Do Not Murder - Exodus 20:13

INTRO

Today we come to the sixth word.

We are going through a sermon series on the Ten Commandments.

These commandments, which occur three times in the Old Testament, literally means “ten words.”

Ten words given by God to his people on how to live in the world.

Today we come to the sixth word, Do not murder, in our Ten Word series looking at the Ten Commandments.

As we walk through these commandments again we’re not to see the 10 Words as legislation from a cosmic bureaucrat trying to ruin everyone’s fun Rather as wise instructions from a loving father who knows what his kids need to thrive.

Imagine you're driving on a winding mountain road, enjoying the beautiful scenery and fresh air, when suddenly a car appears in your rearview mirror.

The driver is honking their horn, flashing their lights, and driving recklessly, endangering both of your lives.

Your heart races as you try to navigate the dangerous road, and you feel the urge to retaliate, to teach this driver a lesson.

But as you look closer, you see that the driver is freaking out, and beside him in the passenger seat is a pregnant women clearly in labor.

Suddenly, your anger dissipates…you wave him on around you.

Moments like this make us realize the value of life, the preciousness of every moment we have on this earth.

This is the essence of the commandment "You shall not murder."

It is a reminder to honor and cherish life, even in the most trying circumstances, and to act with compassion and empathy towards others.

Big Idea: Honor Life.

This is a commandment that we may be tempted to zoom right through.

Don’t murder, “No problem, done.”

But as we have seen with the other commandments this is a more challenging command than you may expect.

We are going to break down each of these commandments, these ten words in the same way

- What does this command reveal about God?

- What does this command reveal about us?

- How does it point us to Jesus?

- How does it show us the path of life?

So let’s start with first,

I. What does this command reveal about God?

What does it say about God that he would command his people to not murder one another?

It says that he cares deeply about life.

God values human life:

This word, "You shall not murder" shows that God values human life and sees it as sacred.

Again this seems like a no-brainer to most of us.

We know that taking someone else's life is wrong, and I hope we have these self control to try and avoid doing so at all costs.

But what's really going on here?

What is God trying to teach us through this commandment?

Let's take a closer look at the commandment, and consider what it says about the nature of human life.

When God commands us not to murder, he is saying that human life is sacred and valuable, and that we should never treat it lightly or without respect.

But why is human life so valuable?

What makes it different from the lives of animals or other forms of life on this planet?

Well, the answer lies in our status as bearers of God's image.

When God created humans, he stamped us with his own image and likeness, giving us a unique and special place in his creation.

So when we take a human life, we are not just killing another living creature.

We are snuffing out something that was created in the image of God, something that reflects his glory and his character.

We are committing an act of sacrilege, of blasphemy, of ultimate rebellion against our Creator.

The sixth word is not just a rule to follow.

It’s not just a box to check.

It's a reminder of the sacredness and dignity of human life, and of our responsibility to honor and protect that life at all times.

When we live in light of this commandment, we become agents of life, promoting healing, peace, and justice in a world that all too often seems to be filled with violence and death.

This commandment also reflects God's concern for justice and his desire to protect the innocent

Consider what this command is saying, God cares for life yes…but he is also Just

He will hold people accountable for taking the life of another.

God is a righteous judge who cares about justice and fairness.

God is a protector: The commandment is not only against taking life, but it is also a call to protect and preserve life.

God is a protector who cares for the well-being of his people and desires that we live in a way that Glorifies him.

In Eden we had peace and harmony with one another.

When relationship was broken the first sin to follow the exit from the garden was murder as brother killed brother.

This word as the others reveals that God is holy:

The commandment "You shall not murder" is part of the moral law that God gave to his people, and it reflects his holy and righteous character.

This shows that God is a God of moral purity who desires that his people live in a way that reflects his character and his holiness.

This word is a multi-faceted word showing us the character of God.

God is a creator that cares for his creation, a father that cares for his children.

But what about us?

