The conduct of our Lord in the temple reminded the disciples of the words of the psalmist, "The zeal of thine house," etc. They supplied a most appropriate text to the symbolic sermon of our Lord. Genuine religious zeal as illustrated by the conduct of our Lord here. Notice it -

I. IS THE CHIEF OBJECT OF ITS CONCERN. It is the glory of God and the purity of his house and worship. Under the influence of this zeal:

1. Our relationship to God and his relationship to us are specially felt. It was so in the case of Christ now, and in a special manner he felt and proclaimed God to be his Father. "My Father." Jesus ever felt this relationship; and in the degree in which we are possessed of holy zeal, we shall feel our relationship to God and his to us.

2. God's relationship to his house is felt. Jesus calls the temple his Father's house. And so it was. It was his earthly habitation, where his glory should have shone, his Name should be honoured, his worship devotedly observed, and his people abundantly blessed. Holy zeal ever feels God's relationship to his house, and looks at and speaks of it as the house of God, and not of men.

3. A burning interest in God's house is felt. Jesus could not look on the temple with indifference; but, feeling God to be his Father, and the temple his Father's house, as a loving and dutiful Son, he felt an absorbing interest in its welfare. His Father's house was his own, and their interests and zeal were identical. This holy zeal does not stop with trifles, but is engaged with the highest and most momentous subjects - the glory and honour of God, and the purity and success of his cause on earth.

II. THIS ZEAL IN CONTACT WITH A GREAT ABUSE. The house of God was made a house of merchandise.

1. This abuse is quickly seen. No sooner had Jesus entered the temple than this terrible abuse attracted his notice. How many were there that saw it not! Coldness of the moral nature results in blindness to moral evil. But where this zeal is present, and burning in the breast, then the moral eye is keen and the moral visions are clear, and iniquities and abuses are quickly seen in their magnitude and horror.

2. This abuse is keenly felt. No sooner seen than fully realized and felt - felt as repugnant to Jesus as to God himself, and filled him with feelings of disgust amt indignation. Where this zeal is predominant, not merely the moral eye is keen to discern social and religious evils, but the moral heart is sensitive of their injuriousness and intolerant of their existence.

3. This abuse is unmercifully condemned. Condemned:

(1) As an abuse of the place. Making God's house a house of merchandise. Merchandise in itself is not condemned. As such it is right and necessary, and was even necessary in connection with the service of the temple, but not in the temple. In the market it is proper; in the house of God it is profanation.

(2) As an abuse of privileges. People professed to come to the temple to worship Jehovah, but Divine worship is exchanged for human business. In our Father's house we should be about our Father's business. It is a house of merchandise, but merchandise of a spiritual order - not between man and man, but between man and God. It is an exchange, but not that of foreign coins for those of the temple, but an exchange of repentance for forgiveness, faith for Divine justification and peace.

(3) As an insult to God. An insult to his authority, purity, and honour. What an affront to the Lord of the temple! what an insult to the Divine Father, to be turned out of his own home, and what is most distasteful to him, worldliness, admitted instead! and what a breach of trust, what irreligiousness of feelings and conduct, which are unmercifully condemned by holy zeal!

III. THIS ZEAL EXERCISED IN THE REFORMATION OF ABUSES. As illustrated in the conduct of our Lord, we see that:

1. It is ever active and aggressive. It does not. remain in mere speech and sentiment, but ever rushes into aggressive action. It can no more remain long in the presence of evil without attacking it, than a hungry lion in the presence of his prey, or a powerful army in the presence of the foe.

2. It is most sweeping in its demands. It will not be satisfied with anything short of a complete reform. Our Lord entered the temple and drove out all that sold oxen, etc., and even the innocent doves had to leave. The language of holy zeal with reheard to social and religious evils, is, "Take these things hence; make not my Father's house," etc. Between good and evil, truth and error, there is an eternal difference, there can be no compromise; an eternal war, there can be no truce; nothing will satisfy it but a complete surrender.

3. It is intensely earnest. How intensely earnest was our Lord on this occasion! He made a scourge of small cords, a sign, not merely of authority, but also of terrible earnestness. This instrument was not apparently adapted to attain the end in view, but it was the best he could get, and answered his purpose. He wished to destroy the merchandise, not the merchants. Holy zeal, while not regardless of adaptation, will ever use the one available means. It will attack the walls of Jericho with ram's horns, go forth against the giant with a shepherd's sling, and clear the temple with a scourge of small cords. The intensely earnest man is never idle for want of suitable weapons.

