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If you attended church as a youngster, you certainly learned about Jesus blessing the children. It is less likely that you had a Sunday school lesson on either time that Jesus forcefully cleared the merchants out of the Temple courtyard. To what extent have you internalized a subtly emasculated image of Jesus?

Mark 10:13-15; John 2:13-18

1. Matthew's parallel account (19:13-15) records that "Jesus put his hands on the children and blessed them." But how did Jesus interact with his disciples first?
   
   
2. What offended Jesus about the corner-on-the-market operation of the livestock merchants and money changers? Why did he declare that they'd turned the Temple into a "den of thieves" (Mark 11:15-17)?
   
   
3. Who had been disenfranchised by turning the Court of the Gentiles into a bazaar? (See the Isaiah 56:7 passage to which Jesus alluded.)
   
   
4. How would you characterize the "burning passion" (v. 17) behind Jesus' whip-wielding offensive? Was it uncontrolled rage or righteous indignation?
   
   
5. How does this kind of anger differ from anger over trivial personal offenses?
   
   
6. How upset are you by flagrant disrespect for God? Would you be justified in using violence against those who harm or exploit others?
   
   
7. What knowledge and status did Jesus possess (v. 18) that you do not?
   
   

Thank Jesus for modeling true manhood while in this world. Ask for his determination and strength to do the same where he has placed you.

Mark 10:13-15

13 One day some parents brought their children to Jesus so he could touch and bless them. But the disciples scolded the parents for bothering him.

14 When Jesus saw what was happening, he was angry with his disciples. He said to them, "Let the children come to me. Don't stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. 15 I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn't receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it."

John 2:13-18

13 It was nearly time for the Jewish Passover celebration, so Jesus went to Jerusalem. 14 In the Temple area he saw merchants selling cattle, sheep, and doves for sacrifices; he also saw dealers at tables exchanging foreign money. 15 Jesus made a whip from some ropes and chased them all out of the Temple. He drove out the sheep and cattle, scattered the money changers' coins over the floor, and turned over their tables. 16 Then, going over to the people who sold doves, he told them, "Get these things out of here. Stop turning my Father's house into a marketplace!"

17 Then his disciples remembered this prophecy from the Scriptures: "Passion for God's house will consume me."

18 But the Jewish leaders demanded, "What are you doing? If God gave you authority to do this, show us a miraculous sign to prove it."

Adapted from Adapted from Relationships: A Mess Worth Making (New Growth Press, 2006) by permission. All rights reserved by Tim Lane and Paul Tripp and/or New Growth Press.

Copyright © 2009 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.
Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity.

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Prayer for the Week

Help me, Lord, to model a true masculinity that spurs the young on to achieve without making my loving acceptance of them conditional.

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