“And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables;”
To those who sold doves, he said, 'Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father's house into a market!' — the direct command and the proprietary claim ("my Father's house") assert Jesus' authority over the temple itself. The term "market" (emporion) emphasizes the desecration of sacred space. The phrase "my Father's house" echoes Mary's annunciation-related term (Luke 1:46, "my spirit rejoices in God my Savior") and Jesus' childhood saying (Luke 2:49, "in my Father's house"), suggesting continuity in filial consciousness.
Church Fathers on John 2:15
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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