Page:PracticalCommentaryOnHolyScripture.djvu/493



The Divinity  of  Jesus  Christ  is  in  this  chapter  proved  1)  by  His words,  2)  by  His  deeds,  and  3)  by  the  prophecy  He  made.

1. In  the  Temple  and  in  the  presence  of  many  leading  Israelites, Jesus distinctly  declared  Himself  to  be  the  Son  of  God,  calling  the Temple the  house  of  His  Father. If God  be  His  Father,  He  must  be the  Son  of  God.

2. He  proved  His  Divinity  by  the  power  and  majesty  of  his  indignation when  He  drove  the  buyers  and  sellers  from  the  Temple, quelling in  the  most  wonderful  way  every  sign  of  resentment  or  resistance on their  part  (Origen).

3. He  showed  His  Divinity,  or,  to  speak  more  exactly,  His  omniscience, by  distinctly  foretelling  that  the  Jews  would  kill  Him  (destroying the  temple  of  His  Body),  and  that  He  would  raise  His  dead  Body  to life  again  on  the  third  day.

Different ways  of  receiving  grace.  Our  Lord’s  miracles  served  to increase  the  faith  of  the  disciples,  who  perceived  in  His  action  in the  Temple  the  fulfilment  of  the  prophecy  that  the  Messias  would  be full  of  zeal  for  the  house  of  God. The miracle  and  our  Lord’s  direct testimony to  His  own  Divinity  were  likewise  a grace  for  the  Jews  who happened to  be  in  the  outer  court  of  the  Temple. The grace  of  faith was offered  to  them,  and  they  resisted  it:  they  would  not  believe,  and demanded a fresh  miracle  in  confirmation  of  the  first. God gives  His grace to  all  men. But man  has  the  power  of  resisting  it.

The Body  of  Christ  was  the  living  Temple  of  God,  because  in  Him dwelt the  fulness  of  the  Godhead; He  being  the  Second  Person  of  the Blessed Trinity,  with  all  power,  wisdom  and  holiness. Our bodies,  too, become the  temples  of  the  Holy  Ghost  by  Baptism  and  Confirmation, because God  the  Holy  Ghost  dwells  in  us  by  His  grace. ‘'Know you not that  ye  are  the  temple  of  God,  and  that  the  Spirit  of  God  dwelleth in you? But if  any  man  violate  the  temple  of  God,  him  shall  God destroy. For the  temple  of  God  is  holy,  which  you  are”  (1  Cor.  3,  16  17). This living  temple  of  God  is  defiled  by  every  mortal  sin,  especially  by those  against  holy  purity.

Behaviour in  the  House  of  God.  Jesus,  full  of  a holy  zeal,  reproved and punished  the  buyers  and  sellers  who  were  behaving  themselves irreverently in  the  outer  court  of  the  Temple. A Catholic church  is far  more  holy  than  was  the  Jewish  Temple;  and  Christians  who  behave without reverence  inside,  or  near  it,  deserve  sharper  reproof  and  heavier punishment than  did  the  sellers  in  the  Temple.

Holy Scripture  is  not  the  only  source  of  faith. Scripture,  after relating the  purifying  of  the  Temple,  says  that  Jesus  performed  many miracles in  Jerusalem  and  the  neighbourhood;  but  what  these  miracles were, the  holy  Evangelists  do  not  tell  us. This shows  us  that  not