Passage: Exodus 20:13

The Big Idea

“You shall not murder.” Most of us assume we’re safe on this one. But Jesus traced murder back to its root in the heart: unjustified anger, contemptuous insults and condemning words. By that measure we’re all guilty. We stood before the Judge facing death, and Jesus took the death penalty for us, giving us life. The only cure for a murderous heart is a new one, filled with the love of Jesus by His Spirit. Love fulfills the law.

Guilty as Charged

What’s the penalty for breaking God’s law, even one command, even once? Death (Romans 6:23).

Breaking one command makes us lawbreakers (James 2:10).

So we stand before the Judge, every one of us guilty. However much the Judge loves us, He still has to be the Judge. God will always rightly pronounce the verdict: guilty. We face the death penalty.

Unless a truly innocent man offered to take our penalty, to be killed in our place.

If Jesus loved us enough to take our place in death, we could stand before the Judge forgiven, declared not guilty. The Judge didn’t want to put you to death. But justice demanded that sin be punished.

Imagine walking out of that courtroom. You were headed for judgment, and now you’re free.

That’s why we sing and praise God from grateful hearts. What Jesus does for us is give us life.

So obviously we can’t go around taking life from others.

The Command (Exodus 20:13)

“You shall not murder.”

Its Old Testament meaning: don’t take someone’s life unjustly.

It doesn’t refer to accidental killing (Exodus 21:13; Numbers 35).
It doesn’t refer to just punishment carried out by government, which God established to restrain evil (Genesis 9:6; Romans 13:4).
It doesn’t refer to warfare as God directed it for Israel.
It’s about deliberate, intentional killing, often rooted in anger or hatred.

So we’re all good, right? I hope no one here has murdered anyone.

Let’s see what Jesus says.

Murder Starts in the Heart (Matthew 5:21-26)

Everyone knows murder is wrong. But Jesus extends this law into our hearts and minds. In His kingdom, there aren’t even murderous thoughts. Murder is the full-grown expression of those thoughts, but every murder started as a thought.

Jesus said: You’ve heard that it was said long ago, “Don’t murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.” But I tell you…

1. Anger without cause

“…anyone who is angry with his brother without cause will be subject to judgment.”

The religious teachers taught that anything short of actually killing someone was fine.
Jesus says that if there’s no just cause for your anger, God will judge it.
We think we can always find a good reason to be angry. But can we?
Righteous anger burns over God’s honor or over others being wronged. But we’re never right to retaliate when we have been personally wronged.

How do we know the difference? Look at Jesus.

He burned with anger when the temple was turned into a marketplace (John 2:13-17).
But when He was being crucified, He prayed, “Father, forgive them” (Luke 23:34).

Paul says: Don’t take revenge, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it’s written, “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay,” says the Lord. Instead, if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he’s thirsty, give him a drink. In doing so you’ll heap burning coals on his head. Don’t be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good (Romans 12:19-21).

Don’t avenge yourself.
Do good to your enemies.
Who’s your enemy? Who has wronged you? Who have you been angry with?
Forgive, serve and love. Is that how we’ve responded? If not, let’s turn back.

2. Contemptuous insults

“…whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!‘ will answer to the council.”

Raca means “empty-head”: idiot, nitwit, numbskull, airhead.
The idea is that the other person is worthless, inferior.
Name-calling and insults reveal what’s inside me.
“But they were acting like an idiot!” Maybe. But do my loveless words show God’s heart for them? No.
“God, forgive me. They’re Your child, and I’ve spoken in an evil way. I turn from it. Help me say only what’s helpful, encouraging and loving.”
Like Jesus, I never want to devalue a human life. He values people far more than I’ll ever understand. He’d die for the person I’m insulting. He did.

3. Condemning words

“…whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.”

This is more than an insult. It’s wishing someone were dead and damned.
It’s the heart that says, “Go to hell,” or calls on God to damn someone.
“I’m done with you, and I hope God is too.”
What if God had been done with us while we were sinners? Aren’t you glad He was patient and merciful with you? We need that same heart Jesus had toward us.

So:

Anger
Abusive words
Condemning words

All carry the spirit of murder.

The Cure: Love

How can we be changed so we don’t sin with murderous thoughts, words and actions?

Love. We need a new heart filled with love, as loving as Jesus Himself. We need His love transplanted into our hearts.

Paul says: Owe no one anything except to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “Don’t commit adultery,” “Don’t murder,” “Don’t steal,” “Don’t covet,” and any other command, are summed up in this one: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law (Romans 13:8-10).

That’s the heart Jesus gives, and it fulfills the law.

“But how can I possibly love like Jesus, forgiving those who wrong me and loving the unkind, even my enemies?”

By the Holy Spirit. We ask for this heart, and it’s given (Luke 11:13; John 14:16-17).

Flesh vs. Spirit (Galatians 5:19-25)

Before we receive the Spirit, we’re only flesh.

Paul lists the works of the flesh: sexual immorality, impurity, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissensions, envy, murders, drunkenness and the like. Those who live this way will not inherit the kingdom of God.

That’s what we need to be saved from. The flesh can’t enter God’s kingdom.
Those who live this way are not trusting Jesus to save them, whatever they say. If they truly believed, they’d receive the Spirit, and the Spirit would begin to change them.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.

The Spirit produces this fruit.
So here’s a simple test: Am I walking by the Spirit? As I go through life, am I putting to death the works of the flesh and looking to the Holy Spirit to lead and empower me?
Pride says, “I’ve got this. I don’t need to die to my ways. I can figure out how to do right and still get my way.”
Only true humility surrenders to God’s will and Word, and so receives the Spirit’s power to do all God calls us to.
God resists the proud, but pours out His Spirit on the humble.

The Way of Cain (1 John 3:11-15)

Pride leads toward murder. It’s like a path winding through a forest of choices until it drops off the cliff. Just ask Cain.

(How long did Cain hate his brother? As long as he was Abel.)

John writes: This is the message you’ve heard from the beginning: we should love one another, not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s were righteous. (That’s pride.) Don’t be surprised if the world hates you. We know we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers. Whoever doesn’t love remains in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

Hatred isn’t an option, no matter the offense.
We surrendered our rights when we came to Jesus. He decides how we respond, and He clearly calls us to forgive and love.
If we’re harboring hatred, we need to turn from it. It shows we aren’t abiding in the life of Jesus.
Eternal life is knowing God and Jesus Christ whom He sent (John 17:3): His life dwelling in you and gradually becoming your own through the Spirit’s transformation.
We become His loving agents in this world, His hands and feet, His body: loving and protecting, being what Jesus would be if He were here right now. Because He is here, by His Spirit, in you.

What’s the solution to violence that takes lives? To the careless choices that take lives? To every self-centered decision that harms others? Only the love of Jesus becoming our love: His decisions made in our lives, through surrender to His lordship. He takes no one’s life unjustly. He gives life.

Grace Takeaway

Murder is wrong, and Jesus shows us its roots in our own hearts: unjust anger, contempt and condemnation. We’re all guilty. But the One we deserved to be condemned by took our death penalty and gave us His life. Only the new heart of Jesus can fix a murderous heart, and He offers that heart to everyone, every day. He won’t turn away the humble heart that cries out for new life. Cry out to Him today.

← The Fifth Command: Honor Your Parents | All Exodus notes | The Seventh Command: Don't Commit Adultery →

The Sixth Command: Don’t Murder