Letters from Adina - #17

Letter XVII. Jesus drives the money changers from the Temple.

The Christ purifies the Temple.

My Dear Father,

The last letter which I sent to you, was written during marvelous tumult which prevailed in the city, an account whereof I promised to give you in the present letter.

Young Samuel Ben Azel, who had, the day before, come up from Nain, to the Passover, with his mother who is a distant relative of Rabbi Amos, explained to us the cause of the scene I had beheld, assuring Mary, at the same time, of the safety both of her cousin and her father.

This was his account:

“The Prophet Jesus having entered into the Temple, with the multitudes following Him to see what he would do, found all the courts filled with merchants, money changers, and sellers of cattle and doves to the sacrificers.

At length, finding upon the very lintel of the Court of the Priests, a priest himself engaged at a table as a moneychanger, and near him a Levite, keeping a stall for selling doves and sparrows to the worshipers, he stopped upon the step, and, turning round, cast His calm, terrible eye - for it was terrible, then, mild as it was before - over the scene of noisy commerce and bartering.

Every face was turned towards Him in expectation. The half-completed bargain was delayed, and buyer and seller looked steadfastly upon Him as by a sort of necessity, not unmingled with a strange awe and fear.

Those who had crowded about Him, drew back farther and farther, slowly, but surely widening the space between them and him, they knew not wherefore, till He stood alone, save nearest Him was John, His disciple.

The uproar of the buying and selling suddenly ceased, and even the loud lowing of the cattle, and the bleating of the sheep, stopped, as if at His presence an unearthly awe had seized even the beasts that perish; and only the soft cooing of doves stirred the vast, death-like stillness of the place, which a moment before had been full of oaths, cries, shouts, running to and fro, buying and selling, the ringing of money, and the buzz of ten thousand voices.

It was as if a tempest, sweeping with deafening uproar over the lashed ocean, had been suddenly stopped, and followed by a great calm.

Suddenly, the voice of the Prophet was heard, clear, authoritative, and ringing like the trumpet that shook Sinai when the Law was given,-and made all the people to quake:

“It is written, My house shall be called a house of prayer, but ye have made it a den of thieves!”

‘‘He then picked up from the pavement at his feet a small cord, which some man had thrown down, and doubling it in the form of a scourge, He advanced. Before His presence fled the moneychangers, priest, and Levite, the sellers of oxen, of sheep; and of doves, escaping in such haste from the wrath of his countenance, that they left their goods to their fate, seeking only safety for themselves.

“Take these things hence,” cried the Prophet, “make not my Father’s house a house of merchandise.”

“Such a scene of confusion and flight as now followed no eye had yet beheld.

The whole crowd was flying. I was borne along with the rest.

The Money-tables were overturned but not the most avaricious dealer there thought, at that moment, of stopping to gather any of the gold and silver which the rushing thousands trampled beneath their feet.

It was not the whip of small cords before which we fled, for He touched no man therewith; ‘but it was from His presence! We were driven like chaff before Him.

To the eyes of all, the little whip seemed to blaze and flash above their heads, as if it were the fiery sword of the destroying angel. Nothing was seen but terror, flight, and escape.

In a few moments, the Priest’s Court of the Temple was cleared of every soul, and we were driven across the Court of Israel, and the broader Court of the Gentiles, towards the south gate.

When I looked back, I saw that the Prophet followed not, but stood alone, master and lord of the Temple.

The scourge was no longer in His hand and His whole aspect and countenance was changed from that of their look of terrible power, to one of deepest compassion, as He looked after us, still flying from His presence.

But I had no time’ to marvel at this wondrous change, for the multitude still sought to escape, and bore me onward, and I saw no more of the mighty Prophet.

When Samuel had ended, and we were wondering at this new exhibition of the mighty power of the Prophet Jesus.  

