Respect Your Parents and Take Care of Your Children: Ephesians 6:1-9

I chose the following passage Ephesians 6:1-9. The main reason that I chose this passage was because the other passages had already been taken. Now after researching this passage I discovered that there was more than meets the eye and I want to learn how to be the person that God wants me to be. I feel that the body of Christ, the world, has lost its respect for any type of authority and because of that the church forgets her responsibility to the Lord and the rest of the world. This passage teaches adults to take care of their children and teaches to respect your parents. In this essay I will made a contextual analysis of the passage as well as personal reflection on it. 

“Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise— “so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people, because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free. And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him”.

Contextual Analysis of the Passage

The author of Ephesians is often presumed to be Paul. This can be seen by how he opens the letter in verse 1, “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To God’s holy people in the faithful in Christ Jesus'. The book of Ephesians is believed to have been written during Paul’s first imprisonment in Rome around 60-62 A.D. There are several references made throughout this letter stating “the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you” and “As a prisoner for the Lord” or “I am an ambassador in chains”. This letter was written to the church in Ephesus. Ephesus was the capital of Ionia, a celebrated city of Asia Minor, situated near the mouth of the Cayster, about forty miles southeast of Smyrna. It was chiefly celebrated for the worship and temple of Diana, which last was, accounted one of the seven wonders of the world. In the time of the Romans it bore the title of 'the first and greatest metropolis of Asia.' With an artificial harbor accessible to the largest ships, and rivaling the harbor at Miletus, standing at the entrance of the valley which reaches far into the interior of Asia Minor, and connected by highways with the chief cities of the province, Ephesus was the most easily accessible city in Asia, both by land and sea. Ephesus and Pergamos, the capital of Asia, were the two great rival cities of the province. Though Pergamos was the center of the Roman religion and of the government, Ephesus was the more accessible, the commercial center and the home of the native goddess Diana; and because of its wealth and situation it gradually became the chief city of the province.

Paul had spent three years there ministering to the people. Ephesus was the center of worship for the goddess, Diana. Visitors from around the known world would come and worship her at the Ephesian temple. It also led to manufacturing of portable shrines and such for visitors to buy and take home to worship Diana with. With Paul’s imprisonment he had time to sit and reflect and share encouraging words with the church. Ephesians is written to encourage the church in Ephesus. It could be due to the fact that there were more believers that Paul was not familiar with, so he felt that he needed to remind them of all that God had promised them.

Formal Analysis

I. Opening of Ephesians 1:1-23

A. Greetings 1:1-2

B. Blessing the people 1:3-14

C. Prayer and thanksgiving 1:15-23

II. Main body of the letter Ephesians 3-6

A. God’s plan for the Gentiles 3:1-21

B. Instructions for living 4:1-5:20

C. Instructions for relationships 5:21-6:9

III. Closing Ephesians 6:21-24

What Does Paul Say About Showing Respect to Your Parents?

Ephesians 6:1-9 continues to deal with relationships. Not the type of relationships that love is attached to, rather how one interacts with those around themselves. He gives thanks for all God has done for them and all that God is doing through them. He is reminding the reader of what God has taken them out of. While in the second half of this letter, Paul is reminding the readers of how they should be. Not as a parent who is correcting their child but rather as a parent who maybe leaving for a long time or even dying reminds their children of what they had been taught. Encouraging them to live out what they have been taught. Seeing how the letter seems to suggest that Paul was imprisoned during the writing of this letter, Paul would not have been sure of what his fate held. He would want to encourage the church should he be put to death. Ephesians would probably be best described as a general letter of exhortation. The significant point that leads one to assume this is in the choice of words that Paul uses to communicate with the reader. With the overall theme of Ephesians being that believers are the true church, we see that the author is trying to bring back or keep at the fore-front of their minds what they have already been taught. The letter was written in Greek but unlike Paul’s other letters there are words used in this letter that are not used anywhere else in the bible let alone Paul’s other writings. This has led to the speculation that this letter could have been written after Paul’s death by one of his own followers.

Paul starts with telling “children obey your parents” and “father don’t exasperate your children.” Then in the second half of that passage, the author tells “slaves obey your masters” and “masters, treat your slaves the same way.” The author is repeating his thoughts using two very different images. We know that believers have been both referred to as children and as slaves in the Word of God. So the message that the writer is trying to convey to the reader is to submit or obey those over you or to God Himself.

In-Depth Analysis and Synthesis of the Passages

Looking at Ephesians 6:1-9 one would most likely come to the conclusion that it shows how to respect your parents. Second, it talks about slaves obeying their masters. Now that is a lot harder to explain and understand in our culture today. No one wants to talk about slavery and such. But both of these have two parts within their context and that is the responsibility of both the father, in the first case, and the master. The letter doesn’t just give free reign to the authority figures but holds them accountable for their actions. Given that during the time period that this letter was written Ephesus was a prosperous city. Most wealthy families probably had servant or slaves. Some slaves really were just bond servants yet treated just as bad. Also Ephesus was the center of idol worship for Diana/Artemis, people would come from all around to worship in her temple. This was a hot bed of wickedness. While researching this passage in Ephesians, I noticed that in some other versions of the Word that I chose to use, i.e. the amplified, New American Standard Bible, the message and the passion bible, that the message never changed. That the other versions would use more modern words to convey what Paul is saying here. The passion bible replaced slaves and master with employee and employer in its interpretation of this passage. This then brings the passage into a context that readers now will understand. The Amplified Bible mainly adds words to help to clarify the meaning for the reader. The literary form is comparable to that of the letter written to the church in Colossae. According to one commentary, Ephesians has 75 of the 155 verses that have parallel verses in the book of Colossians. Paul wrote the letter to the Ephesians sometime in AD 60–61, around the same time he wrote Colossians and Philemon, as he sent all three letters by the hand of Tychicus, accompanied by Onesimus. Paul doesn’t really seem to have a overly theological issue that he is dealing with. Rather, he is trying to encourage the church and maybe churches with his letter. He is reminding them of the promises that Jesus gave them. That the work that they do and how they do it reflects on their relationship with God. Ephesians deals with topics at the very core of what it means to be a Christian—both in faith and in practice—regardless of any particular problem in the community. Ephesians hits on a wide range of moral and ethical behaviors, designed to ensure that believers will live up to all that God has called them to do. As we walk this Christian journey, we can start to take for granted what God has promised us so Paul is wanting to remind us of the promises that God made to us.

“Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.” What makes it right? God has established authorities within this world. Parents being the reason for them being there in the first place. God places parents in children’s lives to instruct, guide and teach them the ways of life. God requires children to show respect to parents.

“Honor your father and mother”- which is the first commandment with a promise. Paul again is reminding the reader that God has given a promise for honoring parents. Verse 3 tells what that promise is… and that is “so that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” Maybe it does not just mean living a long life, age wise but rather living life without all the troubles and trials that others go through. Children who learn to obey and honor pick up wisdom from their parents as they are being instructed at home. That knowledge helps lead them to make the right decisions when the time comes.

“Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.” All that Paul is telling fathers is don’t treat your kids harshly or rough. Teach and instruct them on how the Lord would have them to be. Be the physical model of Jesus to your children. Offer grace and mercy when needed but don’t forget to correct when it is needed also.

8 starts to get tougher for the reader. “Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win favor when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people, because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free.” Slaves is a tough phrase for the modern American to understand. Some see the word, slave, and it brings up memories of abuse and years of mistreatment. The people of Ephesus were use to having wealth, so they understood all about having slaves. In the church at Ephesus, there were probably slaves who had heard the gospel message and became followers of Christ. Paul is reminding again that we as believers are slaves to Christ. To serve others as if you are serving the Lord Himself. Not only serving well when people are watching but serve well when no one is watching. While no one may see in the natural, God sees and He will reward you for you doing your part. To obey with respect and fear is to reverence those who are over them, fearing to displease them, and trembling lest they should justly incur their anger and indignation. Not fear of their anger or wrath but of letting them down. This is the same type of fear that believers need to have for the Lord now. When serving we should have our eyes on the Lord and if we do we will win His Favor and having our eyes on Him we will win the favor of our worldly master also. 

Next Paul gives instructions to the masters - “and masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that He who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with Him.” Paul is telling the reader that whether you have money or not that God doesn’t care about that. That even if the world says that you are somebody or the master, there is someone else that you will answer to. He tells the masters to treat their servants as they wish God to treat them.

Ephesians 6:1-9 can be broken into two sections within the overall letter to the Ephesians.The first half has to deal with family dynamics and the responsibility that each role plays within that. The second half deals with the dynamics of slaves and masters and what each are responsible for. On the whole, this passage is just a repeat of one another. The only thing that changes is the participants. This maybe a way for the author to include everyone who would ultimately hear/read this letter. The word that seems to just jump out to is the word “obey”. It appears as if the author was dealing with believers that he had not yet met. He wanted to give them some encouraging words to help build their faith. To strengthen the faith of new believers was seemingly the intent of the writer from what I can see.

This passage does not make any spiritual claim. While it does refer back to a promise that the Lord gave in the ten commandments, on its own it doesn’t make any claims. Even when dealing with slaves and masters the author is reminding them of who is truly the master. It doesn’t matter what position that one holds in the end it is the Lord who is truly in charge. It is Him that we will give an answer to for all of our actions or lack of.

Conclusion and Personal Reflection

As parents, my wife and I have reminded our own kids of this passage. Now my wife feels the need at times to remind me of what a father should not do according to this passage. I have heard for most of my Christian life that we should obey what God has told us to do. Preachers tend to use Ephesians 6:1-9 as how a slave is to obey the master. They are referring to us believers as the slave and that God is the master. Ways how do you show your respect to your parents should be taken from these passages. As I wrote in the essay, they are telling us that when we obey the Lord that we should do it gladly, willingly and such. And while that passage can be interpreted that way. Paul’s readers would have a hard time understanding this interpretation due to the city of Ephesus was wealthy. Given our modern day culture, preachers could certainly see that it means that we are (believers) slave and He is the Master. But what about those of us that are in positions of leadership? Not just at the church but how about in the secular world? God never separates our lives into the spiritual and the natural or our church life and our secular life. I tend as most would dare say to spend the vast majority of my time in the secular world than in the church world. Why would God not want me to take His principles into the world when I am there? The answer is God wants me to live out His principles no matter where I am or what I am doing. While man may write my checks, in the end God is the boss who gives out the ultimate rewards for our services.

Bibliography

• Caird, G.B, “Paul’s letters from prison”, (NC1B; Oxford: Oxford University press, 1976); Lincoln, A. T., “Ephesians”, (WBC; Dallas: Word, 1990); idem, “Paradise Now and Not Yet”, (SNTSMS 43; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981)
• Ryken, Leland, “Words of Delight, A Literary Introduction to the bible, second edition”, Baker Book House, 1992
• Perkins, Pheme, “The Letter To The Ephesians”
• Henry, matthew, “matthew henry's commentary – verses 1–9”, Zondervan, https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/matthew-henry/Eph.6.1-Eph.6.9
• Simpson, E.K. and F.F. Bruce, “The Epistles of Paul to the Ephesians and Colossians”, New International Commentary on the New Testament, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1980