Milton: Christ used force

Tuesday, June 20, 2023
Meditation:
    In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!” His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”
    —John 2:14-17 (NIV)
Quotation:
    We read not that Christ ever exercised force but once; and that was to drive profane ones out of his Temple, not to force them in.
    ... John Milton (1608-1674), “A Treatise of Civil Power in Ecclesiastical Causes” [1659], in Prose Works, London: Westley and Davis, 1835, p. 421 (see the book)
    See also John 2:14-17; Ps. 69:9; Jer. 7:11; Zech. 4:6; Matt. 21:12-13; Mark 11:15-17; Luke 19:45-46; 2 Cor. 10:4
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, equip Your people to represent Your holiness before the world. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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