And they shall not leave in you a stone upon a stone, through utter overthrow. Whence the Gloss says: "Since Jerusalem is now built outside the gate where the Lord was crucified, it is evident that the former Jerusalem was entirely destroyed." And thus was fulfilled that passage of Lamentations 2: "The Lord has done what he purposed; he has fulfilled his word which he commanded from days of old; he has destroyed and has not spared, and he has made your enemy rejoice over you and has exalted the horn of your adversaries"; and immediately it is added: "Let tears run down like a torrent by day and by night," etc.
68. But this happens spiritually against every sinner dying temporally: who is first surrounded in sickness, hemmed in by the aggravation of sickness, dashed to the ground in death, and utterly overthrown in reduction to ashes, according to that passage of Job 7: "Behold, now I shall sleep in the dust, and if you seek me in the morning, I shall not remain." — It can also be understood of the sinner approaching judgment, who is surrounded by the multitude of accusing iniquities; the Psalm: "For evils have surrounded me, of which there is no number; my iniquities have overtaken me, and I was not able to see." He is hemmed in by the severity of divine judgments; Ecclesiastes 8: "It is not in man's power to restrain the spirit, nor has he power in the day of death, nor is he allowed rest when war presses upon him, nor shall impiety save the impious." He is dashed to the ground in the pronouncement of sentences; Job 27: "If his children be multiplied, they shall fall by the sword," namely, of the divine sentence. And at last he is utterly overthrown in the bitterness of punishments; the Psalm: "Our bones are scattered at the mouth of hell." For then no excuse is left for the impious; Isaiah 5: "I will take away its hedge, and it shall be for trampling."
And concerning all these things it is said in Amos 3: "The land shall be afflicted and encircled, and your strength shall be taken from you, and your dwellings shall be plundered, says the Lord." On account of which Anselm says: "Above will be the wrathful judge, below the horrendous chaos, hell gaping open; on the right, sins accusing; on the left, infinite demons dragging to hell; within, the burning conscience; without, the world ablaze. The wretched sinner thus seized — where shall he flee? To hide will be impossible; to appear will be intolerable."
69. Fourth, as regards the antecedent sin, he adds: Because you did not know the time of your visitation; and this on account of unbelief: Jeremiah 8: "The kite in the sky has known its time; the turtledove and the swallow and the stork have observed the time of their coming; but my people has not known the judgment of the Lord." Just as, therefore, faith is the foundation of the entire spiritual edifice, through which Christ dwells in us, who is the foundation — on account of which it is said in Hebrews 11 that "faith is the substance of things hoped for" — so unbelief is the origin of the destruction of all spiritual edifices. Therefore it is said in Job 4: "Because no one understands, they shall perish forever"; and in Romans 1: "Because they did not see fit to have God in their knowledge, God handed them over to a reprobate mind"; whence also the Jews, because they were unwilling to believe in Christ, were blinded and rejected. And this was the greatest sin, according to that passage in John 16: "He will convict the world of sin indeed," namely "because they have not believed in me." Therefore in the last chapter of Mark: "He who believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he who does not believe shall be condemned"; indeed, what is more, his damnation already begins; John 3: "He who does not believe is already judged, because he does not believe in the name of the only-begotten Son of God."
That he possesses the promised judicial equity, he shows through three things.
70. (Vers. 45.). And having entered into the temple, etc. After the Evangelist described how Christ showed himself by his deed to possess royal power and pontifical compassion, here in the third place it is explained how he showed himself to possess judicial equity. For the declaration of which, three things are introduced, namely the equity of the judge, the truth of the law, and the enormity or impiety of the crime. In these three things, moreover, he shows that he judges rightly, as it were syllogistically. For when the truth of Sacred Scripture is set forth as the major premise, and the perversity of Jewish wickedness is taken as the minor premise, the severity of divine retribution is rightly concluded, according to that passage in John 16: "He will convict the world concerning sin and concerning justice and concerning judgment." For he sets forth justice as the major premise, takes sin as the minor premise, and concludes with judgment.
First, therefore, as regards the equity of the judge, he says: And entering into the temple, he began to cast out those selling in it and those buying: in which is shown the equity of the judge, who, although he was meek in tolerating injury to himself, according to that passage of Jeremiah eleven: "And I was like a meek lamb that is carried to the slaughter"; nevertheless in avenging the divine injury he was a severe and just judge. And because the greatest injury to God is when he is dishonored where he ought to be honored, therefore it is said that he entered the temple, to execute judgment there: which he did both at the beginning of his preaching, as is narrated in John two after the miracle of the changing of water into wine, and at the end after the miracle of Lazarus raised, so that thus that word of the Psalm might be verified: "The zeal of thy house hath consumed me," etc.; and in John two it is said that this was then verified.
