Saturday, August 28, 2010

Christ’s Temperance when Cleansing the Temple

If we take Christ as the example of perfect temperance, what can we learn from the following story?
13 And the Jews’ passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem,
14 And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:
15 And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables;
16 And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise.
17 And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. (John 2:13-17)
It may be hard to think of this as a display of temperance, but when we consider Christ’s great power, we realize He could have smitten them in so many different ways. (Remember the fig tree that withered?) He could have poured out the ten plagues of Egypt on them. When seen in this light, his self-restraint is notable. He just drove them out and told them why.

3 comments:

LeAnn said...

Thank you for the extremely insightful thoughts on Christ.
I always enjoy reading your post and feel you have great insight into the scriptures.
Blessings to you! LeAnn

Jocelyn Christensen said...

Hi there - It's been a while...and I don't know your email address...but I was wondering if you'd like to do a guest post for me in September...for my Family Proclamation Celebration. I thought you might have some cool insights to share, duh, of course you would, from a scriptural perspective!

Let me know! - Jocelyn
http://beinglds.blogspot.com
Email me!
jocelyn.christensen@gmail.com

Michaela Stephens said...

Leann, thanks for your support.

Jocelyn, thanks for your invitation. I definitely accept.