The stirring event of the Master's career familiarly known as the purging of the temple, recounted in picturesque language and with very little variation in each of the four gospels, has long been a favorite subject with artists. It is not surprising that this dramatic episode has made a strong appeal to the imagination, for the noble figure of the man Jesus, embodying the spiritual qualities of moral courage and truth, shines out in conspicuous contrast with the carnally minded vendors and money-changers, who were startled at being suddenly arrested in their unholy enterprise, and suggests a picture which is at once inspiring and convincing.
That one man unaided, except for "a scourge of small cords," should drive out so effectually and quickly this self-satisfied throng of worldly men, verifies the Master's words, "I can of mine own self do nothing;" but "the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works;" for humanly speaking the circumstance would have been impossible. Its definite appeal, therefore, which all who have attempted to portray it on canvas have appreciated to some extent, is that this event was signally a triumph of good over evil, of truth over error, of intelligence over non-intelligence; in other words, it was not essentially the ejection of a number of people by a person physically stronger than themselves, but it was the extermination of evil beliefs from the temple of God, "the house of prayer," in which they could have no place, and of which in truth they never had been a legitimate part, though seemingly entrenched there.
The logical sequel of the incident, however, so simply told in one verse following Matthew's account, is frequently overlooked in connection with the preceding verses, and though less obvious it also presents to thought a picture radiant with victory over evil beliefs. Viewed in the light which Christian Science throws upon the Scriptures, this verse is as it were a benediction, and triumphantly justifies Jesus' stern act. It reads, "And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them." As sunshine and the song of birds gladden the earth after a dark and thundering downpour, so this verse in its happy serenity, following upon the ringing denunciation of error by the Master, is vocal with the blessing of divine mercy and goodness.
