The temple.
I. THE LORD'S ACTIONS THERE.
1. His entrance. Jesus went into the temple of God. It was a fulfilment of the great prophecy of Malachi, "The Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple." He came, but, alas! they delighted not in him. He came to "purify the sons of Levi, that they might offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness." But, alas! they would not be purified. The Lord might cleanse the temple; the priests who ministered there would not yield up their hearts to him, that he might cleanse them. He looked round about upon all things. So the Lord comes to his temple now, so he looks round about upon all things; he notes the formal services, he notes the careless hearts. It is right 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 hearts to him cleansed, purified through faith in him; a reasonable, holy, and lively sacrifice.
2. His ejection of the buyers and sellers. He had cleansed the temple once before, at the beginning of his ministry (John 2:13-17). The irreverent practices which 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. Again the money changers had established 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, the bargaining more eager than at other times. It was a sad scene, an unholy intrusion of earth and earthly doings into the house of God. The Saviour's holy soul was moved within 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 temple. 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 vindicating 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 dwelleth."
3. His rebuke. 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. But how was prayer possible amid this noise and hubbub? This 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 the 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 are 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 each of us our part to make God's house indeed the house of prayer by praying ourselves, and that in spirit and in truth.
4. His miracles. The blind and the lame 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 sabbath; for, indeed, such deeds done in faith and love are acts of worship, pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father (James 1:27). 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 his 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. THE DISPLEASURE OF THE CHIEF PRIESTS.
1. Their remonstrance. 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 that 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 the Messiah. He ought not, they thought, to allow those untaught children to hail him with such a title.
2. The Lord's reply. He would not check the little ones. He ever loved children, and children ever loved to flock around him and to listen to his voice. Besides, the children were right; their childlike hearts recognized the dignity of Christ. Their hearts taught them, with an intuitive knowledge, lessons which the learned rabbis, the dignitaries of the temple, could not reach. So now holy children often utter profound truths in their simple, innocent talk. Still God perfecteth praise out the mouths of babes and sucklings. He accepts the children's prayer; he listens to the children's hymn. Nay, the prayers and praises of children are our example; for they are offered up in simplicity and truth.
LESSONS.
1. "The Lord is in his holy temple:" enter it with reverence.
2. His house is a house of prayer; drive out worldly thoughts; hush your hearts into solemn attention.
3. Bring the little ones early to church; teach them the words of prayer and praise; their praises are acceptable unto God.