ly assert His authority as Messiah. Out
of the cords lying about He quickly knots together a formidable scourge,
and silently, leaving the public conscience to justify His action, He
proceeds single-handed to drive out cattle and traders together. A scene
of violence ensued,--the cattle rushing hither and thither, the owners
trying to preserve their property, the money-changers holding their
tables as Jesus went from one to another upsetting them, the scattered
coin scrambled for; and over all the threatening scourge and the
commanding eye of the Stranger. Never on any other occasion did our Lord
use violence.

The audacity of the act has few parallels. To interfere in the very
Temple with any of its recognized customs was in itself a claim to be
King in Israel. Were a stranger suddenly to appear in the lobby of the
House of Commons, and by sheer dignity of demeanour, and the force of
integrity, to rectify an abuse of old standing involving the interests
of a wealthy and privileged class, it could not create a greater
sensation. The Baptist might be with Him, cowing the truculent with his
commanding eye; but there was no need of the Baptist: the action of
Christ awakening conscience in the men themselves was enough to quell
resistance.

No doubt Jesus began His work at the house of God because He knew that
the Temple was the real heart of the nation; that it was belief in God
which was their strength and hope, and that the loss of that belief, and
the consequent irreverence and worldliness, were the most dangerous
features of Jewish society. The state of matters He found in the Temple
could not have been tolerated had the people really believed God was
present in the Temple.

Such an act could not pass without being criticised. It would be keenly
discussed that evening in Jerusalem. At every table it would be the
topic of conversation, and a most serious one wherever men in authority
were meeting. Many would condemn it as a piece of pharisaic ostentation.
If He is a reformer, why does He not turn His attention to the
licentiousness of the people? Why show such extravagant and unseemly
zeal about so innocent a custom when flagrant immoralities abound? Why
not spend His zeal in clearing out from the land the polluting
foreigner? Such charges are easy. No man can do everything, least of
all can he do everything at once. And yet the advocate of temperance is
twitted with his negligence of other causes which are perhaps a