Jesus and The Ten Commandments

“You must not steal.”

Exodus 20:15

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

‭‭John‬ ‭10:10‬”

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6:19-21‬”

So this commandment is very straightforward and there actually isn’t much that Jesus says about stealing. I think this is because it is a plain and obvious commandment, don’t steal. Don’t take things that don’t belong to you. Although the Bible has no record of Jesus elaborating on the matter, I am under the impression that Jesus elaborated on this commandment similarly to how he elaborated on the others. It all comes back to our lives being a reflection of our heart. What goes on in our hearts before a sin is committed. With stealing, typically one becomes jealous or desires something that is not theirs to take, and that desire leads to action. Jesus makes it very clear that your heart is where the sin is first committed. Desiring something in your heart that is not yours is already committing the sin of taking it. You took it and desired it for yourself in your heart. Although just the desire before any action does not physically affect your neighbor, it does affect your relationship with them. 

Let’s say, for example, your coworker who works the same job as you but you’ve been there for longer, is put up for a promotion. In your heart you become jealous because you feel you deserved that promotion more than them. There could be several factors at play that you have no clue about as reasons why they were offered the promotion instead, but all you know is it seems unfair that the boss chose them instead of you. So it starts to affect your relationship with that coworker. You start to become agitated and short with them. It comes to a point where you finally decide that you deserve the promotion instead, so you start a rumor about that coworker that would ruin their opportunity for that promotion. In the end the boss catches wind and ends up taking that coworker out of the running and offering the promotion to you instead. This is a real life example of how the desires of our heart can affect our actions and lead to sin. 

Or let’s go back to the previous commandment and talk about lust and adultery (adultery is blatant stealing so no elaboration needed), lusting after someone who is not your spouse is stealing. You are taking them for yourself in your heart when they are not for you to take like that. It is exactly the same as seeing something your friend has and wanting it in your heart. That my friend is called coveting, which we will get to later.

So while the Command only mentions not stealing, Jesus wants us to check our hearts as well. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” Matthew 6:21 Because I will say it again, Jesus wants your heart and every sin starts in the heart. So as Christians we need to check our hearts and make sure they are in the right place.