Reflecting on St. Luke's Gospel: Prophecy and the Moneychangers

This particular section of Luke’s Gospel provides important information about Christ and the Faith in a compact package. As the Gospel states,

19:41 And when he drew near, seeing the city, he wept over it, saying:

19:42 If thou also hadst known, and that in this thy day, the things that are to thy peace: but now they are hidden from thy eyes.

19:43 For the days shall come upon thee: and thy enemies shall cast a trench about thee and compass thee round and straiten thee on every side,

19:44 And beat thee flat to the ground, and thy children who are in thee. And they shall not leave in thee a stone upon a stone: because thou hast not known the time of thy visitation.

19:45 And entering into the temple, he began to cast out them that sold therein and them that bought.

19:46 Saying to them: It is written: My house is the house of prayer. But you have made it a den of thieves.

19:47 And he was teaching daily in the temple. And the chief priests and the scribes and the rulers of the people sought to destroy him.

(Douay Rheims Translation Used)

The first half of this excerpt is about Our Lord’s prophecy for Jerusalem. Here he is prophesying the destruction of Jerusalem which occurred in 70AD. Why is that important? Well it is actually a good proof for the faith, and i will show you how. 

If the Gospel of St. Luke was written before 70AD that would make this instance a bonafide prophecy. Luckily there is actually proof that St. Luke’s Gospel was written before 70AD inside the Bible itself. This proof can be found in 1 Timothy where St. Paul cites St. Luke’s Gospel as Scripture:

5:18 For the scripture saith: Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn: and, The labourer is worthy of his reward. 

(1 Timothy, Douay Rheims)

In Luke 10:7 the same phrase is found “for the labourer is worthy of his hire.”, with the wording being exactly the same for both in the Greek (?ξιος ? ?ργ?της το? μισθο? α?το?). This phrase appears nowhere in the Old Testament Scriptures and so must be in reference to this verse. 

1 Timothy is part of the latter Epistles Paul wrote and so that would date it around 63-66AD. This being true would then mean Luke’s Gospel was read and accepted before those years. So the prophecy in the Gospel would then be undisputed as just that, prophecy. It foretells the terrible result Jerusalem faced for refusing to accept the Messiah. This can also be expounded upon as showing the result we would all face if we refuse to accept Christ as Lord.

Now as Catholics we accept that 1 Timothy was authored by St. Paul but many modern scholars try to dispute this and even claim that St. Luke didn't write his Gospel. These claims are just that though, modern. As far as I know there is no historical backing to claim the authors did not write their works. 1 Timothy is cited early and often by the Church. I encourage you to do further research though (from good Catholic sources) and I will certainly be picking up a book or two on the topic to better immerse myself. 

Now on to the latter half of the excerpt, a favorite for many in this pacified age. Our Lord entered the temple and threw out the moneychangers and merchant types. Everyone knows this was not done quietly and that He forced them out. This gives Catholics the example of when anger as an emotion can be used within the proper context. In St. Thomas Aquinas’ philosophy anger is a passion that is morally neutral and can be good as long as it is regulated by right reason. So for example a father being angry with his child for breaking a window punishes him. The father’s anger was the passion which under reason drove him to punish the son. If the anger is not properly guided the father might hurt the son by being too harsh making it sinful. 

Christ was using anger guided by right reason when he forced the moneychangers from the temple. This then shows Christians that when we go out and get angry at the state of the world that anger can be used for a righteous purpose, like fighting to end abortion. Today too many equate Christianity with pacifism but mere avoidance of conflict at all costs is not at all what Christ taught. He faced conflict with the Pharisees and the Romans head on, to the point of death on the cross. He came to lead a war, the war against death and the devil.