Tag: murder

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Matthew Matthew 5

Sermon on the Mount: When we despise people in our hearts

Matthew

Here we see one of the main problems Jesus had with the religious leaders’ interpretation of the law. It was strictly a matter of outward compliance, while totally ignoring what was going on in the heart.

In this passage, Jesus shows us what this means in terms of murder. He said,

You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ (Matthew 5:21)

Many Pharisees and teachers of the law kept this commandment. They never murdered anyone (at least until they had Jesus crucified, anyway).

But Jesus told them,

But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.

Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell. (Matthew 5:22)

Jesus here goes beyond the outward crime of murder to the attitudes of the heart. Basically he says, “So you have never actually killed anyone? Great! But how about within your heart? Have you ever murdered someone in your heart?”

What does that mean, to murder someone in your heart?

What are you doing when you murder someone? You are basically devaluing that person. You are saying, “You have so little value, you are no longer fit to live.”

Well, what are we doing when we say to someone, “You idiot! You fool! You (fill in the blank)!”

We are devaluing them in our hearts. Essentially that’s what it means to despise someone. To look upon them as someone of little worth or value.

Murder is merely taking this attitude to an extreme. But if we hold on to this attitude in our hearts, it can actually lead to murder. We’ve seen this time and again in our society.

Anger is another problem that Jesus points to here. It is natural for us to get angry. We can’t control when we get angry. It’s an emotion. Something happens, and we get angry.

But we can control what we do with our anger. Do we hold on to it? Do we let it simmer in our hearts? Do we embrace that anger?

Anger undealt with takes us to the next level of murder. We either cut people off from our lives, or we actually take their lives.

And Jesus says that if we do so, we will be liable to God’s judgment, and apart from the grace of God, hell.

How about you? Is there someone in your life that you despise in your heart? That you have devalued?

Is there someone that you have cut off because of the anger you hold toward them in your heart? Then in God’s eyes you have murdered them.

John tells us,

Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him. (I John 3:15)

And again,

Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness…

Whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him. (I John 2:9,11)

So let us start seeing those around us, even those who have hurt us, as people of value. Because they are. And it was for that reason that Jesus gave his life for them…and us.

Categories
Psalms

The evil of mankind

Psalms

As I write this, a major story in the American sports world is the arrest of an NFL star named Aaron Hernandez. Hernandez is charged with murder.

It seems quite unreal to me. I am by no means a New England Patriots fan. (Actually, I can’t stand them).

But it’s unbelievable to me that someone could have such a blatant disregard for life, that he would plot and carry out the murder of another person.

Hernandez is, of course, innocent until proven guilty, but things don’t look good for him right now. All the evidence that we know of points to him and two others murdering another man.

I couldn’t help but think of that as I read Psalm 36. David wrote,

An oracle is within my heart
concerning the sinfulness of the wicked:
There is no fear of God before his eyes.

For in his own eyes he flatters himself
too much to detect or hate his sin.

The words of his mouth are wicked and deceitful;
he has ceased to be wise and to do good.

Even on his bed he plots evil;
he commits himself to a sinful course
and does not reject what is wrong. (Psalm 36:1–4)

Do all these things relate to Hernandez’s case? That is yet to be seen. But it shows the heart of so many who do evil.

Evil starts with a lack of fear in our hearts for God. When we refuse to acknowledge God in our lives, then just about anything goes. We are free to do almost anything.

The only thing that would restrain us would be a fear of punishment or our conscience. And apart from God, our consciences inevitably become warped.

Some people’s consciences are warped to a lesser degree than others, but they are warped nonetheless. And they become blinded to what is truly good and right. As David wrote,

For in his own eyes he flatters himself
too much to detect or hate his sin. (2)

How do we flatter ourselves? We think of ourselves as better than we really are. Or we think we are perfectly justified in all our actions.

The result? We can’t even detect, no less hate the sin in our lives. And in our sin, we cease to be wise and to do what is good.

