In a word, I see Jesus in the light, not of a ZEALOT, but of a PROPHET only, in this whole transaction. I see him acting, not on precarious principles and rabbinical traditions, but on the sure basis of scripture; and regulating his conduct by the known ideas of his office, such as had at all times been entertained of it, and were even now familiar to the Jews in the times in which he lived.
To make way for what I have further to advance on this subject, it will, then, be necessary to consider, first, the PRACTICES AND USAGES of the Jewish prophets, I mean the manner, in which that high office was sometimes discharged and exercised by them, even to the very times in question: and, secondly, to consider, the true scope and meaning of the PROPHECY itself, to which Jesus appeals, and on which he justifies this obnoxious part of his conduct.
1. It is impossible for those, who have read the scriptures of the Old Testament, not to observe, how much they abound in figures and material images. Nay, the prophets are frequently represented as instructing those, to whom they are sent, not in figurative expression only, but in the way of action and by sensible signs. And this mode of information has been shewn by learned men[308] to arise from the very nature of language, in its rude and imperfect state; being indeed an apt and necessary expedient to supply the defects of speech, under that circumstance. It has further been made appear, from the history of mankind, that this practice universally prevailed in all barbarous nations, as well as in Judæa; nay, that it every where continued to prevail, as an ornamental method of communication, long after the necessity was over, which had given birth to it; especially among the inhabitants of the East, to whose natural vivacity it was so well suited. Hence, the Jewish prophets, it is said, but conformed to the established practice of their own times, when they adopted this use of representative action: as, when one Prophet pushed with horns of iron, to denote the overthrow of the Syrians[309]; and another, broke a potter’s vessel to pieces, to express the shattered fortune of the Jews[310]; with innumerable other instances of the like nature.
This the prophet Hosea calls, using similitudes by the HAND of the prophets[311]; and the effect of it was, to impress the proposed information on the minds of men with more force (being addressed to their eyes and senses) than could have been done by a mere verbal explication.
This mode of teaching by signs, then, let it be remembered, was familiar to the Jewish nation, and prevailed even in the days of Jesus; as is clear from John the Baptist’s wearing a garment of camel’s hair, and eating locusts and wild honey[312]; to signify the mortification and repentance, which he was commissioned to preach—from Christ’s riding into Jerusalem[313]; to signify the assumption of his regal office—and from his directing his disciples to shake of the dust of their feet[314], as a testimony against them, who would not receive his Gospel.
And we find that, sometimes, even a miracle was wrought to furnish a convenient sign—As when Simon’s draught of fishes[315], was made to denote the success he should have in his ministry; according to the interpretation of Christ himself, who said to him, Henceforth thou shalt catch men—As, again, when Jesus curst the barren fig-tree[316], to signify the unfruitfulness and rejection of the Jewish nation—And, as when he permitted the unclean spirits to enter into a herd of swine, which, thereupon, ran violently down a steep place and perished in the waters[317]: an exertion of his miraculous power, which, among other purposes, might be intended to express, in the way of representation, the tyranny of evil spirits, and their attendants, evil habits, over sensual and voluptuous men (of whom swine are the acknowledged emblems), and the consequent perdition in which they drown them. Nay, the very parables of our Lord, are but this mode of information, by material signs, once removed.
It may, further, be observed, that the two Christian Sacraments themselves are founded on this principle: and so prevalent was the use of conveying information in this form, that even the Roman Governor, when he condemned Jesus, took water and washed his hands[318] before the multitude, to signify to them, that he was innocent of that horrid crime.
From all this we may certainly conclude, that it was very customary in our Saviour’s time for men to express themselves by outward and visible signs: that this mode of expression was especially of ancient and approved use among the Prophets, when they would inforce some high and important topic of instruction: and that, not impossibly therefore, the famous transaction in the temple may be only an information of this nature.
If then we would know, what that information was, or, in other words, what was the peculiar object of it, it will be proper, in the next place,
2. To turn to the Prophecy, to which Jesus appeals, and to consider the true scope and purpose of it.