And it should be noted that the Lord, immediately after the announcement of the destruction of Jerusalem, entered the temple to purge it, to show that the greatest cause of its destruction was the sin of the priests. Whence the Gloss: "After enumerating the evils, entering the temple, he cast out those selling and buying, by this intimating that the ruin of the people was chiefly from the fault of the priests; when he strikes those selling and buying, he shows whence the root of perdition proceeded." Whence Micah three: "Hear this, you princes of the house of Jacob and judges of the house of Israel, who abominate judgment and pervert all that is right, who build up Sion with blood and Jerusalem with iniquity. Her princes judged for bribes, and her priests taught for a price, and her prophets divined for money; therefore Sion shall be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall be as a heap of stones, and the mountain of the temple of the Lord as the high places of the forests"; and Lamentations four: "Because of the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests, who shed in the midst of her the blood of the just." Moreover, in this, that the Lord cast out those buying and selling, he shows that he especially condemns avarice in clerics, and most of all simony. Whence in Matthew twenty-one it is said that "he overturned the seats of those selling doves." To all such Peter says in Acts eight: "Thy money be with thee unto perdition, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be possessed with money."
71. (Vers. 46.). Secondly, as regards the truth of law, he adds: Saying to them: It is written: My house is a house of prayer. Now this is written in Isaiah fifty-six: "Their holocausts and their sacrifices shall be pleasing to me upon my altar, for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples, says the Lord God, who gathers the dispersed of Israel." Whence David also says in the Psalm: "Holiness befits your house"; and again: "I will enter into your house, I will worship toward your holy temple"; and at the consecration of the temple it is said: "Let your eyes be open upon this house day and night, upon the house of which you said: My name shall be there," Third Kings eight; and Second Paralipomenon seven: "My eyes shall be open, and my ears attentive to the prayer of him who shall worship in this place. For I have chosen and sanctified this place, that my name may be there forever." And therefore the priests said in First Maccabees seven: "You, O Lord, chose this house for your name to be invoked in it, that it might be a house of prayer and supplication for your people."
Now to this end especially is the ecclesiastical house ordained, which was made so that there indeed God might be especially worshipped through the act of prayer, in which God is prayed to and adored, and the first of the legal precepts is fulfilled, by which it is commanded that God be adored, Leviticus twenty and Deuteronomy five, and it is repeated in Matthew four: "You shall adore the Lord your God and him alone shall you serve."
72. Third, as to the enormity of the crime, he adds: You however have made it a den of thieves. This however is said to the priests themselves: whence the Gloss: "You who sit in the temple for this purpose, that you might either persecute bodily those who do not give gifts, or spiritually kill those who do give," according to that passage in Micah 3: "If anyone does not give something into their mouth," etc. Now the house of God becomes a den of thieves when the patrimony of the Crucified is handled against the will of Christ. For this is to steal; and it is robbery when it is done publicly: on account of which Jeremiah 7: "Has this house, in which my name has been invoked, become a den of thieves in your eyes?" "Go to my place in Shiloh and see what I did to it on account of the wickedness of my people Israel." This wickedness is principally imputed to the priests: therefore he says to them especially: You, whose duty it was to purify it and guard it in holiness. Whence Chrysostom: "Each Christian will render an account for his own sin, but priests not only for their own, but for the sins of all their subjects. For just as, seeing a tree withered with yellowing leaves, you understand that it has some defect in its root: so, when you see an undisciplined people, know that its priesthood is not sound." Therefore Malachi 2: "The lips of the priest shall guard knowledge, and they shall seek the law from his mouth, because he is the angel of the Lord of hosts. But you have departed from the way and have scandalized many; you have made void the covenant of Levi." "On account of which I have made you contemptible to all peoples."
He shows that he possesses the promised magisterial authority through three things.
73. (Verse 47). And he was teaching daily etc. After he described how Christ showed by deed that he was king, high priest, and judge, here fourthly he describes how Christ showed himself to be a teacher. For the explanation of which three things are introduced: in Christ namely the assiduity of teaching, in the Pharisees however the assiduity of plotting evil, in the people truly the assiduity of learning. From which it is apparent that Christ was a true teacher, because his teaching was public to all, hateful to the perverse and pleasing to the good: and this on account of its renown, truthfulness and gracefulness.
