John Calvin Commentary Matthew 21:13

"and he saith unto them, It is written, My house shall be called a house of prayer: but ye make it a den of robbers." — Matthew 21:13 (ASV)

It is written. Christ quotes two passages taken from two Prophets: one from Isaiah 56:7 and the other from Jeremiah 7:11. What was written by Isaiah agreed with the circumstances of the time, for in that passage the calling of the Gentiles is predicted. Isaiah, therefore, promises that God will grant not only that the temple will recover its original splendor, but also that all nations shall flow to it, and that the whole world will agree in true and sincere piety.¹⁴

He speaks, no doubt, metaphorically, for the spiritual worship of God, which was to exist under the reign of Christ, is foreshadowed by the prophets under the figures of the Law. Certainly, this was never fulfilled in the sense that all nations literally went up to Jerusalem to worship God; therefore, when he declares that the temple will be a place of prayer for all nations, this way of speaking is equivalent to saying that the nations must be gathered into the Church of God, so that with one voice they may worship the true God, along with the children of Abraham.

But since Isaiah mentions the temple, insofar as it then was the visible abode of religion, Christ justly reproaches the Jews for having applied it to totally different purposes from those to which it had been dedicated. The meaning, therefore, is: God intended that this temple should exist then as a sign on which all His worshippers should fix their eyes. And how base and wicked is it to profane it by thus turning it into a market?

Besides, in the time of Christ, that temple was actually a house of prayer; that is, as long as the Law, with its shadows, remained in force. But it began to be a house of prayer for all nations when the doctrine of the Gospel resounded from it, by which the whole world was to be united in one common faith. And though shortly afterwards it was totally overthrown, yet even in the present day the fulfillment of this prophecy is manifest. For, since:

out of Zion, went forth the law,
(Isaiah 2:2; Micah 4:2)

those who wish to pray correctly must look to that beginning. I do acknowledge that there is no distinction of places, for it is the will of the Lord that people should call upon Him everywhere. But as believers, who profess to worship the God of Israel, are said to:

speak in the language of Canaan, (Isaiah 19:18)

so they are also said to come into the temple, because from it flowed the true religion.

It is also the fountain of the waters. These waters, enlarged to an astonishing degree within a short period, flow in great abundance and give life to those that drink them, as Ezekiel (Ezekiel 47:9) mentions.¹⁵

These waters, going out from the temple, spread, as Zechariah (Zechariah 14:8) says, from the rising to the setting sun.

Though in the present day we make use of temples (or churches) for holding the holy assemblies, it is for a different reason. For, since Christ was manifested, no outward representation of Him under shadows is held out to us, such as the fathers anciently had under the Law.

It must also be observed that by the word prayer the prophet expresses the whole worship of God. For, though there was at that time a great variety and abundance of religious rites, yet God intended briefly to show the object of all those rites: namely, that they might worship Him spiritually. This is more clearly expressed in Psalm 50, where God also includes under prayer all the exercises of religion.

But you have made it a den of robbers. Christ means that the complaint of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 7:11) applied equally well to His own time, in which the temple was no less corrupted. The prophet directs his reproof against hypocrites who, through confidence in the temple, allowed themselves greater liberty in sinning.

For, as it was the design of God to employ outward symbols as a kind of foundational instruction for the Jews in true religion, they satisfied themselves with the empty pretense of the temple, as if it were enough to give their attention to outward ceremonies, just as it is customary with hypocrites to:

change the truth of God into a lie (Romans 1:25).

But the prophet exclaims that God is not bound to the temple or tied to ceremonies, and therefore that they falsely boast of the name of the temple, which they had made a den of robbers.

For as robbers in their dens sin with greater audacity, because they trust that they will escape punishment, so by means of a false covering of godliness hypocrites grow more bold, so that they almost hope to deceive God.

Now, as the metaphor of a den includes all corruptions, Christ properly applies the prophet's passage to the present occasion.

Mark adds that Christ gave orders that no one should carry a vessel through the temple; that is, He did not permit anything to be seen there that was inconsistent with religious services. For by the word vessel the Hebrews denote any kind of utensil. In short, Christ took away whatever was at variance with the reverence and majesty of the temple.

¹⁴ “A la vraye et droiet cognoissanc de Dieu;” — “in the true and right knowledge of God.”;” — “in the true and right knowledge of God.”

¹⁵ “Et aussi c’est ceste source des quatre fleuves desquels Ezekiel ((47:2) ) parle, qui doyvent arrouser les quatre coins du monde;” — “and this is also the source of the four rivers of which Ezekiel (; ” — “and this is also the source of the four rivers of which Ezekiel (47:2) speaks, which are to water the four quarters of the world.”) speaks, which are to water the four quarters of the world.”