THE LAST WORDS IN THE TEMPLE.
On this day also, as Jesus sat near the treasury of the Temple and saw
the rich, and the self-righteous casting their money into the boxes
placed there, He saw a poor widow come with her mourning dress showing
that she was the poorest of the poor--a pauper--and yet she had
something to give: she dropped two "mites" into one of the boxes under
the marble colonnade that surrounded the court of the women. Taken
together these two coins were worth much less than a penny, but they
were "all her living" and though the Lord did not speak to her, as far
as we know, He saw her faith, and His blessing must have reached her in
ways that we know nothing about. To those who stood about Him He said,
"Of a truth I say unto you that this poor widow hath cast in more than
they all; for all these have of their abundance cast into the offerings
of God; but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had."
[Illustration: The two mites]
Jesus, who "spake as never man spake," preached the new Gospel of the
Kingdom by means of stories, or parables, and on one long day of
teaching in the Temple He told several stories that the people never
forgot. Two of them were stories of the vineyard. One of them was of
a man who sent his two sons into his vineyard to work. One answered "I
will not," but afterward repented and went, while the other, who had
said "I go, sir," went not. Jesus taught in this that real sinners who
at first refuse to enter God's kingdom but afterward repent and enter,
are better than the heartless hypocrites who talk much of their
religion but are inwardly evil.
The other story was of a certain householder who owned a vineyard and
let it out to some men while he took a journey into a far country.
When the time of the fruit drew near he sent his servants to the men
who had rented the vineyard, that they might receive the fruits of it,
but the men beat one servant, and stoned another, and killed another.
When the owner sent other servants they treated them in the same way.
Then he sent his son saying, "They will reverence my son," but the men
determined to kill the heir and take the vineyard for themselves, and
they cast out the son of the lord of the vineyard and killed him. In
this story He spoke of His own death, as well as that of the prophets
and John the Baptist before Him.
The chief priests and Pharisees, when they heard this parable knew that
the Lord spoke of them, and they tried again to take Him by force, but
feared the people.
Another story told in the Temple that day was of the "Marriage of the
King's Son" which you will find in the twenty-second chapter of
Matthew. It shows first how the Jews were asked into the Kingdom of
Christ, but refused to come, and their city was given over to their
enemies to destroy. In the second part of the parable the call of all
nations to come into Christ's kingdom is described, and the man who was
found at the feast without a wedding garment, describes those who come
into the church without real faith in the Lord Jesus, and are not
prepared to enter heaven. "For many are called," said Jesus, "but few
are chosen."
Knowing the wickedness of the priests and Pharisees, who stood before
the people as more holy than others, the Lord ended His last day in the
Temple with words to them that must have been sharper than a sword, and
more burning than flames of fire. These words are in the twenty-third
chapter of Matthew, and may no child who reads them ever live to
deserve to hear them for himself. To the hypocrite alone the Lord was
stern and severe, but to the sinner who truly repented He was full of
forgiving love. After telling them of the sorrows and desolations that
must fall upon the Holy City because of the sins of those who should be
true and faithful teachers of their holy religion, He sent forth these
last words of love and sorrow through the Temple courts,
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and stonest
them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy
children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her
wings, and ye would not! Behold your house is left unto you desolate,
for I say unto you, ye shall not see me henceforth till ye shall say,
'Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord.'" And He went out
of the Temple to return no more.