| Catechesis Notes for Week — The Third and Fourth Commandments — “Remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy” (Third Commandment) is more accurately translated, “You shall sanctify the day of rest.” The Third Commandment is not mainly about “a day” but more importantly about the Word of God. The seven-day week of creation teaches us that there is a rhythm to our lives. We work, but we also require rest. But Christians began worshiping on Sunday (the first day of the week) instead of Saturday (the Old Testament Sabbath day of rest) because they properly understood that the Sabbath Day (or Rest Day) was chiefly about Jesus and His Word of life. Jesus is the source of Sabbath rest and He gives that rest to us through the Word of the Gospel that we receive by preaching, teaching, and the Sacraments. To highlight this important understanding, Christians began to worship on Sunday—the day of our Lord’s resurrection from the dead. On Sunday, the first Easter, Jesus spoke a Word that gave a “rest” that was far greater than the mere cessation of work. He gave the “rest” of sins forgiven through the Word of absolution: “Peace be with you.” That is why the explanation from the Catechism states that we are “not to despise preaching and His Word, but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it.” The Third Commandment calls us to “sanctify” the day of rest (whatever that day might be) by hearing the Word of God through which we are renewed in repentance and faith in Christ.
Under the Fourth Commandment — “Honor your father and your mother” — we are taught to believe that God stands behind our fathers, mothers, and other authorities and works through them. We are to honor the authorities, not because they deserve it but because of the commandment of God and the office that He has given them. Parents and civil authorities are also to remember the awesome responsibilities they have been given by God lest they abuse the authority they have received.
This week’s Bible Stories highlight the Third and Fourth Commandments. In The Boy Jesus in the Temple, Jesus, at Twelve years of age, honors His father and mother by beginning to take on the responsibilities of a man in hearing the preaching and teaching of God’s Word in the Temple. Mary Sits at Jesus’ Feet in the second story of the week “gladly hearing Jesus’ Word” as that which is the most important thing for her life and salvation. Martha was not engaged in sinful behavior, but she, like us, allowed the other priorities of life to usurp “the one thing needful”—Jesus’ Word. In the tragic story of The Rebellion of Absolom, we see the devastating consequences and judgment of God against a son who despised his father. “It did not go well with Absolom, nor did he enjoy long life upon the earth.” In the last story of the week, Ruth & Her Kinsman Redeemer, we see the power and result of the Word of the Gospel that had been received by the Moabite woman, Ruth. Though she was not a Jew, she heard the Word of the Gospel through the Israelite family that she had married into. This “hearing of God’s Word” resulted not only in a love and devotion to the Lord but also in honor and faithfulness toward her mother-in-law, Naomi.
Finally, this week’s Bible Verse describes the ordinary life of prayer to which we are called. We receive the Word of God in Catechism, Scripture, and hymnody that we might “teach it to our children, talk about it when we sit in our houses, when we walk by the way, and when we lie down and rise up.” By the Word of God, received and believed, EVERY day is sanctified, and we learn to walk by faith in Christ with honor and respect toward all those in authority over us. |