The Purification of the Temple
Matthew 21:12-14
And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple…


I. This act shows the mind of Jesus concerning the reverence which is due to the house of God. He regarded it not so much as the temple of the Jews as the temple of God; He revered it more than they did. Their reverence was formal, pompous, selfish; His was spiritual, looking with solemn eyes on the meaning of its name, and the holiness of its purpose. It was sacred to the holiest hopes of man. The place where human souls held communion with the Father cannot be common.

II. The purification of the temple seems to be a striking intimation of the great purpose of His ministry, to purify God's worship everywhere, in the outward and inward temple, in the house, the heart, the life.

III. We may behold in this act of our Saviour one of the primary expressions of the universal and impartial philanthropy of His gospel; that noble principle which, regardless of prejudice or artificial distinction, gathers in the whole family into one equal brotherhood, one worshipping assembly, under the roof of one undivided sanctuary. The desecrated portion was the court of the Gentiles. All is holy. The rights of Gentiles are to Jesus as sacred as those of the Jews. The temple was His Father's house.

(F. W. P. Greenwood, D. D.)



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,

WEB: Jesus entered into the temple of God, and drove out all of those who sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the money changers' tables and the seats of those who sold the doves.




The Lord of the Temple
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