"Is it not written: ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all people's?’ But you have made it a den of thieves." I tend to believe that the gist of the gospel reading today is contained in these words of Jesus as presented to us by Mark. Two things made Jesus angry so much so that he had to resort to some form of violence: turning God's house into some form of an elite club; and secondly, using people's economic status to do that. The temple was first and foremost a house of prayer. Anything that would hinder this was to be done away with. It is true that the business going on at the entrance to the temple (such as haggling and bargaining) might have occasioned some form of distraction for one who really wanted to pray. But since buying and selling of sacrificial animals was provided for, and actually necessary, it would appear that haggling and bargaining and all sorts of noises that accompany them were somehow tolerated. Maybe that's why the business area was located at the entrance of the temple. What then provoked Jesus' anger?
It would appear, then, that what was provided for (buying and selling) in order to easen prayer had actually with time become an obstacle to prayer. It would appear that what was provided for to assist worshipers fulfill their obligation had been turned into a means of preventing them from worshiping. Jesus calls the money changers and sellers thieves. Could they have turned a genuine and necessary service into a corrupt enterprise? Were they exorbitantly charging the worshipers? Could Jesus have witnessed a situation where a worshiper was turned away because he did not have enough money to buy a lamb or because he brought his own sacrificial lamb? Could Jesus have witnessed a situation where only a few were able to offer sacrifices because only they could afford it? If yes, then maybe this explains Jesus' reaction: "My Father's house should be a house of prayer for all. No one should be turned away because he can't afford a sacrificial lamb. No one should be denied the opportunity to offer a sacrifice because he can't afford a lamb."