John ii. 17. And his Disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.
WE are apt to think that we receive no benefit from what we read or hear, unless it produce an immediate effect upon us: but the word, like seed, often springs up long after it has been sown. God often brings it to our minds by some great and sin- gular occurrence : and then we see a beauty and importance in it which we never saw before. The Apostles themselves forgat many things which were spoken to them by our Lord, till the Holy Spirit brought them to their remembrance. They had often heard the Psalms read in their synagogues ; but probably never reflected on the passage before us, till our Lord's conduct suggested it to their minds, and cast the true light upon it.
We shall consider,
I. The circumstances which brought these words to their remembrance —
Our Lord, for the first time after his entrance on his public character, went up to Jerusalem at the Passover. There he found that the temple of God was scandalously profaned ; and he immediately set himself to rectify the abuses that were there tole- rated—
[The outer court of the temple was appropriated to the use of the Gentiles : but many of the Jews had rendered it a place of merchandize. There they exposed for sale the cattle that were proper to be offered in sacrifice, and stationed them- selves with tables of money for the accommodation of the strangers who might want to exchange their foreign coin a. Thus they insulted the Gentiles and greatly dishonoured God. To correct this evil, our Lord exerted his divine authority. He drove out the cattle, and ordered the doves to be removed. He overturned the tables of money, and commanded all the
a Every one had occasion for a half shekel for the service of the temple, Exod. xxx. 13 — 16.