The Pulpit Commentary — Matthew — Volume 2 — Section 326

purified. The Lord might cleanse the temple; the priests who ministered there would not yield up their henrts to him, that he might cleanse them, He looked round about upon all thinfs (accordin_g _to St. Mark, the actual cleansing of the temple was deferred !111 the Lord·s second V!Slt, on the _Monday). So the Lord <:omes to his temple now, so he looks round a1?ou~ upon all things; he notes the formal services, he notes the careless hearts. It 1s nght that the house of God be kept in decent order and beauty but far more deeply necessary that all who minister and all who worship there should offer up their hear~ to him cleansed, purified through faith in him; a reasonable holy and lively sacrifice. 2. His -tijection of the buyers and sellers. He :had cleans~d th;, temple once before, at the beginning of his ministry (John ii.13-17). The irreverent- practices '"°hich he then checked had been resumed, The court of the Gentiles had again become a market for the oxen, sheep, and doves, which the worshippers needed for the various sacrifices. .A.gain the money-changers had e.stablished themselves there· to exchange the foreign money brought by the worshippers from many lands for the sacred shekel of the sanctuary, which alone could be accepted in the temple. Probably now, in the_ Passover week, the traffic was_busier than ever, the noise more unseemly, tl,e barga.mmg more eager than at other times. It was a sad scene, an unholy intru- sion of earth and earthly doings into the house of God. The Saviour's holy soul was moved Tithin him. Filled with that zeal for the house of God which had so much struck the apostles on the former occasion, he cast out all that sold and bought in the tl'mple. There was a majesty in his look and bearing which could not be resisted• they fled before him, conscience-stricken. They felt that he was right; he was vindi~ eating a great truth; God's house must be held in honour; they who reverence God must reverence his temple. "Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thy honour dwelletb." 3. Bis 'f'elYuke. He told them what the temple• should be-a house of prayer ; it should be pervaded with an atmosphere of prayer; those who came there should come in the spirit of prayer; they should go up into the temple to pray. Bnt how was prayer possible amid this noise and hubbub? '!'his unseemly trafficking unsettled the minds of the worshippers as they passed into the inner courts. The court of the Gentiles was like a den of robbers now; they were robbing -God of tbe honour due to him; they were driving this unholy traffic in his courts, their thoughts bent on dishonest gains. It must not be so, he said; God's house is a sacred place. We dishonour God's house if we· allow worldly, covetous thoughts to occupy our minds when our bodies a.re present there. When the heart is like a den of robbers, the prayer of the lips will not reach the mercy-seat. We must do ea.eh of us our pa.rt to make God's house indeed the house of prayer by praying our- selves, and that in spirit and in truth. 4. His miracles. The blind and· the la.me came to him in the temple;and he healed them. He would do works of mercy in the temple courts, as he would do them on the sabba.th; for, indeed, such deeds done in faith and love a.re acts of worship, pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father (Jae. i. 27). It does our churches no dishonour to_ use them, as sometimes they, have been used in times of special need, for the service of the sick and suffering. Still - in the temple the Lord performs bis miracles of grace; there he opens the eyes of those: who came praying, "Lord, increase our faith;" there he gives strength and energy to the hands that hang down and the feeble knees. II. 'l'HE DISPLEASURE OF TBE CHIEF PRIESTS. 1. Their 't'emonstrance. They saw the wonderful things that he did. The miracles were wonderful; wonderful, too, was that strange majesty which so impressed the crowd of dealers and money-changers that they obeyed him, as it seems, without a word. It was a wonderful thing indeed tbat one Man, and one without any recognized position in the temple, without any official character, could overawe that concourse of traders. They heard the children crying in the temple repeating the hosannas of the festal procession. They were sore displeased. They called the Lord's attention. They did not regard him as tho Messiah. He ought not they thought, to allow those untaught children t.o hail him with such a title. 2. 'The Lord's 't'eply. He would not check the little ones. He ever loved chil- dren and children ever loved to flock a.round him and to listen to his voice. Besides, the ~hildren were right; their childlike hearts recognized the dignity of Christ. Their hearts taught them, with an mtuitive knowledge, lessons which the learned rabbis, the dignitaries of the temple, could not reach. & now holy children often utter profound OH, xxr.1--46,] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW. 331