II. What Does This Command Reveal About Us?

What kind of people need to be commanded to not murder?

Those who are prone to murder.

Now, there is an important distinction between killing and murder.

There are specific laws in the old testament about self defense.

There is room to talk about the varied ways in which we can interpret the difference between killing and murder...

There is certainly a place for those conversations but this command is specifically looking at the idea of intentional murder or unintentional murder through negligence.

For us when we look at our culture we see that murder is ever present in our world.

Between 3 men over 100million murders occured, Hitler, Mao, and Stalin.

So far this year alone and it’s only February we have had 71 mass shootings in the US.

But it’s not as though we only experience murder through news of tragedy.

We watch murder for entertainment.

By the age of 18 the average American will have seen over 80 thousand deaths in tvs, movies, and video games.

Many of us feed on true crime podcasts and tv shows. Becoming desensitized to detailed recounts of someone’s maiming.

While we hear this and know in our hearts and minds that we live in an increasingly violent times we may feel like, “well sure but I have enough self control I wouldn’t murder anyone.”

Again Jesus’ words challenge us to look beyond the thin obedience we often seek to apply to God’s word.

Look at Matthew 5:21-26

Matthew 5:21–26 (ESV)

“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

Ouch.

That is heavy.

Jesus is saying that we must not think we are safe just because we have not Shed blood.

We are guilty enough to receive punishment if we have harbored anger and contempt.

He says in essence, You may think you are removed from murder morally. But you are wrong.

Have you ever wished someone were dead? Then your heart has known murder!"

In light of this Coram Deo, we cannot escape the truth that we are all murderers.

We have all murdered others in mind and heart.

We have had wicked and evil hatred that is just a foul as murder in God’s sight.

Here again we see that the radical righteousness Jesus demands is not merely a refraining from outward sin- it is interior.

What is happening in our hearts?!

We are made to see that our only hope is Christ who fulfilled all righteousness and offers it to us as a free gift.

Jesus' radical demand is meant to drive us to him for grace.

Jesus warns us about the dangers of anger and the importance of seeking reconciliation.

This passage reveals the truth about the human heart and our tendency to harbor resentment and bitterness towards others.

Think back to my opening illustration and put yourself behind the wheel again.

This time imagine you're driving down the highway, and someone cuts you off.

You're forced to slam on the brakes, and you feel a surge of anger and frustration.

You look to see this person is somehow eating and on their phone. Utter negligence.

You honk your horn, shout a few choice words, and speed up to get past the offending driver.

As you drive away, you feel justified in your anger.

After all, that driver was in the wrong, right?

But as you continue down the road, you realize that your anger has taken root in your heart.

You're still seething with resentment, and every time you think about the incident, you feel your blood boil.

This is the danger of unchecked anger.

It can take root in our hearts and grow into bitterness and resentment, poisoning our relationships and our own well-being.

But Jesus offers a way out.

He calls us to seek reconciliation, to lay aside our anger and bitterness, and to pursue peace with others.

In the example of the highway driver, seeking reconciliation might mean taking a deep breath, letting go of our anger, and giving the other driver the benefit of the doubt.

It might mean choosing to forgive, even when we don't feel like it, and seeking to understand the other person's perspective.

This is not easy.

The way to keep this command is to walk in the way of Jesus.

It requires humility, grace, and a willingness to let go of our pride and our desire for revenge.

But as we follow Jesus' example, we will find that our relationships are transformed, our hearts are filled with joy and peace, and we experience the freedom that comes from living in the light of God's love and grace.

So let me ask...

Do you harbor bitterness this morning?

Is there someone you disdain?

Maybe this morning if you’re honest you see the ways in which you have been holding hatred for people who think differently than you.

If you find yourself thinking “those people” Then today you need to be reminded that those people are made in God’s image.

View them through his eyes.

Jesus says that if you love only the people who like you, dress like you, root for the things you do, and vote for the people you do—well, that’s no big deal.

Everybody does that.