4. It is heroically courageous. It carries its possessor away to attack foes who from a human point of view he can never hope to vanquish. What was Jesus to the mighty opposition he confronted? He had:

(1) The opposition of interested persons. Those in the trade - the host of dealers in oxen, etc.

(2) The opposition of interested patrons. The rulers of the people and the governor of the temple.

(3) The opposition of a consenting and benefited public. The crowd who would be more likely to sympathize with the aristocracy of the place than with the carpenter's Son of Nazareth. But this combined opposition he fearlessly confronted, and commenced his task almost alone. Holy zeal is ever courageous, and makes its possessor, if not beside himself, far beyond and above himself.

5. This zeal is entirely self-sacrificing. Liberty, personal safety, and even life is set at nought. It was so with Jesus now. He purified his temple at the risk of his life, and at last he gave himself as a sacrifice, not to the fury of his foes, but to the flames of his burning zeal. "The zeal of thy house," etc. And those under its influence are ever ready to sacrifice even life to their master passion and purpose.

IV. WE HAVE THIS ZEAL GLORIOUSLY TRIUMPHANT. Our Lord drove out the merchants and their merchandise with scarcely any opposition; and did, as one has said, what a powerful army could not do so quickly and completely. How did this zeal triumph, and how must it ever triumph?

1. By its own inherent strength. It is powerful in itself, even when it has only comparatively weak men as its instruments; but how much more powerful when swaying great and well balanced souls, such as Luther, Wickliffe, Paul, and especially our Lord, who is the Son of God as well as Son of man! In such as these, its voice is thunder, its deeds are lightning, its words are two-edged swords, and its chariots and horses are of fire. Its march is majestic, its consciousness of success is supreme, and, should a cloud appear in its firmament, it must soon vanish before its dazzle. It ever goes forth conquering and to conquer, and in its own energy and majesty is terrible.

2. By the strength and justice of its cause. Its demands are ever reasonable, and its cause is just. Jesus was right, and these merchants and their patrons were wrong, and, in the presence of holy enthusiasm, they felt it. He had a scourge of small cords, but he had a more terrible scourge than this - he made a scourge of their guilty consciences, and with it whipped them out. They writhed under the lashes; and corruption slunk away before the majesty of burning holiness; and the unrighteous practice gave way before the heat of embodied justice on fire. Right is ever stronger than wrong, good than evil, and truth than error. Let true principles blaze in the lives and actions of their adherents; they must be triumphant.

3. By its ever-accompanying Divinity. Jesus was a Divine Person, and his act in the temple was miraculous. True; but is not God ever against evil, and on the side of good? Holy zeal is ever accompanied with Divine authority and power; it is really the natural expression of all virtue, the burning presence of holiness, and the flaming manifestation of God's holy nature, who is a consuming Fire. The act of Christ in the temple was symbolic. God is ever on the side of purity and order, and the feeblest voice raised for them and against evil. God is in that voice, and it must triumph.

LESSONS.

1. Our Lord was a Reformer. One of his first acts was to reform the worship of the temple. His followers should be the same; the disciples should follow their Master, and the motto of their lives should be reform.

2. Before we can be true reformers, we must be inspired with holy and burning zeal. This is an essential element of a reformer, as the revealer of evil and the inspiring motive of attack. Without it we cannot see as Jesus saw, we cannot act as he acted; but with it we shall be true reformers. Jesus will have true representatives, holiness will have a voice, and iniquity a scourge.

3. When holy zeal becomes absorbing and universal, abuses and evils in the Church and the world must retire, and the Church and even the earth will indeed be the house of God and the gate of heaven. - B.T.

I. HIS ATTENDANCE AT THE PASSOVER, One of the three great annual festivals which all males were required to attend. None excused but the sick and the disabled. God made the ordinance peremptory, to teach —(1) That His worship and service were the chief things.(2) That God's house was to be the centre of the moral universe, and that all nations would flow to it. Christ's attendance showed —

1. His fulfilling of all righteousness. He came not to destroy.

2. His communion with believers of the Old Testament. Partaking of their sacraments, He declared Himself of one body and spirit with them, just as by instituting sacraments for New Testament believers He declared Himself of one body and spirit with them. Thus Christ is the bond of both dispensations.

3. Himself and His mission to the nation. The promise was that He should come to His temple. Here the people could identify Him if they chose.

