Mom and Dad: Jesus had them

Mom and Dad - Jesus had them

The "Ten" have been under attack for many years now. For some reason certain portions of our society feel that the basic foundations of our social order are inappropriate for today. They apparently by their actions feel that it is wrong to say:

-- Don’t murder people

-- Don’t steal from people or your neighbor

-- Don’t be promiscuous

That Hebrew document includes the wisdom from almost all societies and the "TEN" are a Hebrew document, not a Christian one. Jesus took the Christian version to an extreme and said:

-- Love God

-- Love your neighbor as yourself

That last one is a real kicker.

But the commandment with a distinct promise has to do with mom and dad. Jesus had a mom and dad. And each of us has a mom and dad whether we like them or not.

Exodus 20:12 "Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.

Deuteronomy 5:16 "Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the LORD your God is giving you.

A commandment with a promise.

Ephesians 6:1-4 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 "Honor your father and mother"-which is the first commandment with a promise- 3 "that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth."

4 Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

Problem is, sometimes "we" as children have no clue what "honor" means. Even Jesus took some Jews to task on how the were skirting the law about honoring their parents.

One of the basic principles in understanding the Bible is to allow the Bible to translate and explain itself. And this commandment is no exception.

GOD IS FATHER

The Bible has an interesting comparative example on how a person dishonors his father.

Malachi 1:6-14 "A son honors his father , and a servant his master. If I am a father , where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?" says the LORD Almighty. "It is you, O priests, who show contempt for my name.

"But you ask, 'How have we shown contempt for your name?'

7 "You place defiled food on my altar.

"But you ask, 'How have we defiled you?'

"By saying that the LORD's table is contemptible. 8 When you bring blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice crippled or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?" says the LORD Almighty.

9 "Now implore God to be gracious to us. With such offerings from your hands, will he accept you?"-says the LORD Almighty.

10 "Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you," says the LORD Almighty, "and I will accept no offering from your hands. 11 My name will be great among the nations, from the rising to the setting of the sun. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to my name, because my name will be great among the nations," says the LORD Almighty.

12 "But you profane it by saying of the Lord's table, 'It is defiled,' and of its food, 'It is contemptible.' 13 And you say, 'What a burden!' and you sniff at it contemptuously," says the LORD Almighty.

"When you bring injured, crippled or diseased animals and offer them as sacrifices, should I accept them from your hands?" says the LORD. 14 "Cursed is the cheat who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but then sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord. For I am a great king," says the LORD Almighty, "and my name is to be feared among the nations.

Here is the pattern:

1. God required a sacrifice and defined the nature and characteristics of that sacrifice.

2. The priests were offering sacrifices that were not fit -- not their best..

3. This was bringing contempt upon the Lord’s table.

4. "What a burden"

God expects perfection from us in our religion -- in our worship of Him. However, we are imperfect and are incapable of providing that type of worship. However, God has also made a way for us to be perfect in that worship, but we must apply that perfection "that we might have a long life in the land."

How?

Romans 10:5-13 Moses describes in this way the righteousness that is by the law: "The man who does these things will live by them." 6 But the righteousness that is by faith says: "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?'" (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 "or 'Who will descend into the deep?'" (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: 9 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. 11 As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame." 12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile-the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

This concept applies whether you are Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist, Pentecostal, Mormon, or Atheist. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. That is how we honor our Father, God.

That is also one way we honor our earthly parents. By calling on the name of the Lord Jesus, we have and can expect eternal life in heaven rather than eternal damnation and isolation. We can expect to be reunited with Lloyd, Kiri, Anthony, Alexander, Dorothy and Toivo. We have that hope.

But there is one more side of "honor" and it is the responsibility of the mom and dad. Not only does a child have to be trainable, he or she has to be trained.

Proverbs 22:6 Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.

Some want to translate that: "train a child in the way he is bent..."

Moses was given specific instructions.

Deuteronomy 11:18-21 Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads . 19 Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 20 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, 21 so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land that the LORD swore to give your forefathers, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.

That’s the exact same language as the commandment: "days may be many in the land." It was of paramount importance that children be taught the religion of mom and dad. This is not done by making church optional depending upon whatever else seemingly needs to be done. If you want your child to be Christian, staying away from church is not going to help. If you want your child to be resurrected, avoiding the Bible is not going to help. If church attendance is optional for you, your child will learn that it does not matter.

Let’s clarify. Church attendance will not save anyone. However, it is only through the church that the gifts of Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor and Teacher are experienced. And it is through them the people that make up the church grow to Christian maturity. They are the gifts provided by Jesus. How are you exposed to their teaching if you have no time for the church?

PASSOVER

One very important example of teaching the children so that they honor their father and mother was the Passover meal. Apparently, Passover was designed by God to teach the next generations about the redemption of the Hebrews. The meal of the Passover is very structured with certain things being done and eaten at specific times.

After the meal is eaten, the children search for the Afikomen. The Seder is finished when the children have found the Afikomen and everyone has eaten a piece

For centuries during the Passover seder in Jewish homes, one of three pieces of unleavened bread, matzah, is broken in half, wrapped in a napkin, hidden, and later retrieved to be served as the last morsel of food eaten at the end of the lengthy observance of this ancient Jewish feast. This bit of unleavened bread is called the "afikomen". It symbolizes the Passover lamb. For Jewish children, the afikomen is used to hold their attention until the end of the seder. In some families the children "steal" the matzah and are paid a ransom in order to get it back to the table. In other families it is hidden and the children search for it and are rewarded. Some Jews from Middle Eastern countries saw the afikomen as having special powers and kept a piece of it as a good luck charm.

Passover is for the children. To train the children. Why is this night different from all other nights? And when Jesus celebrated the Passover, it was still for the children.

Matthew 26:26-30 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take and eat; this is my body."

27 Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father's kingdom."

30 When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

This fits in with the Seder and the bread that Jesus took was the Afikomen -- the broken bread -- the second loaf that had the larger part hidden and found by the children. Do you see the symbolism. If the three loves represent Father Son and Holy Spirit, the second was broken and hidden -- away from Heaven. If the three represent Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Isaac was offered as a sacrifice and redeemed by the blood of a ram.

AND THE CHILDREN FOUND THE BREAD

Mark 10:13-16 People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." 16 And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.

Luke 18:15 NEB They even brought babies for him to touch.

Luke 10:21 At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children . Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.

This is what is going on during the Passover meal. At the end, the children find the hidden bread. Jesus explained that it was that bread that was His body which was broken. Except we, like the children searching for the bread, find that bread, we will not be saved.

How to honor your father and mother, call on the name of Jesus. Accept the resurrection. Eternal life is a long time in the land.