The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1894-08-30
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.

Jesus Cleansing the Temple = John
2:13-25.
Especially Arranged from Peloubets Notesl
GOLDEN TExT.-Male not my Fathers house
o house of merchandise.-John2 2:l6.
THE FIRST YEAR OF JESUS PUBLIC MINIS
TRY.--A d. 81. Third event.
THE SECTION includes simply the verses OF
the lesson.
COMPARE the accounts of a similar cleansing
Of the temple three years later, at the close of
His ministry recorded in Matthew 2112, IS;
Mark 1i:l5-l7 Luke 9:45, 40. Also reference
to this earlier account, at the trial of Jesus in
Matt. 26:59-61, and Mark 14:57-5q.
TIME-A. d. "a, at the Passover, April ole.
PLACE.-Jerusalem; In the temple.
CIRCUMSTANCES. Jesus has just entered
upon His public ministry. He has gained five
or six disciples who believe that He is tho
promised Messiah. He has confirmed their
faith and revealed His true nature to them by
the miracle at Cana. After that He made
brief visit to Capernaum, which was later to be
His home and the scene Of many Of His labors
for year ana half; and then He returned to
Jerusalem in time to attend the Passover.
LESSON NOTES.
1. Dissertation of the Temple.-Vs.
13, IA. 10. "And the Jews Passover"
the great annual religious feast of the
Jews to which all good Jews were ex-
pected to come. Sometimes, according
to Josephus, as many as two million Wis
itors We're present. Jesus went up" from
Capernaum ". 12.) Jesus was particu-
lar to attend these great feasts, for
however they were often perverted and
misused by some, they were divinely
appointed services. He Himself was to
be their fulfllment And He could
reach great numbers at that time,
xr-,t zoo i, ffav- hn
seeds of truth over all countries.
IA. "And found in the temple:" The
word translated temple signifies not
merely the central edifice, wherein
We're the holy place and the holy of
holies, but that edifice, with all its sur
rounding courts, including the court of
the Gentiles, in which the noisy and
irreverent traders were now busy
American Com. This court had an
area of fourteen acres, and was sep
arated from the inner court by wall
breast high, and bearing intimations
which forbade the encroachment of
Gentiles on pain of death. Round this
outer court ran marble colonnades,
richly ornamented, and supported by
four rows of pillars, and rooted with
cedar, affording ample shade to the
traders.-Dods. "Those that sold oxen
and sheep and doves:' The animals
used in sacrifice, very great numbers of
which would be required for the Pass
over and other sacrifices. "Worshipers
coming from remote parts of the Holy
Land, and from countries be-
yond, found it a convenience to be
able to purchase on the spot the
animals used in sacrifice, and the
material for various offerings-salt,
meal, oil, frankincense."- ."-Dods. "And
the changers of money sitting" Money
would be required Q) to purchase
materials for offerings: (2) to present
as free-oiferings to the temple treasury
Mark 12:41; Luke 2l:D; (3) to pay the
yearly temple tax of half a shekel due
from every Jew, however poor. This
could not be received except in a native
coin called the temple shelzel, which
was not generally current Strangers,
therefore, had to change their Roman,
Greek or eastern money, at the stalls
of the money-changers, to obtain the
coin required. This trade gave ready
means for fraud, which was only too
common-Maclear. The pilgrims
brought with them the coinage of their
own country - Syrian, Egyptian,
Greek, as the case might be-and their
money was either not current in
Palestine, or, as being stamped with
the symbols of heather worship, could
not be received into the corban, or
treasury of the temple" "We must
picture to ourselves, in addition to all
the stir and hustle inseparable from
such traffic, the wrangling and bitter
words and reckless oaths which neces-
sarily grew out of it with such a people
as the Jews"
The excuse was that this was very
convenient for the worshipers, and the
traffic was connected with sacred things
and with true worship. Moreover, the
traffic was only in that part of the
temple into which any heather might
enter, and not in the more sacred por-
tions. For similar reasons worldly
thoughts and conversation are allowed
to intrude upon the Sabbath, and into
hours of devotion. ''The good is often
the enemy of the best" Cattle are
good, but not when they usurp the
place of worship in the temple. Art
and literature are good, but not when
they are substitutes for piety and devo-
tion on the Sabbath.
Reasons Why 1t Was Wrong Turn
ing the temple courts into place of
merchandise destroyed the very pur-
pose for which the temple was built
and changed its results into the very
opposite. ~ For the dealers, the spir-
it of worship was lost. Instead of
praying, they were bargaining. In
stead of worshiping, they were making
money. (2) The opportunities for fraud
were very great. The dealers had
monopoly and could charge such prices
as they pleased. They were trading
| with strangers who often did not
know the true values of the merchan-
! disc. The great crowds made the over
changing much easier. The result was
that the temple court became "a den
of thieves" Mark. HID. Dishon-
esty in connection with religion does