II. THE CONDITION IN WHICH HE FOUND THE TEMPLE, AND HIS INTERFERENCE THEREWITH. The market was going on in the outer courts of the Gentiles. The sheep, etc., were sold there to save the inconvenience of individual Jews bringing their offerings from a distance. The money-changers were there, to exchange foreign money for the half-shekel of the sanctuary. The abuse consisted in making God's house a house of merchandise, in which the priests themselves profited. Christ interfered to show His official assumption and exercise of legitimate authority in His own house. The cattle were driven out, the money-tables overthrown; but the doves ordered to be taken away, so that they might not be harmed. Nothing harmful or cruel was done. In this interference we see His glory as the "Son of God" and His administrative authority as "King of Israel." Unsupported Himself, all fled before Him.

III. THE CONVICTION WROUGHT IN THE MINDS OF SERVANTS (ver. 17).

1. We have here the love of Christ, and His earnestness for their salvation and God's glory: typical of His whole work.

2. Christ's example to us.

(1)Our zeal must begin with ourselves.

(2)Must concern itself with God's honour and man's salvation.

(3)Must be actuated by love.

(A. Beith, D. D.)

I. THE MARKET.

1. Described. Jerusalem was in all its glory. Its inhabitants were astir in the early morning, enjoying the cool of the day and the excitement of the season. The streets were blocked by crowds from all parts, who had to make their way to the temple past flocks of sheep and droves of cattle. Sellers of all possible wares beset the pilgrim, for the feasts were the traders' harvests. Inside the temple space the noise and pressure were, if possible, worse. The outer court was in part covered with pens for sheep and oxen. It was, in fact, the yearly fair of Jerusalem, and the crowds added to the din and tumult, till the services in the neighbouring courts were sadly disturbed.

2. Accounted for. It seems strange that the priests should have permitted it, but the explanation throws light on Christ's conduct. The priests made pecuniary profit of it. The sale of doves was almost wholly in their hands, and the rent for the rest was very large. The money-changers were usurers and tricksters, and augmented the priests' revenue out of their unlawful gains.

3. Christ's indignation was, therefore, natural. He had come fresh from the manifestation of His glory, with all the enthusiasm natural to a Jewish prophet and inspired with His Divine mission, to testify to the nation as a whole where it could be best reached. Behold, then, His Father's house invaded by a troop of mercenaries and hucksters!

II. THE EXHIBITION OF CHRIST'S WONDROUS MORAL POWER. There was no physical power displayed, nor any exciting contention with the profaners of the temple. The scourge was only an emblem of power and chastisement, the sight of which was sufficient, and at which they all unresistingly fled. How could one man effect such a clearance, unknown, a Galilean, with no formal authority, priestly power, or following? It was perhaps due to the "solar light" of His countenance, behind which was the unspeakable power of perfect holiness (Matthew 17:2), which made Him attractive to the virtuous and devout, but awful to mere money-grubbers. They were dumb and helpless, because conscience-stricken, in the presence of Incarnate Righteousness.

III. THE PROFOUND SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS ACT. Spiritual cleansing. The temple may be considered as a symbol —

1. Of the heart defiled by selfishness and sin, to be cleansed by the expulsive power of Christ's love.

2. Of society or the world, to be cleansed by Christ's redeeming grace.

3. Of the Church, to be cleansed from superstition, and worldliness, and bigotry, by truth, purity, and charity.

(J. E. Flower, M. A.)

I. THE SIGN AND ITS APPLICABILITY. The temple a symbol of the temple of humanity, built of living stones. To cleanse this He entered on His ministry; and if He had a right to do the greater work, He had a right to do the lesser.

II. THOUGHTS SUGGESTED BY THE SIGN.

1. All men are created to form part of God's temple. The Divine idea of humanity is an organic whole — Christ the centre, the shrine; human hearts grouped round Him forming the courts. Contrast the ideal with the actual. Yet in the midst of chaos God is working out His purpose, and will not rest till the idea is realized.

2. Men have misused the courts as markets. Commerce is good, but its place is outside the heart, not inside. It defiles when it intrudes on the sanctuary. Yet how hard even in the most sacred seasons to exclude their profane associations. Business for most is more absorbing than God and His will.

3. Christ has power and authority to cleanse the courts.(1) With His scourge He may drive away the property which usurps His Father's place.(2) He may scatter the money-changers' money, and leave him at leisure to reflect with out it.(3) He may speak His orders to those who defile the sanctuary with lighter profanations through judgment and disease.

