The Prince of the House of David

by J. H. Ingraham

"The Prophet Jesus, having entered into the Temple, found all the courts filled with merchants, changers of money, and sellers of cattle to the sacrificers. Portions of the sacred place were divided off by fences, in which hundreds of sheep and cattle were stalled. On his way to the inner Temple the Prophet found his path so obstructed by the stalls and the tables of the brokers, that he had to go around them, and often to turn back and take a less hedged-up avenue. At length finding, upon the very lintel of the Court of the Priests, a priest himself engaged at a table as a money-changer, 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 eye, which now beamed with an awful majesty and power, over the scene of noisy commerce and bartering. Every face was turned towards him in expectation. The half-completed bargain was suspended, and buyer and seller directed their gaze, as by a sort of fascination, not unmingled with a strange fear and awe, upon him. Those who had crowded about him drew back farther and farther, slowly but irresistibly widening the space between them and him, they knew not by what impulse, till he stood alone, save near him remained John, his disciple. The uproar of the buying and selling suddenly subsided, and the loud lowing of the cattle and the bleating of the sheep stopped as if a supernatural awe had seized even the brute creation at his presence, and only the soft cooing of doves stirred the vast, death-like stillness of the place, a moment before a scene of oaths, cries, shouts, of running to and fro, buying and selling, the ringing of money, and the buzz of ten thousand voices! It was as if a hurricane, sweeping with deafening uproar of the elements over the lashed ocean, had been suddenly arrested and followed by a great calm. The silence was dreadful! It stopped the very beating of my heart. Every eye of the vast multitude seemed to fasten itself on the Prophet in expectation of some dread event. The step of the Temple upon which he stood seemed to be a throne, and the people before him expecting judgment. Suddenly the silence was broken by a young man near me who gave a piercing shriek, and fell insensible upon the marble floor. There was a general thrill of horror, yet the same awful stillness succeeded this startling interruption. That one intense shriek had spoken for us all. Suddenly the voice of the Prophet was heard, clear, authoritative, and ringing like the trumpet that shook Sinai when the Law was given.

"'It is written, My Father's 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 one had thrown down, and doubling it in the form of a scourge, he advanced. Before his presence fled the changers of money, priests and Levites, sellers of oxen, sellers of sheep, sellers of doves, leaving their property to its fate.

"'Take these things hence,' cried the Prophet; 'make not my Father's house a house of merchandise!'

"Such a scene of confusion and flight was never witnessed as now followed! In the moment of panic I was borne along with the current. Money tables were overturned on all sides, but not the most avaricious one present 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 the majesty of his countenance. To the eyes of all the little whip seemed to blaze and flash above their heads, as if it were the fiery sword of a destroying angel. In a few moments the Priests' Court of the Temple was cleared of every soul, as we fled towards the South gate. On looking back, I saw that the Prophet pursued not, but stood alone, Master and Lord of the Temple. The whip was no longer in his hand, and his whole attitude and expression of face seemed changed from their late impress to an air of the profoundest compassion, as he looked after us, still flying from his presence."

My uncle, Rabbi Amos, who, on his return from the Temple, corroborated what Samuel had stated, added 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.

His answer was, "My Father's house must not be made a house of merchandise."

"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."