First Temple Talk 

In September of 29 CE, Jesus boldly entered Jerusalem during the Feast of Tabernacles, against the warnings of his apostles, and proceeded to teach in the temple. He used this opportunity to openly declare that he was the Son of God.

In this first temple talk, Jesus began by talking about the new gospel and the joy it brings to those who believe it. One of the congregation asked the Master how he could teach from Scripture when he was not taught by the rabbis. In reply, Jesus told the man that he received his knowledge – not from any man – but from "him who sent me." Further, he said that if anyone wants to know God’s will, they will hear it from him, because he speaks not for himself, but for God’s glory. But he also counseled that his listeners should pay attention to the Scripture and follow the laws that are contained there before trying to discover new truths. For example, he told them that Moses said, "You shall not kill," but many among them wanted to kill the Son of Man.

After some lively discussion in the crowd, someone asked him why the rulers wanted to kill him. He told them that the Jewish rulers were resentful because they saw him as upsetting their teachings about the binding rules and the laws of the Jewish religion. His teaching, he said, aims to liberate people from such burdens that really have no basis in spiritual progress; furthermore, he declared that if and when believers actually follow his teachings, all such burdensome religions will be overthrown for good, and these rulers will lose their power of authority. This was the reason that they wanted him dead and gone.

Another person asked Jesus if he was really claiming to be the Messiah. And Jesus told him plainly that he had been sent by God, and if they refused to receive him, they were refusing to receive God. He declared that if they embraced the gospel that he taught, they would come to know God because he had come from God to reveal him to mankind.

And all of these teachings made people wonder whether the expected Messiah in the Scripture could possibly be any more wonderful than this man of Nazareth.

The Pharisees became quite alarmed at the people's positive response to Jesus and wished to put a stop to his talks in the temple, but they avoided doing so, thinking that Jesus had been promised immunity from prosecution by the Roman authorities; they wanted to avoid any clashes that would put them at odds with the Romans. But the Sanhedrin doubted this belief and sent an agent, Eber, to arrest the Master. When Jesus saw Eber coming to arrest him, he told Eber that he understood that he was only doing the bidding of his superiors but that nothing would happen to the Son of Man until his time came. He invited Eber to come closer so he could hear his teachings.

As Eber approached Jesus, the Master said: "Listen to my teaching. I know you've been sent to arrest me, but understand that nothing will happen to the Son of Man until his time comes. You're not against me; you're just following your masters' orders. Even these Jewish leaders truly believe they're serving God by secretly trying to destroy me.

"I bear none of you ill will. The Father loves you, and therefore do I long for your deliverance from the bondage of prejudice and the darkness of tradition. I offer you the liberty of life and the joy of salvation. I proclaim the new and living way, the deliverance from evil and the breaking of the bondage of sin. I have come that you might have life, and have it eternally. You seek to be rid of me and my disquieting teachings. If you could only realize that I am to be with you only a little while! In just a short time I go to Him who sent me into this world. And then will many of you diligently seek me, but you shall not discover my presence, for where I am about to go you cannot come. But all who truly seek to find me shall sometime attain the life that leads to my Father’s presence."

Some scoffers muttered among themselves: "Where will this man go that we can't find him? Will he live among the Greeks? Will he kill himself? What does he mean when he says he'll soon leave us, and we can't go where he goes?"

Eber and his assistants refused to arrest Jesus and returned without him. When the chief priests and Pharisees berated them for not bringing Jesus, Eber simply replied: "We were afraid to arrest him in the crowd because many believe in him. Besides, we've never heard anyone speak like this man. There's something extraordinary about this teacher. You should all go hear him." Hearing this, the chief rulers were astonished and taunted Eber: "Are you also deceived? Are you starting to believe in this fraud? Have you heard of any of our scholars or leaders believing in him? Have any scribes or Pharisees been fooled by his clever teachings? How is it that you're influenced by this ignorant crowd who know nothing of the law or prophets? Don't you know such uneducated people are cursed?"

Eber responded: "Even so, my masters, this man speaks words of mercy and hope to the multitude. He encourages the downhearted, and his words comforted even our souls. What harm is there in these teachings, even if he's not the Messiah of the Scriptures? Doesn't our law require fairness? Do we condemn a man before hearing him?" The chief of the Sanhedrin grew angry with Eber and snapped: "Have you lost your mind? Are you from Galilee too? Search the Scriptures, and you'll find that no prophet, let alone the Messiah, comes from Galilee."

And so ended the first temple talk. The Sanhedrin scattered, and Jesus withdrew to Bethany for the night.