stly Jews were not as dense as they appeared to be,
for we find them coming to Pilate while the body of the crucified Christ
lay in the tomb, saying: "Sir, we remember that that deceiver said,
while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again."[361] Though
we have many records of Christ having said that He would die and on the
third day would rise again, the plainest of such declarations were made
to the apostles rather than openly to the public. The Jews who waited
upon Pilate almost certainly had in mind the utterance of Jesus when
they had stood, nonplussed before Him, at the clearing of the temple
courts.[362]

Such an accomplishment as that of defying priestly usage and clearing
the temple purlieus by force could not fail to impress, with varied
effect, the people in attendance at the feast; and they, returning to
their homes in distant and widely separated provinces, would spread the
fame of the courageous Galilean Prophet. Many in Jerusalem believed on
Him at the time, mainly because they were attracted by the miracles He
wrought; but He refused to "commit himself unto them," realizing the
insecure foundation of their professions. Popular adulation was foreign
to His purpose; He wanted no motley following, but would gather around
Him such as received the testimony of His Messiahship from the Father.
"He knew all men, and needed not that any should testify of man: for he
knew what was in man."[363]

The incident of Christ's forcible clearing of the temple is a
contradiction of the traditional conception of Him as of One so gentle
and unassertive in demeanor as to appear unmanly. Gentle He was, and
patient under affliction, merciful and long-suffering in dealing with
contrite sinners, yet stern and inflexible in the presence of hypocrisy,
and unsparing in His denunciation of persistent evil-doers. His mood was
adapted to the conditions to which He addressed Himself; tender words of
encouragement or burning expletives of righteous indignation issued with
equal fluency from His lips. His nature was no poetic conception of
cherubic sweetness ever present, but that of a Man, with the emotions
and passions essential to manhood and manliness. He, who often wept with
compassion, at other times evinced in word and action the righteous
anger of a God. But of all His passions, however gently they rippled or
strongly surged, He was ever master. Contrast the gentle Jesus moved to
hospitable service by the needs of a