Chapter 2—Cleansing the Temple
As Jesus entered the outer court of the temple it was like entering
a vast cattle-yard. Mingled with the lowing of the oxen, the bleating
of the sheep and the cooing of the doves, were the sharp clinking
of coin and the sound of angry altercation between traffickers, some
of whom were ministers of sacred rites. The holy precincts of the
temple presented a most unsanctified and painful spectacle to those
conscientious Jews who, while deploring the desecration of God’s
holy place, were unable to prevent it; for the dignitaries of the temple
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themselves engaged in buying and selling, and the exchange of money.
They were artful and avaricious, and the greed of gain overbore all
religious scruples, and they carried their traffic to such extremes that
they were no better than thieves in the sight of God.
Three years before at the commencement of his ministry, Jesus
had driven from the temple those who defiled it by their unholy traffic;
and by his stern and God-like demeanor had struck awe to the hearts
of the scheming traders. Now, at the close of his earthly mission, he
came again to the temple of God and found it still desecrated by the
same abominable practices and the same defilers. Little did the priests
and rulers realize the solemn, sacred work which it was their office
to perform. At every passover and Feast of Tabernacles thousands
of cattle were slain, and their blood caught by the priests and poured
upon the altar. The Jews had become familiar with blood as a purifier
from guilt, and they had almost lost sight of the fact that sin made
necessary all this shedding of the blood of beasts, and that it prefigured
the blood of God’s dear Son which was to be shed for the life of the
world, and that by the offering of sacrifices men were to be directed
toward a crucified Redeemer.
Jesus looked upon the innocent victims of sacrifice, symbolizing
himself, and saw how the Jews had made these great convocations
scenes of bloodshed and cruelty, thus in a great measure destroying the
solemnity of the institution of sacrifices. The bringing together of such
a vast number of cattle and sheep made a noisy market of the temple
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