The Cleansing of the Temple.
In this passage we notice:
I. Our Lord's zeal that zeal of which the Psalmist said, speaking prophetically: "The zeal of Thine house hath even eaten me." Let Christ our Lord be in this as in other things a pattern to us; let the honour of God be with us a governing principle; if the command of God be clear one way, then, even though everybody be on the other side, let us have the courage to take our stand on His command. And perhaps a little more courage on our part would be rewarded with the same kind of victory which our Lord obtained; men's consciences were convinced and they yielded to His word, and so I think it will frequently happen in our time.
II. Again, the conduct of our Lord shows us the reverence that is due to God's house. The Jewish Temple was emphatically a house of prayer; it was a place where God had promised His special presence to those who came to worship; and whatever honour was due to the Temple, as the house of God and the place of prayer, is due to the Christian Church. The tables of money-changers must not be here; this is no place for thoughts of gain, it is a profanation of God's Temple to bring them here. Christ would not allow any money-dealings in the Temple of old, and He will not allow them here; wherefore we should remember that all thoughts of worldly profit are to be left outside the Church porch. This is no place for them this is a house of prayer, the house of God.
III. We are reminded by our Lord's cleansing of the Temple in the days of His flesh of that awful cleansing of His Temple which will one day take place, when all that is vile and offensive shall be cast out of His Temple, and everything that maketh a lie cast into the lake of brimstone. Let each one of us ask himself: "Will Christ, when He comes to judgment say of me, 'Take this man hence'?"
Bishop Harvey Goodwin, Parish Sermons,1st series, p. 292.
References: Luke 19:45; Luke 19:46. H. P. Liddon, Christian World Pulpit,vol. vi., p. 27. Luke 19:45-48. Homiletic Quarterly,vol. iv., p. 181; Preacher's Monthly,vol. v., p. 141.Luke 19:46. G. Brooks, Five Hundred Outlines of Sermons,p. 255.Luke 19:48. Clergyman's Magazine,vol. i., p. 36. Luke 20:4. Ibid.,vol. v., p. 31; Homiletic Magazine,vol. x., p. 99. Luke 20:9-17. Ibid.,vol. vii. p. 40. Luke 20:9-18. H. Calderwood, The Parables,p. 317; A. B. Bruce, The Parabolic Teaching of Christ,p. 447. Luke 20:18. Clergyman's Magazine,vol. i., p. 362.Luke 20:20. Preacher's Monthly,vol. ii., p. 97. Luke 20:24. J. E. Vaux, Sermon Notes,3rd series, p. 54.