Overcoming Our Murderous Hearts | Matthew 5:21-26
Jesus leads us through three steps toward overcoming our murderous hearts: (1) recall the limitation: murder; (2) grasp the implication: anger; and (3) adopt the application: reconciliation. This sermon is part 3 of “Messiah's Righteousness,” Bryan Craddock’s verse-by-verse sermon series on Matthew 5.
Why are we so fascinated by murder? For over a century, books about sleuths like Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, and Miss Marple tracking down the perpetrator have been bestsellers. And our interest is not limited to fictional accounts. The news turns serial killers into major media celebrities, and we have an insatiable appetite for true crime documentaries.
Are we just entertained by the shocking details, or is it something more? Do we somehow identify with murderers? Do we find in them an expression of our darkest impulses? Perhaps they make us feel morally superior or at least not that bad.
Of all Ten Commandments, most of us can say that we at least have not broken the prohibition of murder. Doesn’t that mean I’m a good person? A lot of people think that way, but that is not how God’s Law works. It all goes together. James 2:10 says,
For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.
The sad truth is that we are all sinners who have broken the Law. God’s commandments are like the boundaries on a basketball court or a football field. No matter which line you cross, you’re still out of bounds. That perimeter is also designed to direct us inward away from the fringe to a life lived in relationship with God. So, even if I haven’t technically crossed any of the lines, I still might be going away from where God is trying to lead me.
Jesus makes this argument in his Sermon on the Mount that is recorded for us in Matthew 5-7. He reveals God’s intention for five different commands. He even begins with the one on which we stake our claim to goodness, the prohibition of murder. He tracks us down like a good detective, exposing our motives and pushing us to come clean and confess our guilt as those with murderous hearts. But, thankfully, for those who believe in him, our true crime story does not end with conviction and punishment.
As we saw in Matthew 5:17, the good news is that Jesus came to fulfill the Law. He answers the Law’s hope for a king because he will return to establish a world of perfect peace and justice. He satisfies the Law’s demand for atonement by dying for our sins on the cross. He also lived the perfectly righteous life that the Law requires and clothes us in his righteousness so that we can enjoy the full blessing of eternal life with God. Finally, he sends the Holy Spirit to dwell within us to start bringing about genuine heart transformation here and now.
Since Jesus fulfills the Law in these four ways, we can overcome our murderous hearts. To help us do so, he leads us through three steps in Matthew 5:21-26. He will also repeat this process with the other four commandments in the rest of the chapter. He wants us to recall the limitation, grasp the implication, and adopt the application. So, as we consider his words, I encourage you to come with a willingness to let the teaching of Jesus change how you think and how you live. Even with the first step, there is more to it than you might think.
Recall the Limitation
Murder
It’s not hard to judge when someone steps out of bounds on a playing field. The deciding factor is simply whether the referee sees it. So, professional sports leagues use cameras and instant replays to help make the call. That visible record proves without a doubt whether the person was in or out.
But determining whether someone has committed murder is not that simple. Jesus recalls the limitation set by the Law in Matthew 5:21. He says,
You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.'
The King James Version says, “Thou shalt not kill,” but that is a poor translation. Hebrew and Greek both have generic words for killing, but here and in the Old Testament statements of this commandment (Ex 20:13; Deut 5:17), more specific terms are used. Why? Because killing is not always murder.
In some cases, God allowed or even required people to kill others. The leaders of Israel were commanded to execute those who committed certain crimes including murder (Num 35:30-31). God also instructed them to strike people down in battle (Deut 20:16-18). Even on an individual level, a person was not considered guilty for killing an intruder in the dark in self-defense (Ex 22:2-3).
The Law also distinguished between premeditated murder and unintentional manslaughter. Numbers 35:20-24 describes the difference by saying,
And if he pushed him out of hatred or hurled something at him, lying in wait, so that he died, or in enmity struck him down with his hand, so that he died, then he who struck the blow shall be put to death. He is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets him. But if he pushed him suddenly without enmity, or hurled anything on him without lying in wait or used a stone that could cause death, and without seeing him dropped it on him, so that he died, though he was not his enemy and did not seek his harm, then the congregation shall judge between the manslayer and the avenger of blood, in accordance with these rules.
So, to determine whether someone was guilty of murder, a judgment had to be made about the person’s intent. Evidence was required to prove that it was motivated by hatred and enmity. God’s prohibition of murder has always been a matter of the heart.
I think that Jesus had this examination of motives in mind when he said, “whoever murders will be liable to judgment.” But he was probably thinking of something greater than any human court. A more literal translation would be, “whoever murders will be liable to the judgment.” The King James Version gets that part of the verse right.
Jesus was probably referring to God’s ultimate judgment of all mankind. The Old Testament Law does not speak of a judgment day, but it is clearly taught in the Psalms and the Prophets. For instance, Psalm 1:5-6 says,
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.
Human courts can make mistakes and be deceived. They often fail to uphold justice, but God sees everything. He doesn’t need security cameras. He is all-knowing (Ps 139:1-4). He even looks on the heart (1 Sam 16:7). That sobering thought leads us to a second step in thinking about the prohibition of murder.
Grasp the Implication
Anger
When I go running in my neighborhood, dogs pay attention. They probably smell me coming a block away. Some perk up and prance around. Their barking sounds happy. You can tell that they would love nothing more than to run alongside me. But other dogs get upset when I encroach upon their territory. Their barking is aggressive. They bare their teeth and charge the fence. If it wasn’t holding them back, they would probably sink those teeth into me.
God’s prohibition of murder is like that fence. It holds most of us back most of the time, but in moments of anger we charge right up to it, ready to sink our teeth into someone. Jesus wants us to grasp the implication of approaching that limitation. Our anger is evidence that we have murderous hearts. In Matthew 5:22, he says,
But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, 'You fool!' will be liable to the hell of fire.
