another thing, as a nation familiar with the history of the Old Testament Prophets, they ^vould not be surprised at an indi- vidual apparently under a divine impulse suddenly doing what our Lord did. — Above all there can be little doubt that a divine influence was brought to bear on all present, as it was when out Lord rode into Jerusalem on an ass, and when He caused Hia enemies in the garden to " go backward and fall to the ground," (Malt. xxi. 9, 10 ; John xviii. 6.) Here, as on other occasions, our Lord showed His disciples that He had complete power over all wills and minds, when He thought fit to exercise it; and that when He was rejected and disobeyed by the Jews, it was not because He had no power to compel obedience. They had no power against Him except when He permitted.
The allegorical meanings assigned to the sheep, oxen, and doves, by Augustine, Origen, and Bede, are too absurd to be quoted. They may be seen in the Catena of Aquinas. Origen sees in the casting out of the animals, a type of the dissolution of the Jewish dispensation with its offerings and sacrifices.
Beza sees a peculiar fitness in our Lord's action of purifying the temple. It became Him who was to be our Prophet, Priest, and King, to exhibit the same zeal for the purity of Grod's house that was formerly exhibited by such men as the Prophet Isaiah, the priest Jehoiada, and the kings Hezekiah and Josiali. (2 Chron. xxiv. 16.) 17. — [Sis disciples remembered, Sc.'] These words certainly appear to mean that our Lord's disciples "remembered" the text which is here quoted, at the very time when our Lord was casting out the buyers and sellers. It occurred to their minds as a striking illustration of the spirit which their divine Master was exhibit- ing. He was completely absorbed for the moment in zeal for the purity of Grod's house. It is one among many proofs of the familiarity of the poor and unlearned Jews with the Old Testa- ment Scriptures. Whether, however, the disciples regarded the Psalm, of which they remembered this verse, as applicable to the Messiah, may be reasonably doubted.
[ITie zeal of thine house... .eaten me.] The 69th Psalm, from whi^h this text is taken, is quoted no less than seven times in the New Testament, as the utterance of Messiah. In the first twenty-one verses of the Psalm the Messiah's sufferings are related by Himself. The fifth verse is undoubtedly very remarkable as coming from Messiah's lips, when He speaks of " my foohshness" and "my sins." Ainsworth says it means, "false imputation of sins." '* Thou knowest if there be any such as my foes charge me with.'"' Bonar says much the same.
The text before us shows that it is sometimes justifiable to be entirely absorbed and eaten up, so to speak, by zeal for some