“Do not murder.”
Most of us have not killed anyone, let alone murdered anyone. So in the literal sense, this command is not all that applicable in our lives. Fortunately, the Messiah came and elevated the game quite a bit.
Matthew 5:21 “You have heard that our fathers were told, ‘Do not murder,’ and that anyone who commits murder will be subject to judgment. 22 But I tell you that anyone who nurses anger against his brother will be subject to judgment; that whoever calls his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing!’ will be brought before the Sanhedrin; that whoever says, ‘Fool!’ incurs the penalty of burning in the fire of Gei-Hinnom! 23 So if you are offering your gift at the Temple altar and you remember there that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift where it is by the altar, and go, make peace with your brother. Then come back and offer your gift. 25 If someone sues you, come to terms with him quickly, while you and he are on the way to court; or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer of the court, and you may be thrown in jail! 26 Yes indeed! I tell you, you will certainly not get out until you have paid the last penny.”
Upon careful reading, it seems as though there are two perspectives being addressed here: the one where your brother has sinned against you, and one where you have sinned against your brother.
Let’s first look at the issue of your brother sinning against you.
When someone hurts us, we feel, well, hurt. If this happens repeatedly or you replay an event over and over in your head, you may start to feel a bit of resentment towards this person. You want justice for your pain. And when justice doesn’t come you may start to get angry. We can then allow anger to fester and grow to the point of declaring the perpetrator has no value at all. A good-for-nothing, a fool. I mean, how dare they hurt you and get away with it?
As the anger grows, these people become worthless in your eyes. But can you really see? Maybe it’s anger that is clouding your vision. Maybe they really do have worth. Your pain has just grown from the place of you being hurt to you wanting them to hurt. Where does that end? Murder.
So…are you angry?
I suppose we all are on some level. Why is that? It could be a number of things.
Perhaps the motivation behind our anger is our own selfishness. We want things to go our way and when they don’t, well, anger appears. And why do things need to go your way anyway? Is that pride, is it control? Likely. But we need to consider the fact that other people like to look out for their own interests as well. And when their interests compete with ours, we get really annoyed. Then we get angry. A fruitless exercise in one-upmanship that results in us becoming even more selfish. Get over yourself.
Or perhaps anger appears because we value ourselves so little. We don’t feel as though we have real value. When people hurt us and there is no justice, that lie is reaffirmed. We must not matter enough for Abba to fight our battle or even just intervene. So we get angry. Then we project that same view onto others to make us feel better about who we are -- or who we are not. Maybe our anger is really directed towards ourselves. “Why can’t I just be worth something?!”
You are. But you need to understand who you are before you can believe it.
While selfishness and a low view of ourselves could be the root cause, I think the largest contributor to our anger comes from us being hurt. Somebody did something that genuinely hurt you and you see no evidence of them paying for their crime. You then get angry. And you think the anger is directed towards this person. But who exactly are you angry with?
God.
How could someone so evil get away with hurting someone as pure and innocent as you? Can God not see what has been done to you? Where is the justice? Whether intentional or unintentional, your pain is real and that person is directly responsible.
You see, we all desperately crave justice. The problem is that we don’t understand justice. Because, if we did, we’d beg Abba to withhold it. We have a dimented picture in our minds based on what we consider just. And that is likely rooted in what is just for you. We deserve grace when we err but want hellfire to come mightily when someone errs against us. I mean, how else will they learn, right?
Since it is at best frowned upon and at worst illegal, taking justice into our own hands is not the right thing to do. We know that. So we appeal to Abba to take on that role of Judge. And He does nothing. Well, nothing we can see anyway. With no apparent justice being delivered, you have a few choices:
How many people have you recently called good-for-nothing or a fool? Thinking back over this past week, I can identify twice where I literally described someone as an idiot. His actions bother me and I cast judgment on his value. Does it appear he follows the Messiah? Not at all. Does he have value in the Messiah’s eyes? Yes, he sure does.
Just by calling him an idiot, I have now put myself in front of the Sanhedrin for judgment. I have also put myself in a position to incur the penalty of burning in the fire of Gei-Hinnom. Is it worth it?
You know what’s even more crazy about this? I have never even spoken to this guy. I just observe his behaviors from a distance and now cast judgment on his value. It started as judging fruit (his behaviors) but over time I have since moved on to judging him as a person. That irritation has grown into a mild anger and now every time I see him coming I want justice to rain down upon him. On some level, I want death to come to his doorstep (not physical death, of course, but death to pride, selfishness, arrogance, etc). But do I really want that?
Let’s turn the table.
Have you made someone else angry?
The generic answer is, “I’m sure I have.” But have you thought about this question deeply?
Most of us don’t know if we’ve made someone else angry but we know for sure whether people have accused us or attacked our character. If someone is willing to waste time accusing or attacking you, don’t you think there’s a reason behind that?
And sorry, I doubt it is because of your righteousness. Attacks due to righteousness should not bother you because it isn’t you that is being attacked. It’s the Messiah they are going after. So you can let those roll off of your back and pray for them, “Please forgive them, for they know not what they are doing.”
Here we’re talking about the other 99% of the time you are accused.
Notice what Yeshua says here: So if you are offering your gift at the Temple altar and you remember there that your brother has something against you, ...
He’s addressing the issue of someone calling you a good-for-nothing or a fool. Those people that spoke down about you are subject to punishment and you are to go make things right with them -- BEFORE you put your own flesh on the altar. This is to get you off the hook, not them.
Anger is a deep and painful hook. You need to be released and that comes by making peace with the one that devalued you. This isn’t to seek an apology or repentance from them. It’s to make peace -- shalom. It’s so you can be whole. It’s so you can be complete.
Here’s the kicker: you don’t need to be wrong to apologize. Subsequently, you don’t need to be wrong to make peace with your brother.
Yeshua likened murder to anger. Because when someone devalues you, you feel a bit of death inside. And that death grows. And it ultimately leaks out as anger. Death begets death.
You are to go and make peace so death has no place to grow.
Before, we addressed the fact that someone has spun up this idea that you are worthless. And you then nurse anger towards that person (or those people) but you take it out on other things. Or worse, other people.
But what if you are the one that devalues someone else?
If you have, you have sown the seed of death into their lives. Pray that those you have called “good-for-nothing” or “fool” come to you to make peace. Repent and seek forgiveness. If it isn’t possible to do this, then seek it from Abba. That way you have no place in the fire of Gei-Hinnom.
Whatever you do, don’t do away with others.
The Master has saved you and is protecting you from death. A grave insult to Him is if you decide someone else’s life is worth less than yours. Or phrased a bit differently, my life is worth more than theirs.
We are all equal in value in the eyes of God. We are to see others the way He sees them and love them as a result. We don’t have to agree with their choices but we do have to honor their existence.
A servant protects and values life. A servant would never sow the seeds of death. A servant would never allow the seed of death to grow within them. They would go and make peace. They would make sure everyone they encounter is made whole. Learn to sow the seeds of life.
Do not murder.