What about your enemies? What about the people who mistreat you?

What about the people who don’t understand you?

Did you notice what Jesus said at the end of Matthew 5:26?

He says that if you are this sort of angry fool, “you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.”

If you insist on pouring out the cup of your wrath, there’s another cup for you to drink.

As he is apt to do, Jesus makes the one commandment we would have thought we were all going to feel pretty good about into one of the commandments we all feel pretty bad about.

Which one of us hasn’t been unrighteously angry this week?

There is a way to be righteous in anger, but that’s not the way that most of us are angry.

We show it in the way we speak to our spouse,

when we silently judge,

when we explode at our children over the simplest things,

and when somebody drives in front of us and goes too slow, and you would think that they had cursed your whole family for all time.

Jesus says that you will not get out until you pay the last penny.

That’s how serious anger is.

Friends that’s what anger does, it imprisons you.

It holds you captive and gives birth to bitterness and hatred.

Perhaps someone wounded you deeply, someone hurt you in a devastating way.

What should we do then?

Friend…forgive them.

Imagine that you're walking through a forest, and you come across a beautiful tree with gnarled roots and a towering trunk.

As you approach the tree, you notice that there are initials carved into the bark.

You realize that the tree has been marked by generations of visitors, who have left their own marks on the tree.

As you look more closely, you notice something else.

Some of the marks on the tree are deep and jagged, while others are barely visible.

Some have been etched into the wood with care, while others have been haphazardly scratched in.

But no matter what the marks look like, they all tell a story of the people who made them.

This is a picture of forgiveness.

Just like the tree, our lives are marked by the wounds and hurts that we have experienced.

Some of these wounds are deep and painful, while others are barely noticeable.

But no matter what they look like, they all tell a story of the people who have hurt us.

Forgiveness is the act of carving a new mark into the tree.

It's the choice to let go of the hurt and the pain, and to leave behind a mark of grace and mercy instead.

Forgiveness doesn't erase the wounds or the memories, but it changes the story that we tell with our lives.

As we choose to forgive, we become like the tree, marked not just by the hurts we have experienced, but by the grace and mercy that we have been shown and that we show to others.

And just like the tree, our lives become a living testimony to the power of forgiveness, and to the goodness of a God who can bring beauty out of brokenness.

We are a people who wound and have been wounded.

This word reveals a painful truth that we are murderers in our heart.

So...

III. How Does this command point us to Jesus?

As we have see Jesus himself affirmed the commandment against murder and expanded it to include not only physical violence but also anger and hatred.

Jesus shows us that the commandment against murder is not just about physical violence, but about the attitude of our hearts toward others.

Jesus reframes this word.

He shows us the reality that we need a savior.

And so Jesus himself was the ultimate victim of violence, as he was unjustly arrested, beaten, and crucified to be that savior.

We have left deep marks of sinful brokenness but Jesus doesn't just carve over those marks, instead he was stretched out on a tree for us to cover our iniquity.

He was murdered.

Think of the cup of wrath you have let spill out in your life.

We’ve all had this cup of wrath at some point in our lives—

Maybe you’re not an outwardly angry person, but certainly you have held rage in your hearts.

We were fuming, scheming, steaming mad, drinking our bubbling, exploding cup of wrath.

So what do we do?

We look to the garden of Gethsemane and find Jesus there with another cup.

As he is facing his death on the cross,

he prays, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will” (Matt. 26:39).

What’s the cup?

It’s not the cup of our wrath but of God’s wrath for sinners like us.

It’s his righteous, perfect anger directed toward people like us, who have so often displayed such unrighteous, unholy anger.

And Jesus says, “If this is the only way, Father. I’ll take it.”

We deserve that cup, but he took it upon him- self.

The only one who never violated any of the commandments or committed murder in the least degree in his heart was murdered for angry murderers like us.

We have all poured out the cup of wrath on one another, but only Jesus drank from that cup for us.

But our Lord even in the midst of great violence against him, did not respond with anger or hatred.