4. The time will come when the temple shall be purified. In the Revelation we see the design perfected. A city without a temple, because itself is a temple. There shall be gold there, and all the good things of the earth shall be sanctified to Divine uses.

(C. A. Goodhart, M. A.)

I. APPROPRIATE to —

1. The place: the metropolis, the centre of the Theocracy, the predicted theatre of Messiah's self-revelation (Zechariah 2:10, 11; Zechariah 9:9).

2. The time: at the passover, when the paschal lamb, of which He was the antitype, was about to be offered, and when the vast crowd gathered afforded a favourably opportunity for impressing the national mind and conscience.

3. The condition of the temple: whose forecourt, reserved for the worship of proselytes, was transformed into a market and fair under the pretence of religion — a melancholy, because faithful, picture of the secularization of the Jewish religion by the Pharisees.

4. The character of Him who carried it through. The Father's Son had a right to purge His Father's house.

II. SUPERNATURAL. As much so as the turning of water into wine. The manifest insufficiency of the means places it in the same category as John 18:6. Its suddenness also surprised, and inward consciousness of guilt paralyzed, the traders. Natural and supernatural causes were thus combined.

III. SIGNIFICANT. Designed to be a revelation to the ecclesiastical authorities of His Messiahship (Psalm 69:9; Malachi 3:2-6).

IV. SUGGESTIVE. Recalling to the disciples the words of the Psalmist, it confirmed their recently formed convictions.

V. ALARMING. It startled the Sanhedrim, who recognized the Messianic character of the action, but wanted to know whether He was Messiah. Secretly they must have dreaded this. But because He was different from what they expected, they declined to receive Him. They trifled with their consciences by asking for a sign. They preferred the darkness, although the light had now conspicuously dawned. Lessons:

1. The duty and privileges of the ordinances of religion. Christ at the passover.

2. The need of purity and order in the sanctuary — Christ purging the temple court.

3. The danger of a worldly spirit intruding into the domain of religion — the traders in the sacred edifice.

4. The propriety of being zealously affected in Divine service — Christ's example.

(T. Whitelaw, M. A.)

Had Christ appeared as a teacher it would have been a great benevolence: but He would hardly have had so wide-spread an influence. Teaching was only one part of His task, the other was to ordain a fellowship. So He needed to appear as the reformer of religion. The temple was the centre of religious life: here then the reformation must begin. See then the principles of Christ as a religious reformer.

I. HE DID NOT COME TO DESTROY, BUT TO PURIFY AND FINISH. But why trouble Himself about an institution that was to pass away? (John 4:24). The answer is that Jesus did wish to erect the new on the ruins of the old, but since so much depended on the old, this, when reformed, should attach itself to that. We should be like Christ in this, not to destroy but to reform and build up.

II. THE ZEAL OF THE REDEEMER WAS INTENDED TO BANISH EVERYTHING THAT MIGHT ENTANGLE MEN AGAIN IN WORLDLY THOUGHTS AND ANXIETIES. The really devout and upright as well as the frivolous might see no evil nor distracting influence in these things. The temple was large enough. All these arrangements had to do with religious life. Was it not a matter of indifference whether they were carried on within or in the neighbourhood of the temple. Those whose thoughts would be disturbed by them would be disturbed without them. But human prudence is one thing; the judgment of Christ another. Whatever draws men to and keeps men near God must be kept pure and free from desecration. The weakness of the human heart forbids the worldly and the Divine mingling with one another. The germ of the Jewish corruption lay in the mixing of the two. Let then our church, life ordained by that Lord who here cleared the temple, be free from foreign admixture.

III. WHAT RIGHT HAD CHRIST TO ACT IS THIS WAY? Did He not overstep the bounds of His authority. No, according to the free customs of that people and age it was competent to any one to assail anything that was at variance with public law. There was ever scope for honest zeal. Christ found it so, and would have us find it so and lift our voices for what is right and good, to win public opinion to them. We Christians are a priestly people called to keep pure the temple of God upon earth.

(Schleiermacher.)

We see —

I. HOW MUCH CHRIST DISAPPROVES OF IRREVERENT BEHAVIOUR IN THE HOUSE OF GOD. Are there none who bring to church their money, their lands, their cattle, etc.; who bring their bodies only to a place of worship and are "almost in all evil, in the congregation" (Proverbs 5:14).

