“Honor Your Father And Mother”

The Pharisees gathered around Jesus. So did some of the teachers of the law. All of them had come from Jerusalem. They saw some of his disciples eating food with "unclean" hands. That means they were not washed.

The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands to make them pure. That's what the elders teach. When they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they wash. And they follow many other teachings. For example, they wash cups, pitchers, and kettles in a special way.

So the Pharisees and the teachers of the law questioned Jesus. "Why don't your disciples live by what the elders teach?" they asked. "Why do they eat their food with 'unclean' hands?"

He replied, "Isaiah was right. He prophesied about you people who pretend to be good. He said, " 'These people honor me by what they say. But their hearts are far away from me.

Their worship doesn't mean anything to me. They teach nothing but human rules.' —(Isaiah 29:13) You have let go of God's commands. And you are holding on to the teachings that men have made up."

Jesus then said to them, "You have a fine way of setting aside God's commands! You do this so you can follow your own teachings. Moses said, 'Honor your father and mother.'—(Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16) He also said, 'If anyone calls down a curse on his father or mother, he will be put to death.'—(Exodus 21:17; Leviticus 20:9) But you allow people to say to their parents, 'Any help you might have received from us is Corban.' (Corban means 'a gift set apart for God.' ) So you no longer let them do anything for their parents. You make the word of God useless by putting your own teachings in its place. And you do many things like that."

Mark 7:1-13

Up to the mid 20^th century we were responsible for our children, and our parents. It seems today that when our parents get older we just shove them off, or send them to a nursing home. Is that truly honoring our mothers and fathers?

Our children, work, and church activities can pull us in many directions. But it does not exclude us from honoring our aging parents by making provision for their needs, as much as we are able. When the time comes for our children to take care of us, let’s hope we have set the right example with how we have treated our own parents.

Honoring our parents is learned by example.

Our Daily Bread – February 28, 2010