Biblical Separation Defended - Far Eastern Bible College

. Scripture : Luke 19:47-48; Matthew 21:22-23; 39 and theparallel passages to these verses in Matthew’sGospel.c. Tenor : Continuous controversy with the Jewish leaders.10. a. Occasion : Christ sitting over against the treasury notices thewidow’s mite.b. Scripture : Mark 12:41-44; Luke 21:1-4.c. Tenor : A teaching on giving is made to his disciples whichsheds no real light on Christ’s relations to theTemple or its leaders.Examining Christ’s visits to the Temple, His infancy and regularboyhood visits combined with His regular attendance at feast daysduring His ministry, one cannot help but see that the Temple wascertainly rightfully God’s house in the eyes of Christ. However, on thebasis of the information indicated in Table 1, it is seen that the Lord’swords in Matthew 21:13 give the complete picture, declaring, “It iswritten, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have madeit a den of thieves.” His open declaration of the error which He beheld inthe Temple, mirrored in His words, “But ye have made it a den ofthieves” (Matt. 21:13), formed a regular part of his Temple visits duringHis ministry. He rebuked the error of the leaders, as well as that of thepeople, whenever and wherever He found it in the Temple, and in nocase did any of His Temple visitations give the people the impressionthat He was cooperating with the Pharisees, chief priests, or other rulersof the Temple. This will be seen even more clearly in the examination ofHis attitude and the words to the so-called leaders of the Temple.Along with Christ’s visits to the Temple, among His manycomments with regard to it, the following should be noted: (1) InMatthew 17:24-27 Christ pays the stater found miraculously in the fish’smouth as His payment of the Temple tax saying, “Lest we cause them tostumble, . . .” Thus while declaring Himself to be the Son of God andtherefore not having to pay the tax to His own Father, He pays it in ordernot to place a stumbling block in front of the people, who might lookupon refusal to pay as disrespect and indifference to Jehovah of theTemple. (2) In Matthew 23:17 Christ asks, “Ye fools and blind: for32