BREAK ONE AS BREAKING THEM ALL

  Traditionalists asked Jesus why his disciples failed to wash their hands before they ate? Jesus wondered… uh, knew… why the traditionalists did not wash their thoughts before they spoke:

³ But he answered and said unto them, “Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? ⁴ For God commanded, saying, ‘Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.’ ⁵ But ye say, “Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, ‘It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; ⁶ And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free.’” Thus, have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.  (Mat 15:3-6)

  If you’ll remember, “honour thy father and mother” is imperative.  So, imperative that, “that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee” (Exod 20:12). Note that the command was not to honour good and perfect parents, but our parents even with all their faults! Why would that be? Honoring parents is a way to honor God, and by honoring parents, it is honoring God. Honoring hard to love parents is even harder work, and God rewards those significantly who do that.
  Honoring those parents who are hard to love, is much the same as God who loves his children who are hard to love. Who are those children? Those who dismiss God’s commands as trivial. Those who don’t honor their parents take God’s Word trivially. When they don’t love their parents, as God so loves them (John 3:16), then they profane God’s Name. (That is blasphemy.)
  What if God only loved you if you were a perfect child? Then no child would be loved! What if children only loved perfect parents? Then no parents would be loved! We must love even the most deficient parents, because God even loves his most deficient children.
  God even rewards for that honoring: “…that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee” (Exod 20:12b). That comes from the Abrahamic Covenant. God’s people would obtain the promised land if they kept their end of the bargain. God expected His people to honor their father and mother. If they did not, they would forfeit their “land.”
  What the Hebrews did not realize, albeit Abraham and Moses did, is that God wasn’t referring to economic prosperity. His people would not be landed gentry, but humble peasants on His land, doing His Will. What God was referring to was the real promised land — an eternal home in a mansion in His House, as is written:

² In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. (John 14:2-3).

 The Fifth Commandment was not necessarily a “commandment” in that God did not want parents honored by tradition, but because they truly love them; with their faults and all. That intensive love warranted a long life on God’s “land.” What they failed to understand is that God was not referring to a long mortal life, but an everlasting immortal life — an eternal life. Thus, honoring parents is harmonizing our wills with God’s Will.
  Tradition is by the things coming out of the mouth. Anyone can say they are ritually clean, but it is all ritual. Saying that one loves his parents is noble, but shallow. He or she must truly love their parents, even bad parents, from the heart just as God loves us. Jesus even elaborated on what comes from the hearts of those destined to perish:

²⁰ And he said, “That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. ²¹ For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, ²² thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: ²³ All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.” (Mark 7:20-23)

  Evil thoughts, perhaps about one’s father or mother; adulteries — being your own god rather than being “married” to Jesus who is the “bridegroom;” murder (hatred); wickedness (doing it your way); pride in doing what you are doing; and so forth. Those who fail to honor their father or mother will exhibit one or more of those characteristics.
  Thus, the Fifth Commandment is a prescription for eternal life. Realizing that, that “commandment” is a prescription for eternal well-being, just as God promised. It should be obvious that to claim to honor is a deficient tradition. Honoring parents must be from the heart, and done for the love of them and for God. Hence, all the commandments are prescriptions for eternal health — or more bluntly, eternal life!
  Jesus mentioned all sorts of sins in the verse from Mark 7 above. All of those are covered in the Ten Commandments. Hence, the Ten Commandments are corporately God’s “Ten Prescriptions” for eternal life.
  Jews call them the “Ten Words.” Why is that?  Because the Ten Words are introduced by, “God spake all these words, saying” (Exod 20:1). Just Who is the Word? The Word was God made Flesh and His Name is Jesus (John 1). The Ten Commandments are Jesus’s Ten Words giving the Ten Prescriptions for eternal health.
  Jesus even mentioned them all when he spoke those words in Matthew chapter fifteen and Mark chapter seven. The parable was not just about clean hands, but also clean hearts. The Ten Commandments are neither about clean hands from the tradition of the Law, but clean hearts as to the Will of Jesus.
  Who Wills that His people not murder? Jesus. His Word said so. Who is He that wills that parents be honored? Jesus. His Word commands that, and promises a great outcome… essentially living forever. What does one forfeit by ignoring Jesus’s Fifth Word (or saying)? Eternal life! Since breaking one Word is as if breaking them all, what is forfeited by ignoring any of Jesus’s Ten Words? Eternal life! You just as well be an adulterer, liar, or blasphemer for all the good that your commandment keeping by tradition would be.

  I know of a man who often provoked his mother. She was provoked until she had, had enough. Due to the stress and such that the prodigal son had induced in her, she emancipated him by legal action. He could have accepted the consequences of his behavior by admitting that he had coveted and taken some things that belonged to his mother. He had dishonored her, and his father for that matter, but he became hateful and resentful of his mother, and oddly, for some reason to his father, brother, and sister as well! Not only that, but he failed to do what was God’s Will was for Him, and neglected God. Should that prodigal son be welcomed back by his father, mother, brother, sister and even the Father? They would all welcome him back with loving arms. When one dies it will be too late because dead parents cannot sense contrite and loving children.
  Ironically, that man resented his mother and abandoned her because it has cost him great money. How so is insignificant. However, he put the love of money over the Will of Jesus. The irony of it is that he had cost the father the same amount, but his father never mentioned that he had squandered the father’s money. The father welcomed the prodigal son back, but yet the son will not do the same for the imperfect mother, who of course, could have handled things better, but how she did as how she knew best.
  The old saying when parents punish; this will hurt me more than you, is so true. The mother was distraught when she had to emancipate her son for her own mental health and well-being; she had emancipated with tough-love because the things that God would have us do are usually not easy, but remain the right thing!

  Then steps in prodigal son number two who feels the same way about his brother, sister, and father. Because pride is a difficult thing to overcome, a prideful attitude wins out, and only one person is left pleased, and only Satan smiles. Honoring parents is also toughlove because all people are tough to love. Why would Jesus command that we love others as ourselves? Because loving is hard work for everyone but loving ourselves comes easily. Hard love is a test that the Ten Prescriptions are having the affect of healing the soul.

  When my own parents died, I lived remotely from them. When I heard the news, I did not need to rush to make amends when they were still alive. I honored both my parents continually from my infancy through my adulthood, and still love and honor them in their death. I expect that God will give me a long life here (which He has) and an eternal life in Heaven as He promised. Doing the Words of Jesus because you are willing to, leads to long-life, but if it is only by the tradition of obeying the Law, then it is frivolous and foolish.

(picture credit: The Forward):