LECTION 86 - Iesus Appears In The Temple and Blood Sacrifices Cease
Iesus Appears In The Temple and
Blood Sacrifices Cease
1. THE same day, at the time of sacrifice in the Temple there appeared among the dealers in beasts and in birds, One clothed in white raiment, bright [as] light, and in his hand a whip (of seven cords).
2. And at the sight of him, those who sold and bought fled in terror, and some of them fell [as] dead men, for they remembered how before his death Iesus had driven them away from the Temple enclosure, in like manner.
3. And some declared that they had seen a spirit. And others that they had seen him who was crucified and that he had risen from the dead.
4. And the sacrifices ceased that day in the Temple, for all were in fear, and none could be had to sell or to buy, but, rather, they let their captives go free.
5. And the priests and elders caused a report to be spread, That they who had seen it were drunken, and had seen nothing. But many affirmed that they had seen him with their own eyes, and felt on their backs the scourge, but were powerless to resist, for when some of the bolder among them put forth their hands, they could not seize the form which they beheld, nor grasp the whip which chastised them.
6. And from that time, these believed in Iesus, that he was sent from God, to deliver the oppressed, and free those that were bound. And they turned from their ways and sinned no longer.
7. To others he also appeared in love and mercy and healed them by his touch, and delivered them from the hands of the persecutor. And many like things were reported of him, and many said,
Of a truth the Kingdom is come.
8. And some of those who had slept and risen, when Iesus rose from the dead appeared, and were seen by many in the Holy City, and great fear fell upon the wicked, but light and gladness came to the righteous in heart.
LECTION 86. 4. -"The sacrifices ceased that day" -here is not meant for any permanence (as generally believed) for they went on, we are told, for forty years, till the destruction of the Temple by the Romans.