Matthew 15:5 But you say, Whoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatever you might be profited by me; Human relationships involve obligations. Our relations with God bring the supreme obligations. But here is the patent fact - response to our obligations toward God always carries with it response to our natural obligations toward man. The pious man cannot be pious if he is unfaithful and unkind to his father and mother. All the professions men ever made would form no excuse for the neglect of our natural duties to our parents. And this tests the seeming religiousness of our Lord's time. Men might be very pious, but were they shirking their natural obligations? We can well imagine the indignation of our Lord when he found the misery that the shameless system of "corban" was working. A man wanted to shirk all responsibility for the well being of his parents, and yet keep the public repute of being a pious man; so he brought a gift to the priest, in presenting it used a particular formula, and wiped out all his obligations. The false religious sentiment of those times actually led to men's regarding such a man as extra pious. St. Paul is severe, with a very righteous severity, on such wickedness: "If any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel" (1 Timothy 5:8). I. SCHEMES DEVISED BY SELFISHNESS. These are specially hateful in relation to parents, because of their self-denials for our sakes in our earliest years. They take such forms as: 1. Leaving the neighbourhood or the country. 2. Spending all a man has on his own gratification. 3. Delaying present help under plea of the excuses that it will be wanted much more by and by. Selfish souls are marvellously clever at making excuses. II. SCHEMES DEVISED BY TEMPER. There arise quarrellings and disputings in families, and these are made into reasons for refusing to fulfil natural obligations. It may even be that the conduct and character of parents make us angry, and lead us to threaten the withdrawal of our help. Character may make advisable readjustments of our ways of meeting our obligations, but even bad character cannot excuse our shirking them. III. SCHEMES DEVISED BY SPURIOUS PIETY. Illustrate by a man who excuses his neglect of his father and mother by saying that he has had to give such a large subscription to the new church. Honourably meeting our human obligations is the sign and expression of piety. He deceives himself who claims to serve God while he is not doing his duty to his fellow men. - R.T. Parallel Verses KJV: But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; |
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