Will rebel against their parents

“Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death.” (Matthew 10:21)

 

It is an essential rule that children should respect their parents. In the past, even if someone was unfaithful to the parents, social influence could have imprisoned the mistake. However, the social situation changed over time, so it has become difficult to impose sanctions on that to the case. Being unfaithful to parents the default of the Ten Commandments is a typical feature of this era, closer to God’s last judgment. Jesus told his disciples in Matthew 10:16, “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves.” In order to overcome the world, we the sheep of Christ should live as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves, according to God’s commandments in the power of the Holy Spirit.

 

People should be most careful to people, but, what people need to be close to is people. Jesus called his twelve disciples, and He gave them the power to drive away the dirty spirits and to cure disease and evil. Jesus also urged the disciples to endure persecution when they were sent to the world. The ｅxpression, ‘sending you out like sheep among wolves.’ tells us how difficult it is to live in God’s holy righteousness. Man, a family started from Adam, was originally created in one to help each other. However, it is unfortunate that people have been on alert or in contempt to each other, but they should have had a friendly relationship. That is the situation of reality that occurs according to the different spirits to which each belongs.

Person, saved in Christ, has a holy life following the guidance of the Spirit. on the other hand, worldly person will not accept God’s righteousness. The latter, against Jesus’ disciples, interferes with evangelism and sometimes persecutes them. In some cases, they accuse Christians for the name of Jesus and the gospel. In that situation, Christians are often disappointed by grief and suffering. And yet God uses them to preach the gospel even to those who oppose Christ. That belongs to the deep, mysterious providence of God.

A man of Holy Spirit must move forward without worrying even in any difficult circumstances. Because the Spirit still reassures, helps, and encourages them in Jesus. So Christians can anytime have a peace in their life. Gabriel the angel appeared to Maria and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” in Luke 1:28. He who has been favored is a person with the Lord, and therefore he is now staying in peace. Jesus told his seventy disciples to say everywhere they go, “Your house will be at peace.” We, who believe in Jesus, live without fear with true peace that is different from what we get from the world, as in John 14:27. As the Holy Spirit stays in one’s spirit, peace can be maintained without anxiety and fear.

It is very shocking and sad to be framed and confronted by own family closer than others. But we see in the text, at the end of the world, “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death.” Family members are tied in the closest relationship of our life, but the relationship has been much broken and threatened in these days. Due to the reduction, dissolution, and disintegration of the family, gradually, compassion has become dull, and now parents, brothers and children have become unaware of each other. If they have reached that level, they have given up being human. But the spirits are at a level reduced to beasts. In our ears, we heard the news that parents killed their children or their children killed their parents. News of killing others or brothers is not unusual. In spite of such unfortunate circumstances, God still commands men strictly, “Honor your parents.” “Be filial to your parents.” Regardless of any reasons, respect for parents should be kept strictly in human life forever.

 

Some people refuse to respect their parents under the pretext of these; the mental illness of parents, their unreasonable demands, suppressed education for children, mental or physical disability, difference of thought and life style. But those reasons and arguments are based on just a wrong spirituality of the last days, which disturbs one’s parents’ filial piety. Because respect for parents is God’s command, we should observe it even by bypassing, perseverance, or changing the method when difficult to fulfill. And parents filial piety is a way not only for adults but also to move toward respect for the Creator.

 

(Written by Koonoh, Pastor of JDO Presbyterian Church in Korea, on May 10th 2020)