The Tabernacle, a Shadow of Christ

At Solomon’s Porch in Herod’s temple, Peter and John come upon a beggar at the temple gate. When the man will not stop asking for alms, Peter has him fix his eyes on them and tells him that, though he has no silver or gold, in the name of Jesus Christ he is to rise and walk. The man gets to his feet and, walking and leaping, goes into the temple praising God.

There and then Peter declares that this was not done by any power of his own but was the work of Jesus Christ. Peter had denied Jesus when his own life was at stake; only after witnessing the resurrection did that word become truly his, and so, whatever came to pass, he could give all the glory to God. In the Court of the Women within the same temple, Jesus tells those who have dragged in a woman caught in adultery that whoever is without sin should be the first to throw a stone, and before the treasury he teaches that giving to the poor is to be done in secret.

Every part of the temple points, in the end, to Christ. True faith does not sound a trumpet to win the approval of others; it stands before God alone, face to face. Because Jesus Christ is risen, we live, and it is by feeding on his word that we come to eternal life: this is the conclusion the sermon draws.