Matthew 21:12, 13 And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple… According to St. Mark's more detailed account, Jesus "looked round" on the day of his triumphant entrance to Jerusalem, and effected his drastic reformation of temple abuses on the following morning. Thus we see that his action did not spring from a hasty outburst of passion. It was the result of deliberation. He had had a night in which to brood over the shameful desecration of his Father's house. I. THE DESECRATION. 1. The nature of it. It would be a mistake to suppose that the temple was being used as a common market. The animals sold were not to be treated as meat at the shambles. They were for sacrifices. The money changing was not for the convenience of foreigners wanting to be able to do business in the city with the current coin. This was carried on in order to provide for visitors the Hebrew shekel with which to pay the temple dues. Therefore, it was thought, the business was of a religious character, and could be carried on in the temple as part of the sacred work. Animals were sacrificed there: why should they not be sold there? Money was collected there: why should it not be exchanged there? 2. The evil of it. (1) It interfered with worship. The outer courts of the temple were used for private prayer. But the confusion of a market was most distracting to the spirit of devotion. (2) It was unjust to the Gentiles. This traffic seems to have been carried on in the court of the Gentiles. The Jews still reserved their own court in decorum. The prophecy from which our Lord quoted says that God's house "shall be called a house of prayer for all people (Isaiah 56:7). Thus the rights of the Gentiles were scornfully outraged. (3) It imported dishonest dealing. The keen eye of Christ detected wrong dealing. It was not only trade, it was cheating that dishonoured the temple. II. THE CLEANSING. 1. An act of holy indignation. Jesus was angry; he could be angry; sometimes he was moved with indignation. It is no sign of sanctity to be unmoved at the sight of what dishonours God and wrongs our fellow men. There is a guilty complacency, a culpable silence, a sinful calm. 2. An act of Divine authority. It was his Father's house that Christ was cleansing. He spoke and acted as the messenger of God even to those who did not know that he was the Son of God. Christ has power and authority. 3. An act of righteousness. He used force, but of course, if he had met with resistance, the merely physical power he put forth would soon have been overborne. Why, then, did he succeed? Because he had an ally in the breast of every man whom he opposed; the consciences of the traders fought with Jesus against their guilty traffic. He who fights for the right has mighty unseen allies. Do not we need a temple cleansing? The trade spirit desecrates religious work. Finance takes too prominent a place in the Church. It is possible to crush the spirit of private worship in low, unworthy ways of providing the means of public worship. We want the scourge of small cords to drive out the worldly methods of Christian work. - W.F.A. Parallel Verses KJV: And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, |
    |