it up,”
had a deeper meaning than the hearers
perceived. Christ was the foundation
and life of the temple. Its services
were typical of the sacrifice of the
Son of God. The priesthood was
established to represent the
mediatorial character and work of
Christ. The entire plan of
sacrificial worship was a
foreshadowing of the Savior’s
death to redeem the world. There
would be no efficacy in these
offerings when the great event toward
which they had pointed for ages was
consummated.
Since
the whole ritual economy was
symbolical of Christ, it 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 and the
services connected with them were
meaningless. Like the offering of
Cain, they did not express faith in
the Savior. 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, and
that the system of sacrificial
offerings was forever at an end.
“In
three days I will raise it up.”
In the Savior’s death the powers
of darkness seemed to prevail, and
they exalted in their victory. But
from the rent sepulcher of Joseph,
Jesus came forth a conqueror.
“Having spoiled principalities
and powers, He made a show of them
openly, triumphing over them.”
Colossians 2:15. By virtue of 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 tabernacle; men
built the Jewish temple; but the
sanctuary above, of which the earthy
was a type, was built by no human
architect. “Behold the Man whose
name is The Branch; … He 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.
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 earthy priesthood ceased; but we
look to Jesus, the minister of the
new covenant, and “to the blood
of sprinkling, that speaketh better
things that that of Abel.”
“The way into the holiest of all
was not yet made manifest, while as
the first tabernacle was yet
standing: …but Christ being come
as 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 12:24; 9:8-12.
“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
ministration was to be removed from
the earthy to the heavenly temple;
though the sanctuary and our great
high priest would be invisible to
human sight, yet the disciples were
to suffer no loss thereby. They would
realize no break in their communion,
and no diminution of power because of
the Savior’s absence. While
Jesus ministers in the sanctuary
above, He is still by His Spirit the
minister of the church on earth. He
is withdrawn from the eye of sense,
but His parting promise is fulfilled,
“Lo, I am with you always, even
unto the end of the world.”
Matthew 28:20. While He delegates His
power to inferior ministers, His
energizing presence is still with His
church.
“Seeing
then that we have a great high
priest, … Jesus, the Son of God,
let us hold fast our profession. For
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 4:14-16.
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