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Jesus’ mother, Mary, witnessed the crucifixion from the foot of the cross. Despite his agony, Jesus told his best friend, John, to take care of his mom, and to his mother he said, let John stand in my place as your son. John lived a very long life, and I believe he took care of Mary until she went to heaven.
I find it important that while Jesus was bearing the weight of the sins of the whole world on the cross, He took out the time to make sure His mother was taken care of after He was gone! As God, Jesus was dealing with eternal matters. But as a man, He showed all of us how important it is to respect, care and love our parents! (see John 19:26-27).
The fact is, we should honor our parents. This is a command of God (Exodus 20:12; Ephesians 6:2). Honoring parents goes beyond just “doing favors.” An element of honoring is to admire your parents and consider them to be eminent people. For example, if you hear someone speak negatively about your parents, you are required to speak up and defend their honor.
Likewise, our actions – how we conduct ourselves – either honors or disrespects our parents. For instance, I know a minister who was a hard working, good man. He and his wife had two sons. One became an honorable and good Christian man and father. But the other committed a horrible crime. In the end, the father had to leave his pulpit out of disgrace. The couple has had to move twice, and finally had to change their last name because the son’s behavior has disgraced them and caused them harm wherever they went.
On the other hand, children have constantly honored their parents by their good behavior.
For those whose parents are deceased, we still have the obligation to honor them. This is what the Jews did when they transported Joseph’s bones back to Israel. Joseph, their kinsman, had been dead four centuries (Ex 12:40), yet they were still honoring their “father” (Ex 13:19; Joshua 24:32). You can honor your parents, even after their passing, by your dedication to God.
Larry Fitzgerald
Woodlawn Church of Christ
Abilene, TX