Are Temples Too Extravagant?

I served my mission in San Diego, California.  The temple there is one of the most beautiful and striking temples in the world.  Due to its beauty, and its location near a major freeway, the temple has become a well-known landmark in San Diego. In one part of one area in which I served people could see the temple from their front doorstep. It made for an interesting backdrop for tracting.

Accordingly, I must have had some variation of the following conversation at least a thousand times on my mission:  We would knock on a person’s door, and as soon as they found out that we were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, they would tell us that they had visited the temple during the 1993 open house, and they would compliment us on the beauty of the building.  However, they would inevitably proceed to complain that they felt that such a beautiful building was unnecessary, and that we ought to be using that money to help the poor instead.  Some people would also complain that we ought to let everyone go inside the temple, and not just certain members.

How the Jewish Festivals are connected to Christ in the New Testament

Jewish Feast Days Associated With Important Events in the Gospel of John

What follows is a copy of my collection of quotes on the subject (along with a few of my own notes), and as such, there is very little original content included here.  Nevertheless, I thought that it might be of interest to my readers.

“One evangelist, the author of the Fourth Gospel, stands out as having a special interest in the Temple…As is so often the case in this text, what this evangelist seeks to provide is a radical rethinking of early Christian affirmations.  In the process, he appropriates imagery connected with the temple as a way of affirming his understanding of the significance of Jesus.

“A major vehicle for further connecting Jesus with the temple is the evocation of Israel’s sacred calendar, invoked at key points in the first half of the gospel” (Attridge, 2014).

Attridge, H. W., (2014). The temple and jesus the high priest in the new testament.  In Charleswoth, J. H. (Ed.), Jesus and temple: Textual and archaeological explorations. Minneapolis: Fortress Press.)

John 2:  Passover #1 Turning of water into wine at Cana & the first cleansing of the temple immediately precede Passover

“Four cups of wine mixed with water were drunk at different stages of the [Passover] feast (compare Luke 22:17, 20; 1 Cor. 10:16, the cup of blessing)” (LDS Bible Dictionary, “Feasts,” https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bd/feasts).

Why Did They Light Incense in the Temple in Bible Times?

 Q:  In Sunday school someone asked, "Why did they light incense in the temple in Bible times?" and not even the teacher knew.  Do you know?

A:  Most sources will tell you something along these lines:

"The smoke from burnt offerings rose into the heavens, representing our dedication to God. The incense represented people’s prayers rising up to God" (“Then Will I Go unto the Altar of God,” Ensign, February 2014, 66).

This is the symbolism that is used in Psalms 141:2 and Revelation 8:3-4:

"Lord, I cry unto thee: make haste unto me; give ear unto my voice, when I cry unto thee.  Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice."

"And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.  And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand."

The symbolism whereby the smoke of the incense represents the prayers of the saints is a powerful one, and should help us to understand the importance of prayer in our relationship with God, but there is deeper symbolism which should not be ignored.  The burning of the incense to accompany an offering in the temple also had an important symbolic function that relates to the Savior and the cleansing and purifying effect (sanctification) of His atonement.

In Leviticus, the Israelites were commanded to add incense (along with salt and some other things) to their burnt offerings in order that their offerings might be "of a sweet savour unto the Lord" (see Leviticus Ch. 2).  This had the symbolic effect of sanctifying the offering and making it acceptable to God.

This symbolism was understood by the people anciently, as it was part of the prayer which was offered by the priests and the people during the portion of the service in which the incense was lit.

"Be graciously pleased, Jehovah our God, with Thy people Israel, and with their prayer.  Restore the service to the oracle of Thy house; and the burnt-offerings of Israel and their prayer accept graciously and in love; and let the service of Thy people Israel be ever well-pleasing unto Thee" (Alfred Edersheim, The Temple: Its Ministry and Services, 129).

Why Gethsemane is as Important as Calvary

Q:  Do you really think Jesus bled from every pore, or do you think it’s symbolic?

A:  I believe that Christ DID, in fact, literally bleed from every pore. The reality of this event has been confirmed by the Book of Mormon and other Latter-day scriptures, and modern prophets have also borne witness to the truth of Christ’s bleeding from every pore in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Mosiah 3:7  And lo, he shall suffer temptations, and pain of body, hunger, thirst, and fatigue, even more than man can suffer, except it be unto death; for behold, blood cometh from every pore, so great shall be his anguish for the wickedness and the abominations of his people.

Even Christ himself is recorded bearing witness to the reality of His suffering in the garden:

D&C 19:17-19  For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent; But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I;  Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink—Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men.

It has also been demonstrated scientifically that the human body can indeed bleed from the pores when subjected to enough stress, as evidenced by these medical references:

"Those who assert that it is impossible for a body to sweat blood are not acquainted with the facts. The possibility of this phenomenon was known to the ancients...And if one will take the trouble to consult a modern medical dictionary under hemathidrosis or hematidrosis, reference will be found to the phenomenon. Thus in The American Illustrated Medical Dictionary (1947, Phila.) we find this entry:  'Hematidrosis—The sweating of blood or of fluid mixed with blood. In Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary (1955, Phila.) occurs this reference:  Hemathidrosis, hematidrosis—Condition of sweating blood.'  In a much older medical work we find this interesting note: 'Haematidrosis is a functional disturbance of the sweat apparatus whereby blood, through diapedesis into the coils and ducts from their surrounding vascular plexus, becomes mingled with the sweat and appears with it upon the normal skin, producing the phenomenon of so-called "bloody sweat." It is an exceedingly rare occurrence, ....' (C. T. Dade in Reference Handbook of the Medical Sciences, IV, 466. 1902.)  Thus it is clear that the sweating of blood can occur, even if rarely" (Dr. Sydney B. Sperry, Answers to Book of Mormon Questions, 139-140).

However, physical suffering was only part of what the Savior experienced during His sojourn in Gethsemane.

“It was not physical pain, nor mental anguish alone, that caused Him to suffer such torture as to produce an extrusion of blood from every pore; but a spiritual agony of soul such as only God was capable of experiencing. No other man, however great his powers of physical or mental endurance, could have suffered so; for his human organism would have succumbed, [producing] unconsciousness and welcome oblivion. In that hour of anguish Christ met and overcame all the horrors that Satan, ‘the prince of this world’ could inflict…In some manner, actual and terribly real though to man incomprehensible, the Savior took upon Himself the burden of the sins of mankind from Adam to the end of the world” (James E. Talmage, Jesus the Christ, 3rd ed. [1916], 613).