“And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise.”
His disciples remembered that it is written: 'Zeal for your house will consume me' — the disciples' citation of Psalm 69:9 interprets Jesus' action as prophetic fulfillment. The shift to first-person in the Psalm ("consume me") applies prophetic passion to Jesus, foreshadowing his consuming suffering. The disciples' later remembrance of Scripture suggests that understanding develops retrospectively, often through Resurrection illumination.
Church Fathers on John 2:16
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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