Instead, he prayed for his enemies and forgave them, saying "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing" (Luke 23:34).

In this way, Jesus demonstrates that even in the face of violence and injustice, we are called to love and forgive our enemies.

This command points us to life over death.

Forgiveness over hatred

Peace over anger

This word points us to Jesus

Why because Jesus is the source of life.

Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life" (John 14:6).

As we follow Jesus, we are called to value and protect the lives of those around us.

We are called from the self centered rage we hold to be peacemakers

This means not only refraining from physical violence, but also seeking to promote the well-being and flourishing of all people.

The commandment against murder points us to Jesus as the one who teaches us to love and forgive our enemies, and who calls us to value and protect the lives of those around us.

As we follow Jesus, we can find the strength and courage to live out this commandment in our own lives.

This leads us to ask:

IV. How Does this Command Lead Us To The Path of Life?

Our rage is quite literally killing us.

Anger leads to everything from shortness of breath to heart attack and stroke.

Anger leads us to a place of seething bitterness and weariness.

So let me ask are you tired of the rage coursing through your veins.

The sixth word would have us look to the Lord who is slow to anger

Remember Exodus 34:6

Exodus 34:6 (ESV)

The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,

When we honor and keep the sixth word we live in the peace of our God.

When we live out this command we honor the imago dei in others.

Rather than holding rage against someone who has wronged you, thinks differently than you, frustrates you…instead you see them as a fellow image bearer.

What does it look like to honor this command?

Micah 6:8 (ESV)

He has told you, O man, what is good;

and what does the Lord require of you

but to do justice, and to love kindness,

and to walk humbly with your God?

You walk humbly with God and honor life.

This is the opposite of a murderous heart.

This is a heart that is shaped by the hope of Jesus.

Do you love kindness?

Think about it this way.

Proverbs 15:1 (ESV)

A soft answer turns away wrath,

but a harsh word stirs up anger.

Are you quick to give a gentle answer, a soft word or a harsh one?

Hurtful behaviors such as violence, scorn, gossip, and slander injure both victim and perpetrator.

The hurtful behavior certainly devastates the person you aim that vitriol at.

but the hate that lies beneath eats you alive, clouding your thinking, crippling your hearts, and diminishing your souls.

When a rattlesnake is cornered, sometimes it becomes so angry that it bites itself.

When a man harbors hatred or bitterness in his heart he is poisoning himself just like the rattlesnake that bites itself.

In the end, those who injure become as miserable as those whom they injure.

Those who vandalize someone else’s body, spirit, or good name also vandalize themselves.

This is why the Bible is careful to warn that all anger, including the constructive righteous kind, should be arrived at slowly and not from a reactive hair trigger.

James 1:19–21 (ESV)

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

In being slow to anger through a spirit of meekness, we express the image of God in us,

Our God is both perfectly righteous and the universe’s chief offended party.

But do you know what he does?

He “forgives all [our] iniquity” and “crowns [us] with steadfast love and mercy” and “is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love”

This morning many of us need to repent and ask the Lord to give us quiet mouths or quiet fingers and in it’s place give us gracious listening ears.

We need the Spirit to help us keep this command.

He delights to carry this redemptive work of shaping us to his character.

A lady once came to her Pastor and tried to rationalize her angry outbursts.

“There’s nothing wrong with losing my temper,” she said. “I blow up, and then it’s all over.”

“So does a shotgun,” her Pastor replied, “and look at the damage it leaves behind!”

Getting angry can sometimes be like leaping into a amazingly responsive brand new tesla, gunning the accelerator, taking off at high speed and then discovering the brakes are out of order.

Would God shape us to be a people who honor life, who bear his name and walk like Jesus.

Application Questions:

Where am I prone to break this command?

Who am I holding anger or bitterness against? Where might I need to repent?

Is there someone I need to reconcile with? What steps can I take to do this?

How does Jesus' sacrifice help me to overcome this?