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The Spirit of Prophecy Volume 3
of their sorrows and maladies they might as well die at once, as his
power was greater than that of all others.
A wonderful spectacle is now presented before the disciples; the
court of the temple, cleansed from its defilers, is filled with the sick
and suffering, some of whom are brought in a dying condition before
Jesus. These afflicted ones feel their distressing need; they realize that
they must perish unless the great Physician takes pity upon them. They
fix their eyes imploringly upon the face of Christ, expecting to see
there that severity of which they had heard from those whom they met
leaving the temple; but they read in that dear face only love and tender
pity.
Jesus kindly received the sick, and disease and approaching death
fled at a touch of his hand. He gave hope to the sorrowing and despon-
dent, and lifted the burdens from the hearts of those who sought him.
The dumb, blind and paralytic went from his presence rejoicing in
perfect soundness. He gathered little children in his arms as tenderly
as would a loving mother, soothed their fretful cries, banished the fever
and pain from their little forms, and handed them back, smiling and
healthful, to their grateful parents.
That morning the court had been a scene of trade and traffic, full of
the noisy clamor of men and of beasts; now, all was calm within that
sacred enclosure; and the eager multitude heard the words of eternal
life from the lips of the Saviour. Nothing interrupted his discourse save
new applications for mercy and freedom from disease, and the glad
shouts of praise to the Healer as he relieved them from their suffering.
The priests and rulers were involuntarily drawn back to the temple.
[26]
After the first panic of terror had abated they were seized with an anxi-
ety to know what would be the next movement of Jesus. They expected
him to take the throne of David. Quietly returning to the temple, they
heard the voices of men, women and children praising God. Upon
entering, they stood transfixed before the strange scene being enacted
before them. They saw the sick healed, the blind restored to sight, the
deaf receive their hearing and the cripple leap for joy. The children
were foremost in rejoicing. They repeated the hosannas that were
shouted the day before, and waved palm-branches triumphantly before
the Saviour. The temple echoed and re-echoed with acclamations of
“Blessed is he who cometh in the name of the Lord!” “Behold, thy