The True Temple of God
1. AND the Feast (of the Passover) was at hand. And it came to pass that some of the disciples being masons, were set to repair one of the chambers Of the Temple. And Iesus was passing by, and they said unto him,
Master, Sees’t thou these great buildings and what manner of stones are here, and how beautiful is the work of our ancestors?
2. And Iesus said,
Yea, it is beautiful and well wrought are the stones, but the time cometh when not one stone shall be left on another, for the enemy shall overthrow both the city and the Temple.
3. But the true Temple is the body of man in which God dwelleth by the Spirit, and when this Temple is destroyed, in three days, God raiseth up a more glorious temple (which the eye of the natural man) perceiveth not.
4. Know ye not that ye are the temples of the Holy Spirit?[1] And whoso destroyeth one of these temples the same shall be himself destroyed.
5. AND some or the scribes, hearing him, sought to entangle him in his talk and said,
If thou wouldst put away the sacrifices of sheep and oxen and birds, to what purpose was this Temple built for God by Solomon, which has been now forty and six years in restoring?
6. And Iesus answered and said,
It is written in the prophets, My house shall be called a House Of Prayer[2] for all nations, for the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. But ye have made it a house of slaughter and filled it with abominations.
7. Again it is written, From the rising of the sun unto the setting of the same, my Name shall be great among the Gentiles, and incense with a pure Offering shall be offered unto me. But ye have made it a desolation with your offerings of blood and used the sweet incense only to cover the ill savor thereof. I am come not to destroy the law but to fulfill it.
8. Know ye not what is written? Obedience is better than sacrifice and to hearken than the fat of rams.[3] I (the Lord) am weary of your burnt offerings, and vain oblations, your hands are full of blood.
9. And is it not written, what is the true sacrifice? Wash you and make you clean and put away the evil from before mine eyes, cease to do evil, learn to do well. Do justice for the fatherless and the widow and all that are oppressed. So doing ye shall fulfill the law.
10. The day cometh when all that which is in the outer court (which pertaineth to blood offerings) shall be taken away and pure worshippers shall worship the Eternal in purity and in truth.
11. And they said,
Who art thou that seekest to do away with the sacrifices, and despiseth the seed of Abraham? From the Greeks and the Egyptians hast thou learnt this blasphemy?
12. And Iesus said,
Before Abraham was, I Am.[4]
And they refused to listen and some said,
he is inspired by a demon,
and others said,
he is mad;
and they went their way and told these things to the priests and elders. And they were wrath, saying,
He hath spoken blasphemy.
LECTION 49. 7. -Iesus here disclaims the sacrifices of bleeding victims as being by part of true religion, but rather contrary thereto, adding to the guilt of the offerers. How often religion, so called, is put before morality, and dogma before loving-kindness and mercy.
Read: 1 Corinthians 6:19
Read: Isaiah 56:6,7
Read: 1 Samuel 15:22
Read: Exodus 3:14