Thou Shalt Not Kill

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts. Morse Corner is a non-denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

If you'd like more information, visit our website morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message. Once again, we'll be in the fifth chapter of Matthew's gospel, so go ahead and turn there. Matthew chapter 5, and the title of this message is Keeping Right Relationships.

The Sixth Commandment and the Deeper Meaning of Murder

Keeping Right Relationships. You may have thought that the command, thou shalt not kill, only deals with killing. But that's actually not the case. You see, all of the Ten Commandments, they all have deeper implications and or applications that go well beyond the initial statement given.

So, you could even look at this command, thou shalt not kill or thou shalt not murder. It actually deals with our relationship, one with another. And not just the statement, thou shalt not kill, it really refers to a lot more than that.

We're going to see that here. So, we're going to be looking at verses 21 through 26 of Matthew chapter 5. Just a quick reminder last week how we talked about how Jesus, remember He did not come to destroy the law.

He did not come to nullify the law. He came to do what? He came to fulfill the law. So, we talked about how Jesus did that. He fulfilled the Old Testament Scriptures by being a fulfillment of prophecy.

He fulfilled the sacrificial system because He was the sacrifice, the Lamb of God. All of that pointed to Him. And when it came to the commandments, Jesus kept the moral law of God perfectly. He fulfilled the law.

Jesus, for example, leading up to this commandment in Matthew 5, Jesus kept the Sabbath. Jesus honored His father and mother. And Jesus kept the sixth commandment, thou shalt not kill. And, of course, most people back then and most people today, at least on the surface, keep that commandment.

And you say, well, I've never killed anyone or I've never murdered anyone. In fact, when you meet people or talk to them about Jesus, this is one thing you'll often hear people say. Well, I think I'm going to heaven because I'm a good person.

Because, after all, I've never done anything really bad like kill someone or murder them. Right? You've heard this. And built into that statement is the idea that people, even me and you, sometimes we think we have kept the sixth commandment.

You say, of all the commandments, I've definitely kept this one. I've never killed anyone, but actually Jesus is going deeper. That it really addresses everything to the way we treat each other, the way we speak to each other.

And Jesus addresses the heart issues, our motivations, not just the surface level commandment against murder. So what the Jews back then didn't realize is what many people today don't realize. That each of the Ten Commandments is sort of like a headline.

And it's a summary statement, but many things fall underneath it. So let's look at this passage. Matthew 5, starting in verse 21. This command, thou shalt not kill, deals with our relationships. And if we understand this, we can learn how to keep right relationships.

Anger, Insults, and Reconciliation in Matthew 5:21-26

Matthew 5, starting in verse 21. Jesus said, you have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not murder. And whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment. But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of judgment.

And whoever says to his brother, Raka, shall be in danger of the council. Raka basically means you empty-headed fool. You will be in danger of the council. But whoever says you fool shall be in danger of hellfire.

Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go your way. First, be reconciled to your brother.

And then come and offer your gift. Agree with your adversary quickly while you are on the way with him. Lest your adversary deliver you to the judge. And the judge hand you over to the officer and you be thrown into prison.

Assuredly, I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny. So, you see that Jesus is expanding on this command. Thou shall not kill. And then he goes on and on to talk about the deeper implications of it.

Okay, so the first half of the Ten Commandments. Remember that God gave Moses two tablets of stone. One tablet dealt with man's relationship vertically with God. You know, worship God, don't take his name in vain, keep the Sabbath.

And then the other tablet deals with man's relationship horizontally. Deals with man's relationship with his fellow man. Thou shall not kill, thou shall not bear false witness, etc. So, they thought, the Jews, at the time that Jesus was ministering, they thought, like many people today do, that as long as I don't kill anybody, you know, pretty low bar, but as long as I don't kill anyone, that means I'm keeping the Sixth Commandment.

And they had this idea that, yeah, I'm keeping the law of God. But that's a surface level understanding of it. That proved they had a surface level understanding, because they were actually violating all of God's commandments as, in fact, everybody does.

So, Jesus takes this command, thou shall not kill, He takes it a step further, or many steps further. Getting to the root cause of why people kill. You ever thought about that? I'm sure you have. You hear about things that happen in the world on the news.

You hear some horrific, and you say, how could somebody do that? Right? Isn't that what we think? How could someone do that? It doesn't just happen. It's a long series of events. One decision after another.

Maybe someone did something to them, and they respond, and they take a next step. And that's kind of the end of the road. So, Jesus is addressing the root cause of why a person would do such a thing. He's addressing things like anger, hatred, discontentment, even envy.

Do you know why the Jewish leaders turned Jesus over to be crucified? It says, the Bible says, they did it because of envy. So, the command, thou shall not kill, actually deals with many things. Okay.

So, we've all heard the expression, sticks and stones will break my bones, words will never hurt me. Right? You've heard that. When you were young, maybe people told you that. Is that true? No, it's not true, because words can sometimes hurt more than the physical wounds.