First, therefore, as to the renown of Christ's teaching, which was public to all, he says: And he was teaching daily in the temple, in which is intimated the perfect publication of his teaching, because it was without intermission: for he taught daily. So Paul, the good teacher, did, of whom Acts twenty says: "I have not shrunk from declaring to you the whole counsel of God." "Therefore watch, keeping in memory that for three years night and day I did not cease, with tears admonishing each one of you." He also exhorts this to be done in Second Timothy four: "I charge you before God and Christ Jesus: preach the word, be urgent in season and out of season, reprove, entreat, rebuke with all patience and teaching." - The publication was perfect because it was without the exclusion of anyone, because not in secret, but in a public place, namely in the temple: John eighteen: "I have spoken openly to the world; I have always taught in the synagogue and in the temple, where all the Jews come together, and in secret I have said nothing." - The publication was also perfect because it was without concealment of anything useful: therefore he says generally teaching, because he taught every truth, according to that saying of Isaiah forty-eight: "I am the Lord, teaching you useful things"; and John fifteen: "All things that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you." And he himself was rightly teaching, because properly he alone is the teacher, according to that saying of Matthew twenty-three: "One is your master, Christ"; which Augustine, expounding, says: "He who teaches hearts inwardly has his chair in heaven."
Therefore the communication of teaching was perfect on the part of place and on the part of instruction, according to what Paul says of himself in Acts twenty: "I kept back nothing profitable from you, but declared to you and taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying to Jews and Gentiles repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ."
74. Second, as to the truthfulness of Christ's teaching, by which it was hateful to unbelievers, he adds: But the chief priests, on account of ambition for priestly dignity, of whom Isaiah one says: "Your princes are faithless, companions of thieves; all love gifts," etc.
And the scribes, on account of ambition for the magisterial chair, according to that saying of Matthew twenty-three: "Upon the chair of Moses the scribes and Pharisees have sat"; and below, chapter twenty: "Beware of the scribes, who wish to walk about in long robes and love greetings in the marketplace and the first chairs in the synagogues." - And the leaders of the people, on account of ambition for judicial power: and concerning these, First Esdras nine says: "The hand of the princes and magistrates was first in this transgression." And because the offense of the people is imputed to them first, therefore Numbers twenty-five says: "Take all the princes and hang them up before the sun on gibbets."
Concerning these it is said that they were seeking to destroy him, through the hatred of malice; therefore in John chapter seven he said to them: "Why do you seek to kill a man who has spoken the truth to you?" But these sought more than others because they were less willing to endure having their vices touched upon, according to that passage in Amos chapter five: "They hated him who reproves in the gate"; or because they rather feared losing their honor. And this was the principal reason that moved them to kill Christ. And for this reason the whole world, because it loves its private good, has as it were conspired against Christ, who says that it must be despised: whence the Psalm: "The kings of the earth stood up, and the princes assembled together." Whence Bernard: "O good Jesus, the whole world seems to have conspired against you, and those first in your persecution are those who seem to rule the people and to love preeminence."
75. (Verse 48.) Third, as to the graciousness of Christ's teaching, by which it was pleasing to the devout, it is added: And they could not find what they might do to him, because he was accepted by the people. Whence below in chapter twenty: "The chief priests and scribes sought to lay hands on him, but they feared the people"; and this because they loved him as a faithful and good teacher.
And therefore he adds: For all the people hung upon him, listening to him: whence in John chapter seven those who had been sent to seize him said: "Never has a man spoken as this man speaks"; whence they were suspended in admiration: on account of which it is said in Matthew chapter seven: "The crowds marveled at his teaching." They were also suspended in devotion: above in chapter six: "A copious multitude of people had come to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities." They were also suspended in eagerness and desire, according to that passage in Sirach chapter three: "A good ear will hear wisdom with all longing"; and especially the wisdom of the most wise, who is Wisdom itself, who says in Proverbs chapter eight: "Blessed is the man who hears me and who watches daily at my gates and waits at the posts of my doors. He who finds me shall find life and shall draw forth salvation from the Lord"; and Sirach chapter twenty-four: "He who hears me shall not be confounded, and those who work in me shall not sin. Those who bring me to light shall have eternal life."