MURDER AND HATRED – PART ONE
Matthew 5:21-26

Beginning in verse 21 and continuing through the remainder of this fifth chapter of Matthew, Jesus gives an explanation of the Old Testament law and provides a fresh understanding of what it means.  He uses the familiar words, “you have heard this…now, I will tell you what it really means.”  Friends, it is always good, before we form an opinion based upon what someone else has said, that we listen to what Jesus has to say.  In these next few studies, we are going to examine some issues that are heightened with emotion for many of us, issues such as murder and anger, lust and adultery, divorce, and revenge upon one’s enemies.  Our goal is to seek to understand what Jesus said.

Our study begins with Jesus’ teachings on what it means to murder.   Murder is on a rampage in our nation today.  Nearly 25,000 Americans are victims of homicide every year.  That is nearly 70 people a day.  Living in Minneapolis, we hear, almost daily of someone being murdered.  We can grow almost insensitive to this ugly blight upon our way of life.

The very first murder is recorded shortly after man’s fall.  Cain rose up in anger and killed his brother Abel.  You will find this story in Genesis 4.  Following the flood, God gave these words of instruction concerning the sacredness of human life to Noah.  God said, Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God He made man  (Genesis 9:6).  And, of course the sixth commandment prohibited all intentional killings of another for purely personal reasons with its proclamation, You shall not murder (Exodus 20:13).

But, what does anger have to do with murder?  Anger is described as being like a flame that comes from dried straw.  It quickly blazes up and just as quickly dies down.  One writer has defined anger this way:  Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it’s stored than to anything on which it’s poured.  Another writer has stated that “anger is one letter short of danger.”  Both of those definitions capture, I believe, the thrust of what Jesus is saying when He relates anger and murder. 

In his excellent book on the Sermon on the Mount, Dr. Dan Carson writes, But is murder merely an action; committed without reference to the character of the murderer?  Is not something more fundamental at stake, namely his view of other people?  Does not the murderer’s wretched anger and spiteful wrath lurk in the black shadows behind the deed itself?  And does not this fact mean that the anger and wrath are themselves blameworthy?  Jesus therefore insists that not only the murderer, but anyone who is angry with his brother, will be subject to judgment.

In our next study we will seek to understand the harm that unresolved anger can do to a person.  Plan to join with me for that important study.

Father, Murder has become too common place today, and we confess that we have become almost desensitized to its presence in our society.  Father, help us to understand that at the root of murder is an unresolved anger.  And, Lord, that is a problem which is very real to many of us.  May we surrender our anger to You.  We ask that You give us a spirit of patience and understanding with people and circumstances around us.  Help us to be slow to anger.  We pray this in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

 

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