Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1924-08-12

UOLDEN TEAI: My mouse snail
be called house of prayer. -
Matt. 21:13.
When Jesus began His miai3try
the religion Of the Jews had become
one of mere form; the eXtern&tS were
there, developed to the highest de
gree; but the real spiritual part of It
lad ent4t ely disappeared. The feasts
OF the Lord had become the fcasts
O. the Jews, because the LCrG was
no. in them.
And yet Jesus went up. AS Jew
He was loyal to the ceremonial law
that had been prescribed by God
through Moses. Once a year every
family must celebrate the marvellous
dellverance which God had effected
for them from the bondage of Egypt;
once a year every individual must
be reminded that it was only
through the Shed blood of a substi
tute that salvation had been or could
be obtained. AS a loyal son of
Israel, Jesus went up to celebrate
the Lords passover even though it
had degenerated into the Jews
passover. Let us not lose sight of
the fact that the ministry Of Jesus
was primarily Jewish-He offered
Himself as their King; He refused to
go to others, having been sent to the
lost sheep of the house of Israel;
combining His ministry to this ma
ton only until He was finally re-
jected by them.
This was His first passover since
He had been anointed at His bap-
Rtism, His first official passover. He
had noticed. no doubt, at previous
ones He had attended in a private
capacity the abuses that had grad
ually crept in until they amounted
TO an actual perversion of Gods
/ plan; but now He sets about Off
cially, to remove them.
One can hardly appreciate the
depth to WHICH the nation had sunk.
To this feast came Jews, from all
over the world. For their con
venience, so they would not have to
/ bring them with them, Jerusalem
i Jews had begun to sell animals for
the sacrifices-oXen and sheep and
doves. These traffickers had gotten
closer and closer to the temple gate
until one day some one holder than
tn eother had driven his cattle into
the court itself. Others had follow
ed until now the worshippers had
i difficulty in pushing their way
- through the cattle 0humar and ami
NAB to reach the inner area. This
4 court was fourteen acres in extent
and you can imagine the number
I that could be found within its en-
! closure.
Others with an eye to business Lad
set up tables for changing foreign
coins into the Hebrew half shekel;
for every Jew had to pay the temple
4 tax and it had to be paid with He
brew coin-to pay it with Roman
or other coin on which was stamped
the image Of the emperor would be
tdisnonoring the temple of Jehovah,
land a recognition of their subjecttOn
ito another power. This regulation
was, Of course, of their own making.
But abuses had arisen from this; the
rates Of exchange were eXorbitant.
Consequently worshiper was in
&inythjng but spirit of worship wner
he lad gotten through this den Of
thieves "
The convenience to the foreign
Jew of beirg able to buy an animal
for sacrifice was all right; but it was
a good thing in tie wrong place,
and conducted in the wrong way.
Scourged and Rebubed
The scene and all it meant was
more than the Messiah could stand.
That house meant too much to Him,
for Him to stand by idly and calmly
and see it desecrated in any such
way. Since God rad given to Moses
the pattern of the tabernacle, and n
dictated that that was the place
where, He had come to dwell and to
meet and commune with His peo-
pie. the tabernacle-and now it's sue
20 4 lon ,t,Jo Il l., 4 H.,
significance. 1t was Gods house; to
Him it was His Fathers house. 1t
WAS Gods dwelling place, His
Fathers dwelling place. 1t was the
place He had designated as the place
where He would meet with His peo-
pie and talk with them-hear their
desires and indicate to them His will
and His provision fer them. And
Eet! these degenerates had perverted
it into butcher shop, a stock yards
and bank where men who came to
worship were robbed!
DO you wonder that any son with
ped blood in his veins would resent
this? Are you surprised that the Son
of God was full of wrath and took
immediate steps to have the insult
to His Father removed? What would
SoG Wv - YOU CAME IlOllle ana IOuQU
your fathers house used for immor.
Il and unclean purposes? Would
Eou not resent it. Would YOU not
order the offenders out, and use
whatever force was necessary to
- them, Well just remember that
meek and lowly Jesus was a
Kan with all the best qualities OF
hen developed to the highest degree
Pnd that God was His Father and
hat He might have been expected "a
resent these insults to His Father in
the misuse of His house He woulS
have been unnatural and unworthy
pr Ills Father If He had not.
Accordingly He picked up a few
pr the cords that We're lying around
and twisted them into a whip cord
and drove out of the temple with t
both the men and the cattle. The
record doesn't indicate that He
struck any Of the men~~with it OF