Choose
the Greater
“For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and
mother, and, ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death. 11 But you
say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father
or mother is Corban (that is, devoted to God) - then you no longer let them do
anything for their father or mother. Thus you nullify the word
of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like
that.” Mk. 7:10-13
In the Old
Testament, a person would bring a “korban “– a sacrifice or offering to the
Tabernacle. Korban comes from the Hebrew
root word, karav, meaning to draw near, come near, or approach. So we have a picture of worshippers coming
near to the presence of God by arriving at the Tabernacle with their sacrifice. Once offered and accepted, the korban allowed
for restoring man’s relationship with God and about rehabilitating man for
right relationship with people.
Jesus refers to
the abuse of the korban in Mark 7 in an exchange with the Pharisees. The focus of the Pharisees was on the
disciples’ practice of eating with unwashed hands. Jesus takes the Pharisees to task by telling
them they are hypocrites and focus on the things that are of secondary
importance (clean hands), at the expense of ignoring things that are of primary
importance to God. He then makes His
case in Mk. 7:10-13:
“For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and
mother, and, ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death. 11 But you
say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father
or mother is Corban (that is, devoted to God) - then you no longer let them do
anything for their father or mother. Thus you nullify the word
of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like
that.”
Jesus is making
it clear that the Pharisees are violating the commandment of honoring one’s
parents by upholding the practice of korban – a gift given to God. In practical terms, an Israelite’s parents
who may be in need would not be provided for if the adult children give their
money to God as a korban, an offering.
No money would be left for the care of the parents. By the time of Jesus, a korban had come to
mean withdrawing something from its intended use in order to offer it to God.
May our focus be
on the greater, or primary matters in accordance with God’s laws written on our
heart.
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