Honor Your Father in Heaven

The Son of Man demonstrated how to honor parental authority: 

In Relation to Parents at Home

⁵¹ Then He went down to Nazareth with His parents and was obedient to them. ⁵² And Y’shua grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men… ⁴⁰ And the Child grew and became strong; He was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was with Him. LUKE 2

In Relation to Parents in the Lord

¹³ Then Y’shua came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. ¹⁴ But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?” ¹⁵ Y’shua replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” MATTHEW 3

¹² A man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Y’shua, he fell with his face to the ground and begged Him, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” ¹³ Y’shua reached out His hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” He said, “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him. Then ¹⁴ Y’shua ordered him, “Don’t tell anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.” LUKE 5

In Relation to Civil Authority

Isra’el then was under Roman imperialism. Rome appointed Herod Antipas to govern Isra’el. The Sanhedrin was kept to manage local religious affairs.  

Honor the Emperor

¹⁴ [Some Pharisees and Herodians] came to Him and said, “Teacher… is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not? ¹⁵ Should we pay or shouldn’t we?” ¹⁷ Then Y’shua said to them, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and give to God what is God’s.” MARK 12

Take note: Mark 12:17 was an unpopular policy statement to make.

Judaea [where Jerusalem was located] was annexed and incorporated into the Roman empire as a procuratorial province with Caesarea as its capital. A census was ordered for purposes of tax assessment. Almost immediately, a fierce nationalist resistance erupted; its adherents became known as the Zealots (meaning “zealous for the Law”). The Zealot position was straightforward. Rome was the enemy. No Jew should pay tribute (tax) to Rome for sovereignty resided only with God. No Jew should acknowledge as master the Roman emperor, who was worshiped as a god in temples in Caesarea and Sebaste and in other Hellenized towns. There was no master other than God. God had conferred a unique birthright on Isra’el and had concluded a covenant with David and Solomon. The patriotic and religious duty of every Jew was to fight for the reinstatement of this birthright, this covenant: the reinstatement of God’s anointed one—the Messiah—as Isra’el’s rightful ruler.[1]

Two of the Twelve, namely Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, were identified with the rebellion.

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[1] Michael Baigent, R. Leigh, and H. Lincoln, The Messianic Legacy (New York: Dell Publishing, 1989), pp. 48-49.