Lent 2 2009
Do No Murder. Of all the sins we read about in Scripture, the first one we see after the fall
of mankind in the Garden was the murder of Abel by his brother Cain. Ever since, murder
has plagued all of mankind. At the foundation of the sin of murder is the fact that this
heinous act is essentially a supreme act of hate against a fellow human being, someone
created in the image of God. Every murder is in the eyes of God the equivalent of
someone taking the life of his own brother or sister. Even living in a civilized society as we
pride ourselves in, we often cringe at the news of a murder in the news, whether in the
inner city or in our own town. This morning, let us look at the prohibition of this sin and the
implications of what it means to follow this Law.
It all Starts with Hatred
To begin, murder starts with hatred. It all begins in the heart of man. In our Old
Testament lesson this morning, we read of the awful treatment Joseph’s brothers showed
him after revealing his dreams to them. Early in this reading, the brothers’ initial reaction
was that of hatred. Later, when Joseph was sent to help his brothers with herding, we
read of this response as he approached in Genesis 37:18, “Now when they saw him afar
off, even before he came near them, they conspired against him to kill him …”For his
brothers, this willingness to murder their own blood had been brewing for a long time.
In the text, we read of only Reuben stepping in to save Joseph by having him put in a
pit so he could sneak him back to his father later. Instead, when Reuben was not around,
the brothers sold Joseph into slavery. Their hatred blinded them so that they were willing
to do anything to get rid of their own brother.
Throughout Scripture, hatred is seen as deadly. Our Lord said the following in
Matthew 5:21-22, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder,
and whoever murders shall be in danger of the judgment.’ But I say to you that whoever is
angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever
says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’
shall be in danger of hell fire.” Bitter anger and hatred causes us to do things we normally
would not do.
In the eyes of God, hatred is murder. To murder someone is to show the ultimate
manifestation of hatred not only of the person one is murdering, but also for God Himself.
We all have to be careful even in the words we use. To use the word hate for another
human being, especially someone close to us is very disturbing. Although one typically
says they do not really mean it when they say something out of anger such as I HATE
YOU, the force behind such words is extremely dangerous. The point is that saying
something as destructive in a contentious situation as I Hate you DOES MATTER.
Murders occur at a high point of anger or rage as well. For a murderer to say I really didn’
t mean it because he was angry does not really matter, for the life is still gone that the
murderer has wiped out.
I John 3:15 gives us another strong passage to focus on in terms of our subject,
“Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life
abiding in him.” It was extremely easy for the brothers of Joseph to move from hatred to a
strong desire to kill him to actually committing a heinous act against him. Matthew 15:19
notes the following about how murder begins in the heart, “For out of the heart proceed
evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.” If we
allow our hearts to stew in anger and hatred, we are providing the groundwork to murder
whether we actually do so physically or not.
Murder is a Sign of Deep Sin
Related to the thought that murder begins with hatred, let us now move to our second
point in the fact that murder is a sign of deep sin and rebellion 0 God. St. John in the 3rd
chapter and 12th verse of his first epistle notes the following about the first murderer in
human history, “not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And
why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous.” Sin
drives man to murder his fellow man. The reasons do not matter, for they all hearken
back to the same root cause, sin and evil.
Another element we see quite often in Scripture is how idolatry and murder were often
linked. We see King Ahab steeped in his idolatrous lifestyle willingly going about
murdering the innocent. We even see the people of God in their apostasy and idolatry
turn to human sacrifice. By denying God and His Image, man has no qualms about
committing all sorts of sins against his fellow man, especially murder.
Looking at the picture we have in Scripture from Genesis on, murder is the tool of the
devil. Note the following in John 8:44 where Jesus is debating with the Jewish Religious
elite of His day on the identity of their real father, “You are of your father the devil, and
the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and
does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him …” From the Fall in the
Garden on, Satan used the sin of murder to try to silence and stop the righteous Seed.
Many of the true prophets of God that spoke out against the wicked kings of Judah and
Israel were murdered.
This constant attack on the Seed of God culminates with Jesus Christ Himself. As
always, Satan continues to use murder to try to silence and stop God. Acts 5:30 notes,
“The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree.” As
the instruments of the devil as we saw in John 8, murder was again employed and failed.
Only Answer is the Love of Jesus Christ
The devil failed in his use of murder to silence God by God’s love. Jesus as we read in
this passage was raised on the third day to forever defeat Satan. The answer to hatred
and murder is the love of God as manifested in Jesus Christ. Where the world resorts to
violence to try to solve many of its problems, the way of the Kingdom of God is to love in
Christ.
A young man by the name of Saul soon after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus
Christ sought out the old manner of quelling dissent through violently trying to trample
Christians. Acts 9:1 notes, “Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the
disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest …” This man was being used of the devil to
do his work of murdering the people of God. Yet, our Lord responds to this threat through
bringing this man to his knees, to repentance and forgiveness in Christ to no longer
murder the people of God, but to turn now and preach Christ unto the ends of the earth.
Yes, his hands were dirty through persecuting Christ and His people. In Christ, he was
turned from hatred and murder to the love and true service unto God.
Conclusion
No matter how you might feel about someone else, whether out of anger or hatred,
there is another way in Jesus Christ. The way of Christ is hard indeed, for it brings us
from hating our enemies to embracing them and being and ambassador of Christ to them.
The way of Christ turns us from stewing in anger toward someone that has wronged us to
forgiving and moving on so that our own lives are not ensnared in hateful sin. We as
Christians have too much to live for in the Lord to be set back by hatred and anger. Such
things only serve to blind us from doing the work of Christ, from presenting the simple
message of His Gospel to the ends of the earth. Such things will only make us bitter,
depressed, and even more like the person we hate in the end. The way out of hatred,
anger, malice and murder is the love of God in Christ. As I John 3:16 states, “By this we
know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives
for the brethren.” If we are harboring hatred, let us give it to Christ and submit to His love
to His glory. DO NO MURDER. AMEN.