Jesus and the Ten Commandments

“You must not murder.”

Exodus 20:13

“You have heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment.’ But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell. “So if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God. “When you are on the way to court with your adversary, settle your differences quickly. Otherwise, your accuser may hand you over to the judge, who will hand you over to an officer, and you will be thrown into prison. And if that happens, you surely won’t be free again until you have paid the last penny.”

Matthew 5:21‭-‬26 NLT

“But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.”

Matt. 15:18‭-‬19 ESV

What does Jesus say about murder? Don’t do it, obviously, but let’s go a little deeper into what that actually means. Matthew 5:22-23 says “But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court.” Jesus is telling us that murder goes deeper than just taking someone’s life, it is degrading them of their humanity. Lessening their worth as a person. If you call someone names and hate them in your heart, you are as good as wishing them dead. Why? Because those things kill the soul, little by little, until eventually that person is dead inside. You can actually murder someone with your words. Christ calls us to stand out and be different, to treat others differently than the world treats them. We are called to be the light of the world, not the darkness. When you treat others less than you, you are no longer being the light but rather spreading darkness to their soul. 

We all have seen and experienced the nastiness of the world in our lives. Whether it’s through bullies at school or extracurriculars or it’s on social media, or even on TV and the news. It’s everywhere. People are constantly calling each other names, flipping people off, and being Karens. The world is confused and angry and taking their anger out on others. 

Personally I would consider teasing and bullying to be a very serious offense. I think light teasing is not that big of a deal but it’s when you harp on the same flaws or continue to tease even when the person is clearly offended and done with the joke. That is when it has gone too far and is pulled into the bullying category. If you ask me, I think you would have to have some sort of malice or ill intent in your heart to bully. Jesus says whatever is in your heart will come out your mouth. 

Another aspect of this that I would like to touch on is the actual murder aspect. Yes, people murder everyday with the usual mass shootings and domestic violence and so on and so forth. But there’s a hidden murder that goes on everyday, and is celebrated by many. Abortion is murder no matter how you roll the dice. Murder is defined as “to kill (a human being) with premeditated malice” now I am pretty sure every abortion ever performed was committed with premeditated malice. know that a fetus is a human being, that’s not even a point of argument, it is a baby. Therefore it fits our definition. Now as a Christian, we should ideally be following ALL Ten Commandments, right? We should find disobedience of the Commandments as a sin, correct? 

So why do we justify murder? Saying it’s okay in some circumstances? Is it okay to cheat on your spouse in some circumstances? What if they cheat on you, that makes it right, right? Absolutely not! As Christian’s we know these things are wrong, yet we explain away abortion. We find reasons why it can be okay. It is never okay. I’ll say it louder for the people in the back, abortion is NEVER okay. Not sometimes, never. 

So, I will say it for the one millionth time, Jesus wants your heart. Everything is a matter of the heart! Murder is probably the most obvious of all the Ten Commandments to deal with the heart issue. You don’t usually go around murdering people if there wasn’t something going on in your heart. It is always about your heart. Get your heart right, and all these things will fall in line.