If the prosecutors are right, Hernandez was so angry with the victim that he murdered him.

Part of the reason it seems so unreal to me is that if this is true, not only did he destroy another man’s life, he destroyed his own.

He was rich and had everything he needed from a material standpoint. He worked with a good organization. He seemed set for life.

Yet he couldn’t forgive the grievance he had against the victim, and that grievance became more important to him than anything else.

That includes his fiancée and his 7‑month‑old daughter who will now be without a husband and father if he is found guilty.

But when we commit ourselves to a course of evil, that’s what happens. When we fail to reject what we know is wrong, we destroy ourselves and end up hurting the ones we love.

How about you? You probably haven’t murdered anyone. But how about in your heart?

Do you hold anger and unforgiveness in your heart? Jesus said that if you do, you have murdered that person in your heart. (Matthew 5:21–22)

Aside from that, are you giving yourself to other destructive tendencies in your life?

Do you fail to fear God, saying, “Oh, he’ll forgive me. It’s okay?”

Have you been justifying yourself for actions you know are wrong? Are you committing yourself to a path you know is wrong?

Let us be wise. Let us fear God and do what is right, not giving in to the evil that infects our world.

Categories
Exodus

Ten Commandments: The value of human life

You shall not murder.

Probably the most well-known of the Ten Commandments, even among non-Christians.

If you were to poll non-Christians and Christians about the Ten Commandments, I’d guess this would be the one that would rank number one as the commandment most remembered.

Why?

I suppose it’s because we consider murder the worst possible crime that can be committed against another person.

I believe God considers it the same way. Why do I think so? Because of what God said.

After the flood, he told Noah,

And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting…from each man, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of his fellow man.

Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man. (Genesis 9:5–6)

The first time God ever mentions capital punishment is in the context of murder.

The reason? Because when we murder someone, we murder the very image of God.

No other creature was made in God’s image. Only humans.

And so God places a very high value on us.

The question is, do we?

The reason murder is so bad is that we have completely devalued human life to the point that we destroy it.

But how often do we devalue the lives of the people around us?

Recently, I heard a story of a high school student who stabbed her teacher’s arm with an X-Acto knife. Not exactly a sign of valuing her teacher’s life.

But she came from a family where her parents apparently didn’t value each other very much either. They are now separated.

Could it be that she learned her attitude from her parents?

When Osama bin Laden was killed, one of my students asked me why the Americans were so jubilant that someone had died.

What’s more, he asked this in light of the fact that most Americans claim to be Christian. His unspoken question was, “Is that how a Christian thinks?”

Even God doesn’t rejoice in the death of the wicked. (Ezekiel 33:11)

Their sins must be punished, but God isn’t dancing on their graves.

He weeps for them, because these were people who were originally created in his image, and they went horribly wrong.

That said, I’m relieved that Osama bin Laden won’t be hurting anyone else.

But I can’t find it in myself to dance on his grave. Because God doesn’t. He values human life too much to do so.

But on a more practical level, how much do we value the people around us?

What thoughts do you hold in your heart, especially toward people who hurt you?

Jesus said that if you hold anger in your heart toward another, it’s like murdering them (Matthew 5:21–22).

Why? How often can you hold anger and bitterness in your heart toward a person and still see God’s image in them? It’s basically impossible. You almost inevitably devalue them as a person.

You start assigning labels to them: Stupid. Selfish. Inconsiderate. Cruel. And worst of all, worthless.

And by holding these attitudes, you’ve effectively murdered them in your heart.

You may not do it physically, but how often have you cut off people in your life because of unresolved anger and unforgiveness in your heart?

I’m not saying that there are not times when we need to cut off people from our lives, particularly when we’re in physical danger from them.

But to cut them off because of anger and hatred is tantamount to murder.

Do you value people as God does?

That’s the key issue in this command.

If we value people as God does, we would never murder them, either physically or in our hearts.

Instead, we would see them as people created in God’s image and who are to be valued because of it.

Jesus valued them enough to die on a cross for them.

Do you?