WE are told in Matthew's account of the cleansing of the temple, that after Jesus had cast out "them that sold and bought," "the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them." The healing is described as following immediately upon the cleansing, and thus a lesson is conveyed to every practical Christian. Mortal mind would try to make "a den of thieves" out of "the house of prayer," but spiritual Science expels this nefarious traffic, this bartering in holy things, and this perverting of innocence. Then it is that the needy ones, the blind and the lame, instinctively come to the temple to be healed by the Christ-power.
In Science and Health ( p. 142) Mrs. Eddy says, "The strong cords of scientific demonstration, as twisted and wielded by Jesus, are still needed to purge the temples of their vain traffic in worldly worship and to make them meet dwelling-places for the Most High." How then prepare for the healing work, except by this temple cleansing? How maintain the requisite readiness to be about the Father's business, except by the daily and hourly process of purifying thought ?
Now this temple which mortal mind seeks to soil with the sordid trappings of greed and false desire, what is it, metaphysically considered? Here again Mrs. Eddy gives the needful explanation which enables the practical Christian Scientist to carry out this all-important work of temple cleansing. In the Glossary of the Christian Science text-book, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," we find the following spiritual interpretation of temple: "Body; the idea of Life, substance, and intelligence; the superstructure of Truth; the shrine of Love" (p. 595). How busy is the carnal mind in its endeavor to falsify the true idea of body and thus turn it into "a den of thieves"! It argues that body is wholly material, that it has its origin in dust and must return to dust ; that it is controlled by material laws, so called, which would rob it of health and harmony and constantly expose it to the attacks of disease or accident. Prevalent theories would render body helpless in the face of the elements, or at best involve it in a losing battle against them.