And just to show how serious all of this is, and Jesus really emphasizing his point, this is the first time in the New Testament that the word hell is mentioned. In fact, in talking about this, Jesus coins a new term.

And that new term Jesus uses is hellfire. That really tells you how Jesus felt about this. And even when you hear that word hell, there's sort of a surface level understanding. We think of maybe the lake of fire, something like that.

But I think there's even a deeper meaning to even this word translated as hell. So, if you know anything about this passage, you might know that the Greek word translated hell that Jesus uses is the word Gehenna.

Gehenna not only refers to hell as maybe people think of it. Gehenna referred to the garbage dump that was outside of the city of Jerusalem. So, Gehenna comes from the term the Valley of the Sons of Hinnom.

So, this place, the Valley of the Sons of Hinnom, or Gehenna as it became to be known, in centuries past, when the Jews got into pagan religion, you know what they did in the Valley of the Sons of Hinnom?

They worshiped idols, and they would actually offer their own children as human sacrifices to these false gods. And you just think of relationships. Few relationships are more important than the relationship between parent and child.

And again, you think of how could anyone do such a thing? Well, it's actually what pagan religions do. Human sacrifices were offered, pagan religions, all over the world. So, this happened even in Israel amongst God's people, the Jews.

So, prior to the days of Christ when King Josiah came to power, he brought many reforms to the nation of Israel. One of the first things he did was to outlaw this practice. And to basically turn this plot of land, Gehenna, the valley outside of Jerusalem, he turned that plot of land, because so much wickedness had been done there, he turned it into what?

Right, he turned it into the city dump. So, garbage, refuse, carcasses of animals, they were all thrown into Gehenna. And fires would burn there around the clock just to consume the waste. So, the point is, by using this phrase Gehenna, translated as hell, it had an impact.

And I think part of what Jesus is saying is not only is murder evil, which they all understood, and I think everybody understands that, most people, right? Jesus is not only saying, not only is murder evil, but if you want to be a reviler, if you want to call people trash, if you want to treat people like garbage, you're actually the one in danger of God dealing with you that way.

Jesus is going to say in chapter 7 verse 2, for with what judgment you judge, you will be judged. And with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. So, if you treat people like trash, maybe God will treat you like trash.

I think that is one of the things that would be communicated. So, if you want to rip people apart, you know, you can just look in the mirror. And you can ask, why am I doing this? Right, let's get down to the root issue.

Why would I do this? Why am I doing this? How would you feel if someone treated you that way? Or maybe that's why people do it, because they've been treated that way, so they just sort of perpetuate the behavior.

As one pastor likes to say, he said, you know, hurt people, hurt people. But today, we sort of accept all sorts of excuses as to why people do what they do. And we might be sympathetic depending on the details.

But when you attack a person for their, they have dignity. When you attack their dignity, when you attack them as a human being, really there's no excuse for that. And ultimately, this is why people commit murder.

It's because they don't view that person as being valuable. And that starts with the heart, motivations, then words, then it leads to actions. But why are human beings valuable? Why should we not kill people?

Why should we treat people well? Because every person is made in the image of God. Genesis 127 says, so God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him male, and female, he created them.

And yet, the powers that be want to propagate this lie that human beings evolved from a primate, that human beings evolved from monkeys. Well, if that were true, then human beings don't really have any dignity.

You're just a glorified animal. So why are we surprised when people treat others like animals? Actually, in our culture, it's not shocking to see, because we've all become used to it, when people treat animals.

Some people treat animals better than other people. So what's the title of the message? Keeping Right Relationships. Here's a good principle. The way you treat people, in a sense, is how you treat God.

That's probably not something we think of. How do you treat God?

Well, what do you mean?

God's not here. How would I even treat God, well or poorly? God isn't here. Jesus isn't here.

Yeah, he is.

Jesus is present on this earth in the sense that his body is present. You realize when you treat another Christian poorly, that's like treating Christ poorly. Cursing out another believer is sort of like cursing out Christ, because they are not only made in his image, which all people are, but they are Christ representative.

The great commandment Jesus gave, John 13, 34, he said, A new commandment I give you, that you love one another as I have loved you, that you also love one another. So, we should not kill people.

Amen?

Who agrees with that? We should not kill people, okay? Should we speak to people respectfully? Should we treat them well, just the way we behave and talk to them? Yeah, of course. Now, that doesn't mean, on the other hand, that doesn't mean that people get a free pass.

That because they are made in the image of God or they claim the name of Christ, they get a free pass to do whatever they want. Because relationships are a two-way street, right? But we should always be willing to show grace.

The point being that the commandment goes deeper. It's not just about killing. Jesus will say in chapter 7, verse 12,. Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them. For this is the law and the prophets.

Thanks for listening. I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Morris Cornick Church. If you'd like to listen to the complete message, or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website, MorrisCornickChurch .com.

And we'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett. Until next time, may the grace of God be with you.