Driving the Money Changers Out of the Temple - Part 3

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Driving the Money Changers Out of the Temple - Part 3

 

Then answered the Jews and said unto him, " What sign shewest thou unto us,

seeing that thou doest these things? "

 

Jesus answered and said unto them, " Destroy this temple, and in three days I

will raise it up. "

 

Then said the Jews, " Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt

thou rear it up in three days? " But he spake of the temple of his body. When

therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said

this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had

said (John 2:18-22).

 

The bystanders in the temple protested the assault on the merchants and money

changers, unwilling to cede Jesus the right to interfere with their customary

ways. If he were a prophet with authority over their human affairs, he ought to

prove it by some miraculous sign from God.

 

In a distinctively beautiful way Jesus accepted their challenge. He did not

respond with a miracle. He felt no compulsion to convince naysayers of his

divine commission. He simply told them what would happen as a result of his

actions in fulfilling the wish and work of God. (p.233) He knew that the

greatest proof of his divinity would be the future event of his crucifixion,

precipitated by the law of cause and effect, as a result of which God would

perform the miracle of miracles: the resurrection and ascension of his body

after his crucifixion, and the Father permitted him to reveal this to the

masses.

 

Jesus' refusal to perform

a miracle to satisfy the

skeptics

 

Jesus' obscure saying about raising the temple in three days was naturally

misinterpreted. How could Jesus reconstruct the temple of Jerusalem in three

days if it were destroyed, when forty-six years were required to build it the

first time? His words, however, registered with his disciples, who were to

realize later that he spoke of resurrecting the temple of his body after death,

as had been spoken of in scripture. [1] To remake the bodily atoms into a living

form after death has extracted its grim toll far surpasses in wonder any

reassembling of a broken stone building, no matter how instantly accomplished.

 

Great masters cannot be coerced to flaunt miracles just for effect, even when

seemingly expedient, and regardless of consequences. An astonishing story is

found in chronicles of the life of Tegh Bahadur, a great master in medieval

India and revered ninth successive guru of the Sikh lineage.

 

The saint was renowned for the numerous miraculous healings he had performed.

Word of these wonders reached the emperor--a tyrannical ruler who brooked no

opposition. He had the guru forcibly brought to court with the purpose of

converting him to Islam; or otherwise to show his miraculous powers. Even when

threatened to perform or die, Tegh Bahadur remained immovable.

 

Finally, after being forced to witness the barbaric torture and death of several

of his disciples, the guru sent word to the emperor that he would comply with

the royal demand for a miracle. With a string he tied around his neck a slip of

paper, declaring that this " charm " would protect him by miraculously deflecting

the executioner's sword. The emperor's swordsman was invited to put this claim

to the test then and there. Before the horrified eyes of the onlookers, the

saint's severed head fell to the floor, the " charmed " paper falling loose on the

marble. (p.234) When it was retrieved and read aloud, Tegh Bahadur's real

" miracle " was revealed; the note was inscribed with the words: " 'Sir diya, sar

na diya' " -- " I have given my head, but not the secret of my religion. " [2]

 

Saints feel no need to satisfy the challenges of unbelievers. Devotees who with

humility seek from the guru the disclosure of his God-realization will see

things much more wonderful than a display of phenomenal powers--as Jesus'

disciples saw, and as I saw in my Master.

 

The Second Coming of Christ (The Resurrection of the Christ Within

You) Volume 1, Discourse 12, pg. 232-234

Paramahansa Yogananda

Printed in the United States of America 1434-J881

ISBN-13:978-0-87612-557-1

ISBN-10:0-87612-557-7

 

Notes:

 

[1] For example, Hosea 6:1-2.

 

[2] " Tegh Bahadur (b. 1621?, Amritsar, India --d. Nov. 11, 1675, Delhi), ninth

Sikh Guru....ran afoul of the Mughal authorities by giving aid and shelter to

some Hindu holy men from Kashmir who had been ordered by the emperor Aurangzeb

to accept Islam. The Hindus sent word to the Emperor that they would accept

Islam if the Guru became a Muslim. Tegh Bahadur was arrested and confined to the

fortress in Delhi. Rivals at court, wishing to harm him further, accused him of

having worldly desires because he gazed constantly at the emperor's harem, which

lay to the west of the prison. When confronted with this charge, the Guru

allegedly replied: 'Emperor, I was not gazing at your queen's apartments. I was

looking in the direction of the Europeans who are coming from beyond the western

seas to destroy your empire.' Aurangzeb, his patience at an end, ordered the

Guru to embrace Islam or perform a miracle. Tegh Bahadur refused to do either

and, after the Guru recited the 'Japji' (the most important Sikh scripture), the

executioner decapitated him. " --Encyclopedia Britannic