“For God commanded, saying, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’ But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father and mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God” – then he need not honor his father or mother.’ Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition.” (v 4-6)
Jesus once said “If anyone come to Me and does not hate his father and mother… he cannot be My disciple”. These words of Jesus, when misconstrued, is a convenient excuse for a child to mistreat, neglect, or dishonor one’s parents.
But when Matt 15:4-6 is read, it comes slam bang into the face of anyone who seeks to find a way out from being filial to one’s parents. It is very noble to say “what I have intended to give to my parents, I can’t give to them. Because I am giving it to the Lord.” The Lord points out the fallacy in such an attitude, which would otherwise sound pious to an uninformed crowd. One cannot use his ministry unto the Lord as a reason to worm his way out from giving what is due to his parents. One’s father and mother is to be honored. Using the Lord’s name as an excuse from giving proper honor to one’s parents is profanity to the commandment of God.
It is hard to be a child. It is even harder to be a Christian child. A Christian child’s ministry, however potential or promising he might be, will not be honored by the Lord if proper honor has not been bestowed upon his parents. One may purpose in his heart to give his all to the Lord. But if he doesn’t give what is proportioned to his parents, then all that he intends to give to the Lord is not pleasing to Him. Worse will it be, if he uses his devotion to the Lord as an excuse to neglect his parents. The Lord Jesus has this word to describe people such as him – Hypocrites!
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3 comments:
so lets say for example, what if Mary and Joseph, Jesus' parents said "eh, no need to die for the world lah. just stay home and be the ultimate carpenter."
1) would going against their wishes be dihonour to his parents?
2) would just going ahead with God's will be dishonour to God if Jesus did not honour his parents?
3) what does it mean to honour parents anyway?
4) how does a person 'use his devotion to the Lord as an excuse to neglect his parents?'
would appreciate your clarification, thanks josh!
-sf
Reponse to (1):
No. Jesus will not be held guilty of dishonoring His parents if He refuses to become a full-time carpenter. For this case, if Jesus obeys His parents' will, then He will disobey God's will for Him to be the perfect sacrifice for the atonement of sins. Jesus was clear about His ultimate objective on earth. God's will for Him takes priority over His parents' will for Him.
The principle behind the matter is this:
"If fulfilling our parents' wishes does not conflict with obeying God's will, then we should obey our parents' wishes. Failure to obey our parents when their request does not conflict with God’s commandments will make us guilty of dishonoring our parents.
If fulfilling our parents' wishes does conflict with obeying God's will, then we should not obey our parents’ wishes. Failure to obey our parents when their request comes in conflict with God’s commandments will not make us guilty of dishonoring our parents."
In this hypothetical case, Jesus’ failure to fulfill His parents' wishes will not make Him guilty of dishonoring His parents. Because Jesus is heeding the bigger and more important picture, which is God's purpose in His life.
We see that in other places, Jesus obeyed His parents when it did not come in conflict with God's will. For example, Jesus' mother asked Him to turn water into wine during the wedding in Cana. Performing that miracle was His mother's request. But her request does not come in conflict with God’s commandments. Therefore, Jesus honored his mother’s request, although He showed a hint of reluctance. For this case, if Jesus did not turn the water into wine, then Jesus will be guilty of dishonoring His mother. (John 2:1-12)
The same principle applies to us.
Response to (2):
If Jesus did not honor His parents' request, His action will not be dishonoring to God. Because Jesus will not be held guilty for dishonoring His parents in the first place.
To put it in another way: Jesus is actually honoring God by not honoring His parents' request. Because doing the will of the Father is every Christian's foremost priority. In your hypothetical situation, Jesus has to make a choice because a conflict of interest has occurred. Jesus will make the right choice by giving priority to God's will.
Doing the Father's will has always been Jesus priority, even when it comes to His earthly family. For Jesus said, "Who is My mother and who are My brothers? For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.” (Matthew 12:48-50).
Response to (3):
Honoring one's parents can be expressed in many ways: Showing respect. Loving them. Taking care of them when they are old. Obeying them.
There is nothing objectionable about respecting our parents, loving them, and caring for them. The tricky part is when it comes to "fully obeying" them. It is already pointed out in the principle stated in (1), that sometimes, not obeying one's parents may actually be the right thing to do. In really depends on the circumstance. The principle stated in (1) must not be abused.
Response to (4):
For example, I have a well-paying job. My parents are old, and they are in need of financial aid. I give my tithes, I pay my taxes, I support my own household, I put a percentage of my income into my savings. I still have "x" amount of money left. I am at liberty to do what I wish with that amount of money.
Instead of giving it (or some of it) to my parents, I give all of "x" to the church, or for ministry purposes. Then, I tell my parents, "whatever that is supposed to be given to you, it is already given as a gift to God. So, very sorry ya, mum and dad." (Matthew 15:5) Doing this will make me guilty of "using my devotion to the Lord as an excuse to neglect my parents".
In the first place, I shouldn't be giving just the amount that remains (“x”) to my parents. The right thing to do is to set apart a portion for my parents from the very beginning. It won't be right to give my parents just whatever is left, according to my whim and fancy. A certain amount should be apportioned for my parents from the start, just as certain amount is apportioned for tithes and taxes. Apportioning a certain amount for our parents will show that we are giving our parents the honor due to them.
This is only an example with money. There are many other areas that can be applied to show honor to our parents. Such as the way we apportion our time for them, our energy, our care, our concern, etc.
-Hasten Ministries Sdn Bhd-
i see mr sdn bhd. thanks.
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