Church Fathers Commentary Luke 19:45-48

"And he entered into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold, saying unto them, It is written, And my house shall be a house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of robbers. And he was teaching daily in the temple. But the chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people sought to destroy him: and they could not find what they might do; for the people all hung upon him, listening." — Luke 19:45-48 (ASV)

St. Gregory the Great: After He had described the evils that were to come upon the city, He immediately entered the temple to cast out those who bought and sold in it. This shows that the destruction of the people arose chiefly from the guilt of the priests.

St. Ambrose of Milan: For God does not wish His temple to be a house of commerce, but the dwelling place of holiness. Nor does He establish the priestly service in a marketable performance of religion, but in free and willing obedience.

St. Cyril of Alexandria: Now, there were sellers in the temple who sold animals for sacrificial victims according to the custom of the Law. But the time had now come for the shadows to pass away and the truth of Christ to shine forth. Therefore Christ, who was worshipped in the temple together with the Father, commanded that the customs of the Law be reformed, and that the temple become a house of prayer, as it is written, My house is the house of prayer.

St. Gregory the Great: For those who sat in the temple to receive money would undoubtedly sometimes make demands that harmed those who gave them nothing.

Theophylact of Ohrid: Our Lord did the same thing at the beginning of His preaching, as John relates, and now He did it a second time because the crime of the Jews was much greater, as they had not been corrected by the previous warning.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Mystically, you must understand the temple to be Christ Himself as man in His human nature, or with His body united to Him, which is the Church. Insofar as He is the Head of the Church, it was said, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.

Insofar as the Church is joined to Him, the temple is also understood in His words, Take these things away from here, signifying that there would be those in the Church who would rather pursue their own interests, or find a shelter there to conceal their wickedness, than pursue the love of Christ and be restored by confessing their sins and receiving pardon.

St. Gregory the Great: But our Redeemer does not withdraw His word of preaching, even from the unworthy and ungrateful. Accordingly, after having maintained the strictness of discipline by the expulsion of the corrupt, He now pours out the gifts of grace. For it follows, And he was teaching daily in the temple.

St. Cyril of Alexandria: Now, from what Christ had said and done, it was fitting that people should worship Him as God. But far from doing this, they sought to kill Him, as it follows, But the chief priests and the scribes and the chief of the people sought to destroy him.

The Venerable Bede: This was either because He taught daily in the temple, because He had cast the thieves out from there, or because, coming to it as King and Lord, He was greeted with the honor of a heavenly hymn of praise.

St. Cyril of Alexandria: But the people held Christ in much higher esteem than the Scribes, Pharisees, and leaders of the Jews, who, not receiving the faith of Christ themselves, rebuked others. Hence it follows, And they could not find what they might do; for all the people were very attentive to hear him.

The Venerable Bede: This may be understood in two ways. Either, fearing an uprising among the people, they did not know what to do with Jesus, whom they had resolved to destroy. Or, they sought to destroy Him because they perceived that their own authority was being undermined and that multitudes were flocking to hear Him.

St. Gregory the Great: Mystically, just as the temple of God is in a city, so is the life of the religious among a faithful people. Frequently, there are some who take on the religious habit and, while receiving the privilege of Holy Orders, degrade the sacred office of religion into a worldly transaction.

For the sellers in the temple are those who give for a price what rightfully belongs to others; to sell justice is to dispense it only on the condition of receiving a reward. But the buyers in the temple are those who, while unwilling to do what is just toward their neighbor and scorning to do what they are bound by duty to do, purchase sin by paying a price to their patrons.

Origen of Alexandria: If anyone, then, sells, let him be cast out—and especially if he sells doves. For if I sell for money to the people those things which have been revealed and entrusted to me by the Holy Spirit, or if I do not teach without payment, what else am I doing but selling a dove, that is, the Holy Spirit?

St. Ambrose of Milan: Therefore, our Lord teaches generally that all worldly transactions should be far removed from the temple of God. Spiritually, however, He drove away the money-changers who seek gain from the Lord’s money—that is, the divine Scripture—so that they would not be able to discern good and evil.

St. Gregory the Great: And these make the house of God a den of thieves, because when corrupt men hold religious offices, they kill their neighbors with the sword of their wickedness, whom they ought to raise to life through the intercession of their prayers.

The temple is also the soul of the faithful. If it produces corrupt thoughts to the harm of a neighbor, then it has become, as it were, a lurking place for thieves. But when the soul of the faithful is wisely instructed to shun evil, truth teaches daily in the temple.