My uncle, Rabbi Amos, who, on his return from the Temple, corroborated what Samuel had stated, adding, that as Jesus stood alone, possessor of the gold-strewn floors of the Courts of the Temple, the High Priest advanced towards Him, and with awe, not unmixed with anger, demanded of Him by what authority He did these things, seeing that He took upon himself to purify the Temple.

His answer was, ‘‘My Father’s House must not be made a house of merchandise. Zeal for the glory of His Temple hath caused me to do these things.’’

“Art thou the Christ?’’ asked the High Priest, still standing some distance off from him.

“If I tell thee that I am, ye will not believe.’’

“When Christ shall come, he will restore all things,’’ answered the High Priest.

‘‘And I have begun this restoration by expelling from the Temple those who defile it, and restoring it to be a house of prayer, according as my father hath ordained.”’

‘‘And who is thy father?’’ asked Caiaphas.

‘‘God is my Father; and to do His will am I sent into the world. I came not of myself, but my Father sent me. It is written of me, ‘He shall suddenly come to His Temple, and be as a purifier and refiner of silver.’”

“What sign showest thou that thou art sent, and hast authority to do what thou doest here to-day within the Temple?”

“Hast thou not had proof of my power from heaven,’’ answered Jesus, stretching forth his hand towards the still terror-stricken multitude. Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up! Be this to you, and all Judea, the sign that I am sent by my Father, who is in heaven. As He hath given me commandment, so I do!”

At this there was a great murmuring, said Rabbi Amos, for many of the priests, with Annas also, had got boldness; and drew near to hear.

‘‘He cannot be a just man,” said Annas, “nor doth he honor God, if he would have us destroy the Temple!”

‘‘Yet, if he be not sent of God, whence hath he, this power over men?’’ answered another.

“He doeth this by Beelzebub, whose prophet he doubtless is,” said Annas, in a loud tone, “or a true prophet would not seek the destruction of God’s holy House!’’

Thereupon, there was a multitude of voices, some crying one thing, and some another; but the most part asserting their belief that Jesus was a just man and divine prophet.

Caiaphas at length obtained silence, and said to him: “Tell us plainly — Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed, that we may believe in Thee?”

‘‘I am!’’ calmly and firmly answered the Prophet; and, raising his eyes to heaven, he added, impressively, ‘‘I am come down from God!”

When, adds my uncle, Annas heard this, he lifted up his voice in an exclamation of horror, and, rending his clothes, he cried out:

“Hear ye this blasphemer! Let us cast him forth from the Temple, which he pollutes!’"

But no man dared approach the Prophet, whose mighty power had so recently been expressed in the driving forth of the merchants and buyers from that sacred place.

“Bear witness,’’ then said He, sorrowfully, rather than in anger, ‘‘that I have come unto my own, and ye have received me not!”

“This Temple of my Father, from which you would drive me forth, shall no longer be the dwelling place and abode of Jehovah. The day cometh when your priesthood shall be taken away and given to others, and among the Gentiles shall arise to my Father’s name, on every hill, and in every valley of the earth, holy temples, wherein He shall delight to dwell; and men shall no longer need to worship God in Zion, but in all places shall prayer and praise be offered to the Most High.

This Temple, which ye have polluted, shall be thrown down, and ye shall be scattered among the nations, because ye knew not the time of your God’s mercy?”

Thus speaking, the Prophet departed from the Temple, leaving the High Priest, and priests and Levites, standing gazing after Him, without power to utter a word.

This, my dear father, is the account given by Rabbi Amos of what passed in the Temple. That Jesus is the Christ, is now beyond question; for He has openly declared it to the High Priest.

I close this letter, with prayers to our father’s God for your peace and welfare. Adina

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The new Lady Donna Immersion in Spirituality, Academics and Citizenship @ the "I AM" School will study abridged excerpts of the Letters from Adina taken from Reverend Ingraham's original edited version of 'The Prince of the House of David', published by Cassell & Co. Ltd (1903), that reveal remarkable insights into the Living Etheric Record left by Beloved Jesus's Ministry in the Holy Land.