AntiChrist RZ 12/02 - Tomorrow's World

him be put to death” (Mark 7:9–10). Now notice how these hypocrites
“reasoned” their way around this commandment! Jesus continued:
“But you say, ‘If a man says to his father or mother,
“Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban”...
then you no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother,
making the word of God of no effect through your tradition’” (vv.
11–13). Jesus condemned these hypocrites. His words plainly teach
that a Christian must give material and financial assistance to his
aged parents if it is possible and their needs so require. He must not
excuse himself by saying that all his extra funds are “dedicated to
God”! This is a part of our obedience to the fifth commandment.
Jesus’ Own Personal Example
The Fifth Commandment
Jesus Christ lived the message He taught. His own personal life
is a dramatic illustration of obedience to the fifth commandment.
Just before His death, Jesus said: “I have kept My Father’s commandments”
(John 15:10). Through obedience to His heavenly
Father, and to His human parents as well, Jesus grew in wisdom
and maturity even as a youth. Even in His dying moments, while
suffering one of the most agonizing deaths ever devised by men,
Jesus honored and loved His mother to the very end. Just before He
died on the stake, John records: “When Jesus therefore saw His
mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to
His mother, ‘Woman, behold your son!’ Then He said to the disciple,
‘Behold your mother!’ And from that hour that disciple took
her to his own home” (John 19:26–27). Here Jesus made final provision
for John to take care of His mother after His death.
At a time when the thoughts of all other men would have been
of self, Jesus still remembered the fifth commandment and extended
love and honor to the woman who gave Him birth, who nourished
Him from infancy, who taught Him the Scriptures, and who
now stood in this awful place—unashamed—weeping at His death.
Remember the perfect example of Jesus Christ! “Honor your father
and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which
the LORD your God is giving you” (Exodus 20:12).
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