NOTES for Mar 11:12-26

Those who came to trade in the temple did not intend to defile it. They were quite devout people selling what pilgrims needed to perform the rites. The transformation of God's house into a robbers' den took place imperceptibly, contrary to the conscious will of those gathered there, as everyday practical concerns accumulated like dust and concealed the very purpose for which the temple existed.
When we come to God with our everyday needs, we do not sin, for He Himself invited us to ask for them. But when we come to the temple only with practical needs, forgetting the disinterested nature of our relationship with God, we risk becoming those same “practical people” who turned the temple into a place for commercial transactions.