The world tells us that anger is a normal human emotion. They say that rather than restraining it, you should vent it and blow off steam. But Jesus contradicts that view. He argues that anger is liable to the same judgment as murder. Insults deserve to be brought before a court. To ensure that we don’t miss the point, he adds that calling someone a fool is worthy of punishment in hell.
How can responses that seem so minor to us have such significant consequences? We need to view them from God’s perspective. Genesis 9:5-6 helps us do that. After Noah and his family survived the flood, God established consequences for murder. He said,
And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man. Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.
Since we are made in the image of God, every human being should be treated with respect and even reverence. But murderers reject the value that God bestows on people. They treat them as cheap obstacles to be eliminated when they get in the way. When people commit murder, they are exalting their personal desires over the revealed will of God. James 4:1-2a says,
What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder.
Anger and insults may not go that far, but they flow from the exact same thinking. We get upset when people get in our way, and we use anger and insults to push them around. We exalt our personal desires and treat people like dirt. Just like murder, that response is a refusal to value people as those made in the image of God. James 3:8-9 says,
but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.
So, the problem is not what you call someone. Most of us can think of things far worse than calling someone a fool. A lot of Christians even play a legalistic game of using their own set of alternative put downs that they justify as not being so bad. But the heart and motive behind our response is the problem. It’s the same as that of the murderer. We just stop ourselves before crossing the line.
Some of us claim that our anger is righteous and just. We get offended with people’s sinful behavior, and we berate them for it. Though it may seem spiritual, that way of thinking is still selfish. It treats people as obstacles to my personal pursuit of righteousness. It assumes that they aren’t slaves to sin and that they could change if they just tried harder like I do. That was the arrogant self-righteous outlook of the Pharisees who condemned Jesus for being a friend of sinners.
As sinners who are only saved by grace, we should humbly show compassion to people. No matter how they behave, they are still made in the image of God. So, in Titus 3:2-3, Paul instructs Christians,
to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.
So, what can we do about our murderous hearts? Confess your sinfulness and look to Jesus as the one who fulfills the Law. Believe that he died in your place to satisfy its demand for atonement. Understand that the only way for any of us to be acceptable to God is to be clothed in his righteousness. Then give thanks that he gives us the Holy Spirit, because it is only by his power that we can begin to overcome our murderous hearts. And how do we do that? Jesus tells us in a third step.
Adopt the Application
Reconciliation
My first car had a manual transmission. That made learning to drive a bit more complicated. To make matters worse, the town that I grew up in was built at the foot of a mountain range. The east-west streets were level, but the north-south streets were all set at a steep incline.
So, when I was heading uphill and had to stop at an intersection, it was a nightmare to get going again. As soon as you take your foot off the brake, you have to quickly let out the clutch and press the gas in one smooth motion, or the car starts rolling backward. One time I even rolled into the car behind me. Fail to give it enough gas, and the car stalls. Then you need to restart the engine and do the whole maneuver over again while people behind you start honking their horns.
Overcoming the murderous inclination of our hearts can feel like that. Even though as believers in Christ we have the powerful engine of the Holy Spirit at work within us, it’s an uphill climb. The old habits of our fallen nature and the influence of the world are like the force of gravity constantly pulling us back. So, we need to hit the gas and keep driving uphill without stopping.
So, what’s the opposite of murder? Jesus gives us a practical application to adopt. We overcome through reconciliation. In Matthew 5:23-24, he says,
So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
Surprisingly, the person in this scenario isn’t angry. He’s not even thinking about the conflict. He just happens to remember it as he is on his way to worship at the temple. But Jesus says that reconciliation should take precedence over worship. Why? We find a good explanation in 1 John 4:20-21. There John says,
If anyone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
We cannot separate our relationship with God from our relationships with people. Loving people is part of loving him. So, we should make every effort to pursue genuine reconciliation. We should be quick to humble ourselves, seeking forgiveness and extending it to others. That commitment is driven by the forgiveness that we receive in Christ. In Ephesians 4:31-32, Paul says,
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
Furthermore, this focus on reconciliation does not just apply to family and friends. Jesus says that it should shape how we interact with everyone, even in a legal dispute. In Matthew 5:25-26, he says,
Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.
So, there are practical benefits to consistently pursuing reconciliation. It is wise. It will spare you from trouble. But it is also central to our mission as followers of Christ. We must reconcile with people so that we can help them reconcile with God. In 2 Corinthians 5:18-20, Paul says,
All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
To overcome the murderous inclination of our hearts, we must keep pursuing reconciliation and serving as ambassadors of it. At times we will stall and roll backward, giving way to anger and treating people in ways that do not respect their God-given value. When that happens, we must start over with repentance, confession, and reconciliation.
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So, we must recall the clear limitation of murder. We must grasp its implication that the selfish anger in our hearts is murderous. Then we must understand that we only overcome it by being reconciled to God and adopting this application of pursuing reconciliation
Have you been reconciled to God? If not, I implore you to do so today. Jesus made it possible through his death for us. He satisfied God’s anger against our sins, so that we can have a relationship with him forever. Confess your sin and trust in Jesus. He changes everything. If you want to learn more about the impact he can have on our lives, I encourage you to spend some time reflecting on Colossians 3.
Do you have a relationship that needs to be reconciled? If so, don’t delay. Make it a priority. Be humble. Listen. Confess your sins. Seek and extend forgiveness. Some people will refuse, but we should do everything that we can. Our mission is to share the hope of reconciliation. May we reflect God’s mercy and grace in how we live!
Reflect
How does this passage change your thinking about God’s Law?
How does this passage change your thinking about the prohibition of murder?
How could you better honor people as those created in the image of God?