The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers at their business. And making a whip of cords, he drove them all, with the sheep and oxen, out of the temple; and he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. And he told those who sold the pigeons, "Take these things away; you shall not make my Father's house a house of trade." His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for thy house will consume me." The Jews then said to him, "What sign have you to show us for doing this?" Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." The Jews then said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?" But he spoke of the temple of his body. When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.
John 2:13–22 (RSV)
'For You have made us for Yourself and our hearts are restless till they rest in You.' St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo (354-430)
We secretly cheer Jesus on as He drives the marketers and money-changers out of the Temple. We like a Savior who will do what it takes to show people who is God. It wouldn't hurt the Church today if someone were to do the same and drive out all the prosperity gospel preachers, the fake healers, and the slick 'pastors' who make a tidy profit off their viewers.
I do not doubt that Jesus was angry at those who used the Temple as a strip mall. He was also angry with the Temple leaders who allowed it to go on. However, if that is all we see, we miss the very heart of this passage. The disciples recalled the Scripture, 'Zeal for thy house will consume me.'
St. Augustine grasped it when he wrote the words we have read above. God the Father has made us for Himself. He has given each of us the breath of life, placing within us a longing for God that nothing else will satisfy. We cannot be at true peace until we are at rest in the Lord.
There's the rub. We traded that longing for a bite of the fruit. We have not been at peace since. In their way, the marketers and money-changers in the Temple were trying to help the faithful find some measure of peace. Their failure was assured for no amount of sacrifice will soothe the restless soul.
Jesus drove them out because they all were useless. His anger was at the human willingness to exchange the peace of God for that which cannot bring rest of heart and soul.
Lent can be a time of fasting. It would be a useful time to fast from all the empty and useless pretenses of religion. There is no rest and peace in any of these. This fasting can free our hearts, restless, longing hearts, and come to the One who has made us for Himself.