The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1905-01-30

with the spirit of our times which makes
a public office a private snap.
Three United States Senators at one time
under indictment for grating is enough
to cause us to pause. Voters who hold in
their hands the seat Of sovereignty bought
and sold like cattle until very recently all
over the south, and still for sale in many
northern states. shows need of the gospel
of good citizenship and fidelity to a pub
lie trust
THE powers that be are ordained of
God; they are ministers of God unto thee
for good A holy zeal, therefore. should
inspire us in these functions and cause
us to purge our temples in the spirit and
on the authority of good citizenship.
The citizen in our land is the king. If
his majesty gets corrupt or Indifferent to
the vindication of right, what is to keep
our country from being desecrated and
destroyed. Our Lord gives us here an ex-
ample of holy zeal of Messiah as II In
spires one in the station of an ordinary
citizen. AS a citizen you have al the au-
thority you need to vindicate the right
and redress the wrong. Take your whip
and go after them
Rights of Citizenship.
But they will come back at with
"a ASAhoiO ApA SRbi dAAioiAAs ~ AAAhNA ANAS
with their private business in appropriate
ing a public institution. They did this
with Jesus. They will say, who are you
to be presuming thus to be guardian for
the rights of the public. You must think
yourself above ordinary mortals."
What sign showest thou seeing thou
doest these things?" AS thoug4I they need
ed any more sign than the zeal they
had already witnessed.
Every CRATER, whether IL be a predatory
trust or a larcenous officeholder. or pur
chasable voter or juryman, thinks that his
business ought not to be interrupted on
any authority less than the divine You
must show credentials from God. they
think. They have already set at naught
all human authority and are trying to ed
ucate their consciences into immunity
from the divine. But Jesus refused this
demand An evil and an adulterous gem
Grafton seeketh after a sign, but no sign
shall be given unto them. He did it on
the authority of the citizen who had so
often reared up that temple after the
heather had destroyed 1t, and will speed
lily raise 1t up again If these grafters de-
stroy it.
The power and authority of a citizenship
of Jehovah had three times built that
temple and can build 1t again. Out citi-
zenship with Its full moral meaning
makes our institutions, builds our temples
and vlndicates their sacred functions. The
phase in three days" was a way of say
ing in a short time" (see Hosea 6:2
Luke 13:3D So he turned to his chal-
lengers and said What sign do | show,
why no sign except the jealous duty of
IA citizen l have already shown. Destroy
this temple, and 1t has often been destroy
ed, and in a short time / will build 1t
up. what sign of its authority will
conservative constructive citizenship show
to a radical destructive CRATER except
its powers to make a nation in a short
time. Its conserving and indicating Of
the right is its own abundant apology
for zeal in casting out the wrong
Jesus Meaning.
The answer was an enigma to suit
crowd Why on earth people should be
Jealous for what Is right instead of what
puts money into their own pockets they
cannot see. Again the words can not be
taken literally for 1t took Herod forty and
six years with all his power to force
taxes from people to build this temple
even this far; and can he raise 1t up
in three days. They failed to see that
good citizenship could do so much more
than the power of kings and tyrants can
accomplish. 1t puzzled even the disciples
and they failed to find a suitable mean
ing for them until long after His resur-
rection. Then they interpreted them to
refer to the temple of His body.
here Is here clearly a difference be-
tween the understanding of the Jesus
and the disciples before the resurrection,
and the construction put on them by these
same disciples afterwards. In the one
case this temple was the building where
they were and about which they were
talking. In the other 1t was His own body
and the words a prophesy OF His resur-
rection. The former is the plain mean
ing of the words In the connection in
which they stand as the evangelist ad-
mits. The latter is gotten by taking the
words out Of their connection and read
ing them in the light of the resurrection
and the scripture of the Old Testament.
The first is plain and natural. the last is
secondary and inferential and needed to
be indicated by additional considerations.
Interpretation of Christ's Teaching.
When we remember that this gospel is
rot like the synoptics, a record of what
Jesus began to do and to teach, but an
Interpretation Of His teachings and deeds
to show His Messiahship John 20:3J, 1t
is easy to see that in the former the
evangelis. is giving data as 1t occurred,
while In the latter he is interpreting that
data in its bearing on his purpose of pre-
senting the Messiahship of Jesus
The Jews challenged Jesus for a sign
setting forth His authority for redress
ing a public nuisance and desecration. He
challenges them In return to destroy the
desecrated temple and He would speedily
rebuild It, OF couEse He knew they could
not do It, but it was a favorite way of
His in silencing insincere assailants such
as the Herodians and Pharlsees In the
case of the tribute money, CMatthew
215 ~ and Dayids Son, Davids Lord
(Matthew 22:H ~ and the baptism of
John from heaven or man Matthew q rs
NJ. A piece of sacred ridicule OF their
insincerty and an answer by the
"ridicutio ad absurdum."
Practically 1t was equivalent to a re-
fusal of the insincere request for sign.
But the words fingered in the minds OF
the disciples and they wondered Suppose
they had taken Him at His word and pull
ed down the temple, would He speedily
have restored It? They did destroy His
body and in three days He raised It up.
Could not the Messiah who had power to
lay down His life and power to take 1t
again have reared up the destroyed house
of His Father as He used to call the tenn
pie? We would then have seen sign Of
His Messiahship in building the temple
under His consuming zeal as a citizen.
But they did not tear II down, and SO
the misrule was not seen. But His own
resurrection contains all that such sign
could have conveyed and more. 1t is the
answer to every challenger for His au-
- 10 Be-. at.IA ~