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The Spirit of Prophecy Volume 2
been so terror-stricken and fled so precipitately from the presence of a
single man. What right had this youthful Galilean to interfere with the
dignitaries of the temple? After a time they returned, but did not dare
at once to resume their former occupation.
The crowd were comparatively innocent, for it was by the arrange-
ment of the chief authorities of the temple that the outer court was
turned into a market-place. The great sin of desecration lay upon
the priesthood, who had perverted and disgraced their sacred office.
The chief priests and elders counseled among themselves as to what
course should be pursued toward Jesus, and what his conduct could
mean, assuming an authority greater than their own, and rebuking
them openly.
They went to Jesus with a deference born of the fear that still hung
over them; for they concluded that he must be a prophet sent of God to
restore the sanctity of the temple. They asked him, “What sign showest
thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?” Jesus had already
given them the strongest proof of his divine commission. He knew
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that no evidence he could present to them would convince them that
he was the Messiah if his act of cleansing the temple had failed to do
so. Therefore he answered their challenge with these words, “Destroy
this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” They supposed he
referred to the temple of Jerusalem, and were astounded at his apparent
presumption. Their unbelieving minds were unable to discern that he
referred to his own body, the earthly temple of the Son of God. With
indignation they answered, “Forty and six years was this temple in
building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?”
Jesus did not design that the skeptical Jews should discover the
hidden meaning of his words, nor even his disciples at that time. After
his resurrection they called to mind these words he had uttered, and
they then understood them correctly. They remembered that he had
also said that he had power to lay down his life and to take it again.
Jesus was acquainted with the path his feet had entered upon, even
unto the end. His words possessed a double meaning, referring to the
temple at Jerusalem as well as his own material body.
Christ was the foundation and life of that temple. His crucifixion
would virtually destroy it, because its services were typical of the
future sacrifice of the Son of God. They pointed to the great antitype,
which was Christ himself. When the Jews should accomplish their