"15:1 Then the Pharisees and scribes from
15:2 “For what reason do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders?
For they are not rinsing their hands whenever they eat bread!”
15:3 But He, in answer, said to them,
“And as for you, for what reason do you transgress the law of God through your tradition?
15:4 For God issued commands saying,
‘Honor your father and your mother,’
and ‘He who curses father or mother must end in death.’
15:5 but as for y’all, you say,
‘Whoever shall say to his father or mother,
“Whatever you might be obligated [to receive] from of me was a donation,”
15:6 thus he never has to honor his father or his mother,’
and y’all invalidate the command of God on account of the tradition of yourselves!
15:7 Hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied well concerning you, saying,
15:8 ‘This people is honoring me with their lips,
yet their heart keeps far away from me.
15:9 And it is in vain that they are devoting themselves me
while teaching commandments of men for doctrines.’”
By fulfilling, we are no longer obligated to perform the rituals that ancient Jews performed (e.g. animal sacrifice). However, it is very important to note that the Old Testament laws still guide us to what is right and what is wrong. For example, in the OT, it is required by the Law that you must honor your father and mother. This Law tells us that it is wrong to not honor your parents. But the ritual side of 'stoning' an unruly child does not apply to us this day since this is the 'punishment' aspect that does not tell us what is right or wrong.
This explanation of the Old Testament laws does make sense if you understand the whole context of both the Old and the New Testament. However, what troubled me for a brief moment was the verse from Matthew 15:4, which reads "For God commanded, saying, HONOR THY FATHER AND MOTHER: and, HE THAT CURSETH FATHER OR MOTHER, LET HIM DIE THE DEATH".
This quote is said by Jesus Christ when the Pharisees questioned Him why His disciples don't follow their tradition of washing hands before eating. Jesus pointed out that the Pharisees were being hypocrites by valuing their traditions more than what God has commanded (which is explained in chapter 15).
Now, here is the question: Jesus Christ said in the last part "LET HIM DIE THE DEATH". This was very confusing for me since I thought that we no longer had to stone or kill anyone over a violation of the Law. But in this verse, we are told to follow the exact tradition that puts a sinner to death....
I am not an expert of the Bible by any means. But this has been very confusing for me for the last few hours. Now, I have done some online research about it and a very few people were able to actually explain what it meant. I know that Jesus Christ wanted us to honor our parents and value God's Commandments more than anything else, but I am very curious why He said that last part about "Let him die the death."
Does that mean killing of a disrespectful child is still the punishment of the Law?
I have done some research and below is the best explanation I found so far:
"
- Finally, we can compare this principle
with what the rest of Scripture says:
- According to the Bible, only God (who
has all power over the issues of life and death and who is the ultimate
judge) and the State (which has the power of the sword
– Rom. 13) can deliver a death sentence as a punishment, so this
statement cannot be speaking to families or individuals or
churches, except as a warning of the judgment of God or the judgment
of the State on a matter over which God or the State has jurisdiction.
- Since we are not the
ones who are ordained to carry out judgments in the case of personal
offenses against God, the passage can only be talking about what the State should
do.
- This also cannot be talking about putting
children to death for careless talk, since God never
gave the State jurisdiction over everyone’s speech.
- I conclude therefore that this is
addressing situations where a child is in serious, unrepentant
rebellion against parents, has made public defamatory
statements that he refuses to apologize for, and is in such an advanced
state of rebellion against all forms of order in society that he threatens
civil order and must be put to death to protect the people
around him. The state would have jurisdiction to put someone to death in
a case like that.
- There is, however, a sense in which even
a careless snide remark aimed at your parents could lead to death, and
that is in God’s jurisdiction.
- Anyone
who has dishonored his parents even a little bit by saying something
disrespectful about them or toward them (and that means every one of
us!) has broken the 5th commandment and thus sinned
against God.
- If Jesus said in Matt. 5:22 that calling
your brother Racca/Fool was enough to send you to the fires of
hell, then aggravating the offense by saying it to your own parents is
not going to go over well before the judgment seat of God.
- As
such, every one of us is guilty of the punishment that God has decreed
for breaking His commandments, and that is death. (Ezekiel 18:20 “The
soul that sin[s], it shall die.” KJV, cf. Gen. 2:17, Rom. 6:23)
- This
is why Jesus came. He said, “Father, I know that you will be making
Paula Wilson the mother of Amos Wilson and that you want Amos to honor
his mother in order to accept your providence in his life, but I also
know that Amos is going to gripe about what his mom told him to do and
that you will find that offensive that he does not like the ordering of
his life which you so graciously give him. I also know that the only
just way to make up for that is for Amos to die for his sin. Let me
therefore offer myself in his place. I like Amos. I want him to be
close to me forever, so I want to be killed according to your judicial
punishment for his sin in order that his sin may be paid for, so he can
live and be close to me forever. Let’s also send our Spirit to move his
heart with sorrow over the way he will dishonor his mom and convict him
that he deserves your punishment of eternal death so that he will beg
me to be his savior and want to be close to me
forever.” And that, dear friends, is the good news of Jesus, if you’ll
believe it!
- Whatever the case, we must agree that this
second quote from the law in Matthew 15:4 underscores the fact that the 5th commandment
is nothing to trifle with, since its violation could be punished so
severely by death. (J. Calvin)
- However, man in rebellion to God, does not
want to live under the freedom of the simplicity of God’s commands. Apart
from God, humans make up complex and contradictory systems of rules. This
is what Jesus points out to contrast the rabbinical code with God’s
commands:"
Source: http://www.ctrchurch-mhk.org/sermons/Matthew15_04-09Parents.htm
What this is basically saying is that the State has the authority to carry out such punishment while it does not apply to any child who badmouths his parents but to an unruly person (notice I don't use the word "child" here) which the State sees as a threat to society. So, not every unruly child is to be punished with death, but a person, who is most likely an adult, is to be punished. The Bible does not say that a child (who is very young) should be punished in such manner but a sinner can be an adult who is being disrespectful to his parents. The situation has to be extremely chaotic for the State has to step in and take care of it since the parents were powerless to stop his unruly behavior because adults' behavior is difficult to regulate.
That still brings another question in mind, which is "should we really kill the sinner?"
Jesus Christ saved the adulterous woman from being stoned to death because she repented her sin. Is that how we should treat other sinners as well?
For example, if a person is convicted of being disrespectful to his parents, should we forgive him and offer him another chance to live if he truly repents his sin?
I believe so.
Jesus Christ told us that the greatest Commandment from God is to "love thy God" and "love thy neighbors." If we were to love our neighbors, we should allow a sinner to repent his sin by not killing him. The punishment is not as important as these two Commandments since a sinner will be punished by God sooner or later. Love is more important than punishment.
In conclusion, I believe there are few things to remember about applying the Law.
1. The Laws of loving your God and your neighbors triumph other 'ritual' laws including punishment.
2. Just because someone commits a sin, it does not automatically warrant a death sentence since Jesus Christ saved a sinner from being stoned before.
3. We as ordinary citizens are not the ones to do 'punishment' but only God and the State do (The State was given authority by God).
4. Therefore, killing an unruly person for disrespecting his parents is not necessary or enforceable by ordinary people.
5. And most importantly, Jesus Christ paid the ultimate price for our sins which we don't have to be subject to death punishment any more, but if we believe in Him and ask for forgiveness in His Name, our sins will be forgiven by God.
If you have any questions or doubts, please let me know with a comment below.
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