“You shall not murder.” –the 6^th Commandment (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.” –Jesus (Matthew 5:21-26, New Living Translation)

There is more than one way to kill a person.  Jesus, the rascal that he is, has a way of cutting right to the heart of true intent and motive.  Christ lets us know that at the root of all killing, of every mass murder, of each taking of a human life, is hate – bitter, grudge-bearing, angry hate toward another person.

If there were not hate in this old fallen world, there would be no killing.  Murder begins inwardly with the heart, and works its evil way outwardly with the hands doing the deed.  Jesus acknowledges that life is precious, and should not be destroyed either by your hands or by your tongue.

Jesus never lets us off the hook when it comes to what is going on deep within our souls.  He is quick to affirm genuine faith and altruistic good works – and he is equally swift to decry sinful anger and deep-seated contempt.  Christ had no room for “pious” folks who never physically killed anyone, but nevertheless assassinate someone over and over again in their hearts.

Jesus is not condemning all anger, but the kind that resides as bearing a grudge toward another person and nursing a hateful resentment.  The building blocks to actual murder begin within, and eventually make their way outward with verbal decapitations.  Calling someone an “idiot” is to accuse them of lacking intelligence, of being stupid or an empty airhead.  Naming someone as a “fool” or a “moron” is to attribute to them a lack of ethics or moral fiber.  Put together, when we label someone or a group of people with names like idiot and fool, we are setting them up for murder.

You see, when we do not call people their given names like “Betsy” or “Bill,” then we de-personalize them.  Our inner moral code or compass would never allow us to kill real people.  Yet, if we can rename the people we hate and portray them as enemies, or monsters, or non-human, then killing them seems reasonable and something that we could or even should do.  When we retreat to slithering on the ground in order to call an ex-spouse, a boss, a pastor, or even another driver on the road something other than their real name, Jesus says we are destroying God’s image in that other person.

Words hurt deeply, especially when someone questions our intelligence or our character.  Harboring resentment and saying hard words kills people.  And the deserved lot of a murderer is judgment.  Gossip, slander, and verbal abuse are the tools of the tongue designed to tear someone down and obliterate them from our existence.  It neither matters who the messenger is, nor how the message is given – if it is meant to morally hurt, ethically maim, or damage another’s soul, then it is murder…. And it is only a matter of time until a physical killing will occur.

If you have ever: wished someone was dead; hated and loathed another person; or belittled anyone out of animosity; then, you have gunned-down that person in your heart.  Let’s be real:  We tend to be slow to anger concerning the injustice of others, but are ready and willing to go to resentful antagonism when we are personally offended.

Jesus does not only point out and lay bear the inner workings of the heart, but he also gives a remedy.  We are to seek reconciliation immediately, as soon as possible.  God wants no one talking to him who has not first made things right in a sour relationship.  Truth be told, when personal relations go awry, immediate action will almost always mend the rift or the problem.  It’s when we let some offense fester that it turns to gangrene in the soul.

Stuffing anger and pretending it isn’t there is not an acceptable way to deal with a problem.  Believe me when I say that I’ve done enough depressing of feelings to know that it eats your soul for breakfast.  It can come out in a cacophony of physical symptoms like headaches, stomach issues, sleeping a lot or very little, low energy, or big fluctuations in weight, mood, and appearance.  If these are too familiar, it would be a good time to begin exploring your emotions with a trained therapist, wise pastor, or some other trusted individual.  Unacknowledged indignation can very much wreak havoc in a variety of ways, both physical and emotional.

All this business about hate, resentment, and grudge-bearing is not meant to be a downer or to focus on the negative stuff of life.  Rather, it is intended to be a soul diagnostic from Jesus – to unearth and turn over the rocks of our innards so that we can see what might be living underneath.  The dark underbelly of murder begins in these regions.  Only satisfying outward displays of spirituality does not erase what may lie in the heart.  Our words are always clues to what is really going on inside.  Therefore, we must listen closely to our own speeches, especially the ones we preach in the secrecy of our own hearts.

There is always, and I do mean always, grace available for every issue and each person.  No one is too far from God’s loving arms of mercy; no person is outside the limits of God’s amazing grace in Christ.  The cross has taken care of the murder issue once for all through the blood of Jesus.  Christ lets us know that at the root of all killing, of every mass murder, of each taking of a human life, is hate – bitter, grudge-bearing, angry hate toward another person.Although another has pained you, and even though you have hurt another, God’s redemption has paved the way for reconciliation.  When we put our focus on Christ’s work, and not on our own attempts to deal with pain, then we can discover peace and wholeness today, and every day.