Month: July 2024

“Murder She Wrote” became a long-running mystery show staring Angela Lansbury, partly because of our interest in the crime of murder. However, in Matthew 5:21–26, Jesus is concerned not just with the act of murder, but with your tongue, and your heart.

Jesus tells you to avoid murder—from the heart. We tend to externalize God’s commands, including the prohibition against murder. The Pharisees, for all of their interest in the law of God, tended to minimize the sweep of his commandments. (They had to, if they were going to convince themselves that they were earning righteousness with God.) We tend to externalize God’s Law. If we can reduce obedience to outward commands, we may not feel too guilty. After all, most of us have never stabbed anyone or shot a neighbor in cold blood. Our society redefines persons and even death in an attempt to justify the taking of lives of those who do not meet certain standards.

Continue reading “Murder, He Spoke!”

Paul’s teaching on children in Colossians 3:20–21, reflecting the Fifth Commandment, contrasts with ancient and modern attitudes.

Children! Obey. Paul includes you among the valuable saints (or holy ones) in his greeting, Colossians 1:2. You are part of the church. Paul can address you specifically. Your special responsibility is obedience to your parents. Paul describes that in sweeping terms: “in everything.” (Of course, a commandment to sin is excepted.) Included in obedience is all the respect implied in the Fifth Commandment. Check the attitude you express (or conceal within) as you submit. This is a specific area in which the peace of Christ is ruling in your hearts. Look at the price at which that peace was purchased. Put it into practice in the family.

Continue reading “Children and Parents”

As you do your grocery shopping, you may encounter a friendly person behind a table offering you a cracker with a morsel of really, really good cheese on it. Their hope is that the sample taste will motivate you to buy a large chunk of their product. Have you ever thought about Sunday, your Sabbath rest, in that way? God has given you, his creature, made in his image, a foretaste of your heavenly rest. The Fourth Commandment, Exodus 20:8–11, points you to the gift of rest.

Look back at the Sabbath. Look back to creation rest. The Commandment begins with remember. Not only is that an exhortation to keep the instruction in your mind, but it also points back, all the way to creation. Don’t dismiss this Commandment as simply part of the ceremonial law for Israel, though there were ceremonial aspects. It is a creation ordinance. God worked in creating for six days. Notice that this Commandment also commands you to work. It gives dignity and meaning to labor. Then God rested—not because he was tired, but in order to celebrate his very good creation. And he entered his rest so that mankind could join him in that rest.

Continue reading “A Taste of Heaven!”

What does a politician’s word mean? What does your word mean? In Matthew 5:33–37, Jesus tells you what your word should mean, and he goes beyond that as he points you to the character of the Father in heaven.

Don’t take God’s name lightly. Do not swear falsely. Jesus paraphrases and summarizes passages that regulate oath-taking (Leviticus 19:12; Numbers 30:2; Deuteronomy 23:21). He opposed the practice, common in his day, of outward conformity, while considering all oaths in another name non-binding, Matthew 23:16–22. Our Lord is affirming the principle behind the Third Commandment, which requires keeping God’s name holy. Oaths and vows are taken (increasingly?) lightly in our culture as oaths of office, sworn testimony, and marriage vows are disregarded. Profanity is prohibited. This treats God’s name, or his prerogatives, in a light and inappropriate way. “O, my God,” is used, not to begin a prayer, but as an exclamation of surprise. “God Almighty” or “Jesus Christ,” are not used to invoke God’s name, but to add emotion to what they are saying. The misuse of God’s name is so common that we sometimes tend to fail to hear and fail to be shocked by the profane use of the name of our Creator and Savior in entertainment. God takes blasphemy seriously, Leviticus 24. When we instinctively cringe at the judgment, we are really putting ourselves on the throne and judging God, rather than allowing God to display his justice.

Continue reading “The Name”