at the beginning of His ministry and once at the end. — -It ia fair to say that Bishop Pearce and a few other writers think that it only happened once, — at the end of His ministry, just before His crucifixion. Bat the arguments in favor of this view do not appear to me at all weighty or satisfactory.
15. — [Made a scourge of small cords.] The Greek word translated " small cords," means literally a " cord made of rushes," Some have thought that these rushes were used as Htter for the sheep and oxen. Others have thought that such small cords as these might very hkely have been lying about, after having been used for tying up the oxen. Whether the scourge was applied to those persons who brought the animals into the temple, as a sort of chastisement, as some old painters have represented the scene, we do not know. The more probable view seems to be, that the scourge was simply meant to assist our Lord in speedily ejecting the sheep and oxen.
The whole transaction is a remarkable one, as exhibiting our Lord using more physical exertion, and energetic bodily action, than we see Him using at any other period of His ministry. A word, a touch, or the reaching forth of a hand, are the ordinary limits of His actions. Here we see Him doing no less than four things : — (1) Making the scourge ; — (2) Driving out the animals ; — (3) Pouring out on the ground the changers' money ; — (4) Overthrowing the tables. On no occasion do we find Him showing such strong outward marks of indignation, as at the sight of the profanation of the temple. Remembering that the whole transaction is a striking type of what Christ will do to His visible church at His second coming, we may get some idea of the deep meaning of that remarkable expression, " The wrath of the Lamb." (Rev. vi. 16.)
A remark of Dyke on our Lord's conduct in this place, is worth noticing. " This act of Christ is not to be drawn into imitation, because He did it as Lord of the temple by virtue of His Sonship. Therefore the Papists grossly abuse this place that hence gather the power of the Pope to punish offenders even with corporal punishments, or to deprive princes of their kingdoms. As for ministers, the only whip they may use is their tongue, in powerful preaching against abuses. — As for private persons, God hath not tied their tongues, though He hath their hands. As occasion is ofiered, they may show their detestation and dislike of corruption."
10. — [Said... .sold doves.. ..take these things hence.] The distinction between our Lord's mode of dealing with each of the obiects of His displeasure deserves notice. The oxen and sheep He drove out. There was no danger of their beirg lost by such treatment. — The money He th7'ew on the ground. It might be soon picked
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tip and carried away. — The doves He simply ordered to be talcen away. Had He done more, they might have flown away, and been completely lost to their owners. — It would have been well for the church, if all church reformers had blended like wisdom with a like zeal in their proceeding?. In the present instance all were rebuked and all instructed. But no one was really injured, and nothing was lost.
[i/y Father's house.'] This expression is note-worthy. Whether the Jews observed it, in the hurry and confusion of the whole transaction, may be questioned. It was evidently an assertion by our Lord of His divine Sonship, and consequently of his right to vindicate the purity of His Father's place of worsliip. On another occasion when our Lord called God His Father, the Jews at once said that He " made himself equal with God." (John v. 18.) Some have thought that the expression is parallel to that used in the description of Christ among the doctors, (Luke ii. 49.) and that the words used there, * I must be about my Father's business," would have been better rendered, " I must be in my Father's house."
The fact that the profane custom which our Lord here re- proved was resumed by the Jews, and that two or three years afterward our Lord found the same thing going on again in the temple, and again cast out the buyers and sellers, ought not to be overlooked. It is a striking proof of the desperate wicked- ness and fallen condition of the priests and rulers of the temple. They were deaf to all counsel and reproof, and given over to a reprobate mind. — The difference between our Lord's language at the second visit and that used at the first, ought also to be noticed. At the first visit He only says, " Make not my Father's house a house of merchandise," a place of buying and selling. At the second visit He says, " Ye have made it a den of thieves." (Matt. xxi. 13.) The more wicked and hardened men are, the louder must be our protest, and the sharper our rebuke.
[A house of merchandise.] Musculus remarks on this ex- pression, that if the sale of animals for sacrifices called forth Christ's displeasure, much more must He be displeased at what goes on continually in Roman Cathohc Churches, The sale of masses, indulgences, &c., must be far more ofifensive to Christ than the sale of oxen and sheep.
The complete success of our Lord on this occasion, and the ab- sence of the slightest opposition on the part of the Jews, deserve notice. It is a fact that induced some of the Fathers to call this the greatest miracle Christ ever worked. There are however three things to be remembered in considering this matter. For one thing, the conscience of the Jews was on our Lord's side. They knew that lie was right and they were wrong. For