“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.
Jesus tells you that obedience must include the tongue and heart. Jesus contrasts “you have heard” with “but I tell you.” He is not abrogating the Law, which he just spoke of as permanent and fulfilled in him, verses 17–20. He opposes the superficiality of both the Pharisaical interpretation and our excuse-making. Jesus calls you to recognize that your relationship with God is not just a matter of external actions, but rather begins with your heart. Anger in your heart is where murder starts. Pay attention to what your mind feeds upon. We claim that “words can never hurt me,” but Jesus announces that the person who calls another a fool is in danger of eternal punishment. We excuse angry rhetoric because we think our opponent is in the wrong. In fact, we sometimes confuse bullying and bluster with taking a stand for the truth. Cain’s sin started in his heart. God graciously provided an offering for sin, but he maintained his anger, refused to repent, and murdered his brother.
“What is offered to Cain is the righteous, sacrificial offering of another at the door of Eden before the flaming sword of judgment. In other words, Genesis 4:7 is the second instance (following Genesis 3:21 and the garments of animal skins made for Adam and Eve) of substitutionary atonement. It is the sin offering of righteous Abel that lies at the door. Its desire is toward Cain, or for Cain, and Cain must rule ‘with’ or ‘in’ it in the way that the saints reign with the Lamb that was slain for their sins (Rev. 5:9–10). The righteous offering of another could restore Cain to divine fellowship and lift his gaze from the cursed earth to the heaven of heavens. Abel and his sacrifice typifies Christ and his high priestly office, Christ the unblemished Lamb of God whose blood ‘speaks a better word than the blood of Abel’ (Hebrews 12:24) because it says, ‘it is finished.’ (John 19:30)”
Aaron P. Mize, “The Church’s Desire toward Christ Her Sin Offering in Genesis 3:16,” Ordained Servant Online, April, 2024
Seek reconciliation. Make it a priority to settle matters. Reconciliation between brothers is so important that it takes priority over worship, verses 23, 24. Behind that lies the fact that an estranged relationship with a fellow believer sabotages your relationship with God. The little scene Jesus pictures is dramatic, emphasizing the importance of reconciliation. The way that you speak to and about others does reflect on your Lord. (A gracious Christian woman commented, “I’ve learned that too many Calvinists can be rude.”) The command to settle matters with your adversary (who may not be a believer) is related, verses 25, 26. An unresolved conflict not only can be draining (remember the costs that Ken Sande outlines), it also leads to the attitude of heart that violates the commandment not to murder. Jesus is giving you details of how to enjoy the blessedness of being a peacemaker, verse 9.
“This ‘excess’ demanded by Jesus is not meant in a quantitative sense (reality confronts us with more situations than are provided for by the law), but in a qualitative sense (the demand of the law goes deeper and reaches further than the very elaborate interpretation of the law by the scribes would suggest). . . . This is the ‘perfection’ required by Jesus, viz., the holding of nothing back, the unconditional surrender to the will of God with all that one is and has.”
Herman Ridderbos, The Coming of the Kingdom, pp. 314f.
Obey God with all your heart. Behind the right-to-die movement lies a defective view of humanity. It is not mental acuity that makes a person worthwhile, but the fact that he or she is made in the image of God. Genesis 9 gives the fact that man is made in the image of God as the reason for the death penalty for murder. Remember that the people with whom you have conflicts are made in the same image of God. Treat them with respect. If it is a violation of God’s image to murder another person, it also violates that image to speak to him in an angry way. Murder can be spoken, as well as action. It can even be unexpressed anger in your heart. By proclaiming the sweeping nature of God’s Law, Jesus shows you the futility of thinking that you can enter the kingdom of heaven through your own obedience or your own efforts. He is the only Son of Adam who never broke the Sixth Commandment. He never harbored unjust anger towards anyone. Beyond that, Jesus, as the messianic King, has achieved reconciliation, not just with an offended party or two, but with all of those for whom he died. He purchased that reconciliation at the cost of his own life. Now he calls you to live as his reconciled people, seeking his forgiveness (and from those against whom you have spoken or thought unjust anger). He calls you to speak with love, not anger, to those close to you as well as to more distant neighbors. He summons you to live as his reconciled people.
Because Christ gave his life for you speak love, not murder!