II. HOW MEN MAY REMEMBER WORDS OF RELIGIOUS TRUTH LONG AFTER THEY ARE SPOKEN, and may one day see in them a meaning which they now do not see (vers. 19, 22). Sermons preached to apparently heedless ears are not all lost and thrown away; nor are texts taught by teachers or parents to children. There is often a resurrection of the good seed sown after many years (1 Corinthians 15:58; Ecclesiastes 11:1).

III. HOW PERFECT IS OUR LORD'S KNOWLEDGE OF THE HUMAN HEART (vers. 24-25). He saw beneath their superficial faith that they were not disciples indeed. This thought ought to make hypocrites and false professors tremble. They may deceive men but they cannot deceive Christ. But it is a word of encouragement to real Christians.

(Bp. Ryle.)

It is impossible not to feel the change which at this point comes over the narrative.

I. There is A CHANGE.

1. Of place: Jerusalem and Cans.

2. Of occasion: the passover and the marriage feast.

3. Of manner of action: the stern Reformer and the sympathizing Guest.

II. THE SPIRITUAL LESSONS WHICH THE TWO SIGNS CONVEY ARE ALSO COMPLEMENTARY.

1. One represents the ennobling of common life and the other the purification of Divine worship.

2. One is a revelation of the Son of peace, the other a revelation of the Christ, the Fulfiller of the hope and purpose of Israel.

(Bp. Westcott.)

Alas! that even in the restored and consecrated temple of man's soul, scenes are at times enacted, of which the sacrilege in the Jewish temple was but a feeble emblem. It is a desecration, Dot of a material building but of God's spiritual house — the merchandise, not of sheep and oxen but of sins. The pollution is not in the "outermost court of the Gentiles, but in the inmost sanctuary where God delights to dwell" — in man's heart. Too often is there rebellion, even in the believer's soul, against the authority of the Lord; and giving to Him a divided heart. Too often are the living temples thronged with carnal things, earthly affections and desires. Too often is the lowing of oxen and the bleating of sheep heard, and the tables of the money Changers planted, within the precincts of God's house. Alas! how often is the silent and solemn devotion of the believer's heart distracted by the noise of conflicting passions, and its purity defiled by low and grovelling affections. Holy thoughts and desires, like the poor, despised Gentiles, are turned out of their proper place, and thrust into a corner. Oh, this is monstrous incongruity. Have you not here a temple which you have sacrilegiously profaned; and has not your passion for sordid gain and worldly occupation so entirely engaged and absorbed you, that all your feelings and faculties seem to be expended on earthly vanities, and your affections settled down to the dust? You profane that which God has made holy — that which He has set apart for Himself, and where He would delight to dwell. "My house shall be called a house of prayer, but ye have made it a den of thieves."

(W. Chalmers, M. A.)

in the temple are those who pursue secular interests in the church; and God's house is made a house of merchandise, not only by those who seek to obtain money or praise, or honour by means of holy orders, but .by those also who exercise the sacred ministry, or dispense sacred gifts, with a view to human rewards and not with simplicity of intention.

(Bp. Wordsworth.)

Jesus, DisciplesCana, Capernaum, Galilee, JerusalemApproaching, Jerusalem, Jewish, Jews, Nigh, Passover1. Jesus turns water into wine;
12. departs into Capernaum,
13. and to Jerusalem,
14. where he purges the temple of buyers and sellers.
18. He foretells his death and resurrection.
23. Many believe because of his miracles, but he will not trust himself with them.

John 2:13-16

     5260   coinage

John 2:13-17

     5838   disrespect
     8370   zeal
     8470   respect, for God

Grace and Glory
Chapel Royal, Whitehall. 1865. For the consumptive hospital. St John ii. 11. "This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory." This word glory, whether in its Greek or its Roman shape, had a very definite meaning in the days of the Apostles. It meant the admiration of men. The Greek word, as every scholar knows, is derived from a root signifying to seem, and expresses that which a man seems, and appears to his fellow men. The Latin word glory is …
Charles Kingsley—All Saints' Day and Other Sermons

March 13 Morning
There is one God, and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.--I TIM. 2:5. Forasmuch . . . as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.--In Christ Jesus, ye who sometime were far off, are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace.--By his own blood he entered …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

April 6 Morning
He ever liveth to make intercession.--HEB. 7:25. Who is he that condemneth? it is Christ that died . . . who also maketh intercession for us.--Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.--There is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. Seeing . . . that we have a great …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

