Before the pandemic, malls were social hubs, busy beehives of shopping and eating for and even walkers who walked before the stores opened. That was the case, too, when Jews flowed into Jerusalem to celebrate Passover. Jesus finds the animal sellers and money-changers doing a brisk business, selling sacrificial animals and changing currency for the travellers. It was a real mall atmosphere.
But the noise was not the real problem. The Temple was a magnificent structure built on the highest mound overlooking the Holy City. God’s presence was enshrined here. It was a place of such extreme holiness that even today, Jews turn toward this site in prayer. So, we can see why Jesus, the Son of God, would explode with rage at these people who were just doing “business as usual”. Not only a lack of reverence for the dwelling place of his Father; Jesus was angry and taking a stand against what we might call “the mall mentality.”
Jesus saw that deepest religious tradition being cheapened and trivialized by greedy, exploitative practices. Is this close to the irreverence and greed of our own culture? When the sacred reality of our God is pushed out of the center of our lives, what becomes our center? The “mall-mindset” Jesus condemns today also describes our obsession with competition, money, eating, shopping and accumulating “things.”
The Commandments are like markers placed in a river to tell us where to steer to avoid death by drowning. Let us keep asking ourselves, do we live a faithful life with God’s holy commands as the backbone of our behavior?