What sign can you show us for doing this?”

“What sign can you show us for doing this?”

 

“And he found in the temple them that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting. 

And when he had made, as it were, a scourge of little cords, he drove them all out of the temple, the sheep also and the oxen: and the money of the changers he poured out, and the tables he overthrew. 

And to them that sold doves he said: Take these things hence, and make not the house of my Father a house of traffic. 

And his disciples remembered, that it was written: The zeal of thy house hath eaten me up.”  (John. 2:14-17)

 

St. John notes down this incident in the same chapter wherein is mentioned the miracle at Cana, which reveals Jesus’ compassion for the needy.

    Jesus is kind and merciful.

But when He sees HisFather’s house used for money changing, selling and buying, He takes a whip to drive away the money changers and the sellers of sheep and oxen.

 

But when He comes to the sellers of doves, who are poor if compared with the money changers, He uses only words and asks them to take them from them there.

The whip is in His hands but He uses only words.

 

 We can infer from this that Jesus has a soft corner for the poor in His heart.  

 

One interpretation of this incident is that Jesus wants His temple to be a place of worship, not one of commerce.

Places of worship should not be used for commercial purposes.

 Jesus was justly angered that worldly commercial activities had corrupted the holiness of the temple.

 

There is another interpretation which makes itself clear when we give further reading to the chapter.

“The Jews ask Him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?”

Jesus answers them, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.”

But he is speaking about the temple of his body.”

The Jews want to know the authority that has given Him the right to do what He did in the temple.

But Jesus, instead of giving them a direct answer, replies them with the words which mean, “Kill me and I will rise again on the third day.”

His death and resurrection will prove that He is God who has every authority over His temple.

Driving away the sheep and oxen, sold for sacrificial purpose, has a symbolic meaning. He is saying without saying, “Hereafter sheep and oxen need not be sacrificed, I am to be sacrificed to my Father. I am the sacrificial lamb.”

“Destroy this temple” refers to His sacrifice on the Cross.

“…….in three days I will raise it up.” refers to His resurrection.

 

“Therefore, when he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this.” (John 2:18-22).

 The Mosaic system of sacrifice is not condemned but is replaced   by Jesus Himself.

Jesus sacrificed Himself on the Cross and still continues to do so in every Holy Mass offered by our priests daily.

 

Whenever we receive Jesus through Holy Communion we must  offer Him to our Heavenly Father as amendment for our sins,

Lourdu Selvam

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