September 9 Evening
My feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped.--PSA. 73:2. When I said, My foot slippeth; thy mercy, O Lord, held me up. The Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not. A just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again.--Although he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand. Rejoice not against me, O my enemy: when I fall, I shall arise: when …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

April 25 Morning
Thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins--MATT. 1:21. Ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins.--That we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness.--He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him. He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.--Thus it behoved …
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July 8 Morning
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.--I JOHN 1:9. I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight. And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.--I have blotted out as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

March 17 Evening
In all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.--HEB. 4:15. When the woman saw that the tree was good for food (the lust of the flesh), and that it was pleasant to the eyes (the lust of the eyes), and a tree to be desired to make one wise (the pride of life), she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. When the tempter came to [Jesus], he said, if thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread (the lust of the flesh). …
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April 27 Morning
Brethren, the time is short.--I COR. 7:29. Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.--The world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.--As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. Death is swallowed up in victory.--Whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

August 17 Evening
As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place therof shall know it no more.--PSA. 103:15,16. So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts to wisdom.--What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.--The world passeth away, and the lust thereof: …
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October 13 Evening
Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.--MATT. 6:10. Understanding what the will of the Lord is. It is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish. This is the will of God, even your sanctification.--That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.--Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth: wherefore lay apart all filthiness. Be ye holy; for I am holy.--[Jesus] said, Whosoever …
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November 5 Evening
The fashion of this world passeth away.--I COR. 7:31. All the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died. Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted: but the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away. For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning beat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.--For …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

January 17 Evening
The things which are.--REV. 1:19. Now we see through a glass, darkly.--Now we see not yet all things put under him. We have . . . a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts.--Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. Beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; how that they told you there should be …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

November 5 Morning
Take thou also unto thee principal spices, and thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment.--EXO. 30:23,25. Upon man's flesh shall it not be poured, neither shall ye make any other like it, after the composition of it: it is holy, and it shall be holy unto you.--One Spirit.--Diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. Thy God hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.--God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power.--God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. …
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April 30 Morning
Whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected.--I JOHN 2:5. The God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. Hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.--If a man love me, he will keep my …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

August 1 Morning
The fruit of the Spirit is . . . faith.--GAL. 5:22. By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.--Without faith it is impossible to please him.--He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.--Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief. Whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.--Faith …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

April 10 Evening
All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.--II TIM. 3:12. I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.--Whosoever . . . will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.--Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

September 11 Morning
Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.--ROM. 12:2. Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil. Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. What fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

May 11 Morning
Awake to righteousness, and sin not.--I COR. 15:34. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. It is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.--Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

May 17 Morning
I am the Lord your God; walk in my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them.--EZEK. 20:19. As he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation.--He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked. If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.--Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God.--Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

September 17 Evening
O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.--PSA. 34:8. When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: he saith, . . . Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now. The ear trieth words, as the mouth tasteth meat. --I believed, and therefore have I spoken.--I know whom I have believed.--I sat down under his …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

The First Miracle in Cana --The Water Made Wine
'This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth His glory.'--JOHN ii. 11. The keynote of this Gospel was struck in the earlier verses of the first chapter in the great words, 'The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, full of grace and truth.' To these words there is an evident reference in this language. The Evangelist regards Christ's first miracle as the first ray of that forth-flashing glory of the Incarnate Word. To this Evangelist all …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Christ Cleansing the Temple
'Take these things hence; make not My Father's house an house of merchandise.'--JOHN ii. 16. The other Evangelists do not record this cleansing of the Temple at the beginning of Christ's ministry, but, as we all know, tell of a similar act at its very close. John, on the other hand, has no notice of the latter incident. The question, then, naturally arises, are these diverse narratives accounts of the same event? The answer seems to me to be in the negative, because John's Gospel is evidently intended …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Destroyers and the Restorer
'Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this Temple, and in three days I will raise it up.'--JOHN ii. 19. This is our Lord's answer to the Jewish request for a sign which should warrant His action in cleansing the Temple. There are two such cleansings recorded in the Gospels; this one His first public act, and another, omitted by John, but recorded in the other Gospels, which was almost His last public act. It has been suggested that these are but two versions of one incident; and although there …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Jesus the Joy-Bringer
'And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: 2. And both Jesus was called, and His disciples, to the marriage. 3. And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto Him, They have no wine. 4. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come. 5. His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it. 6. And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

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