“And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:”
So he made a whip out of some cords and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables — Jesus' violent cleansing represents extraordinary action, unprecedented in his prior ministry. The whip's construction, though non-injurious to humans, dramatically enacts zeal (zēlos) for God's house. The specificity of his actions (driving, scattering, overturning) emphasizes determination and thorough disruption rather than token protest.
Church Fathers on John 2:14
Our Lord on coming to Jerusalem, immediately entered the temple to pray; giving us an example that, wheresoever we go, our first visit should be to the house of God to pray. And He found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep, and doves, and the changers of money sitting.
Such sacrifices were prescribed to the people, in condescension to their carnal minds; to prevent them from turning aside to idols. They sacrificed sheep, and oxen, and doves.
The sheep, and the oxen and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables, i.e. of the money changers, which were coffers of pence.
Read all 24 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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