IN considering these verses for a third time, we come to the actual teaching which Jesus is giving concerning the 6th Commandment of the decalogue. He actually takes six examples in the rest of chapter 5, and all of them are to illustrate the right interpretation of the commandments of God given in the Old Testament in contrast to the false interpretation given by the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law.

I find this exposition of Jesus very humbling and convicting. It is so easy to be like the Pharisees in the way we look at the Law of God. We look at God’s Law superficially, and think we have kept God’s requirements fully when we have not.

The 6th Commandment is “You shall not murder”, or better “You shall not kill”. The NIV is the translation that speaks of ‘murder’, and the AV speaks of ‘killing’. The fact is that the Greek word is more faithfully translated as kill. However the commandment is directed at individuals taking the law into their own hands and acting as individuals. The problem of war and capital punishment are subjects which are not directly handled by this command, though this command has influence on the way we must view these things. Leaving that problem aside, the simple command of God holds in it much more than simply the physical act of killing someone. It speaks against this, but there is much more embodied in the command than just the outward action.

In interpreting this command the teachers of the Law added another injunction found in Numbers 35:30,31 which addresses the legal action which will be taken against the actual killing of someone, and by this limited the meaning of the 6th command to the physical action of murder, and focused its evil against society only. So as long as a person did not physically kill someone, by the teaching of the Pharisees they could say that they kept the 6th commandment perfectly. In this way the Law of God was limited and watered down, and made to fit human thinking and preference.

Jesus points out that the Law of God went much deeper than this. The Law of God had reference to God and his will and way, and not simply to earthly laws and government. Further when Jesus speaks of the penalty of hell fire, he is raising our perception to see our relationship with God and that his judgement and justice are embodied in the command.

Jesus was such a profound teacher. He adapts himself to the pattern of thought of those he is speaking to, and so is able to lead them on to the deep meaning they have missed or turned away from. So we hear Jesus speaking of being in danger of judgement, and in danger of the Council, the Sanhedrin, which was the highest Jewish court, and by this means he leads people to the real danger of offending God, and suffering his just judgement as he refers to the danger of hell fire.

Not only does Jesus open up the fact that the 6th command has reference to God, and offending him first and foremost, but he also shows that the command reaches beyond the physical action to the condition of the heart. Jesus always spoke of sin in the mind and in our thoughts when he spoke of various sins.

The fact Jesus teaches here is so very searching and convicting. He tells us that we really commit murder and kill people as far as God is concerned when we get angry with people. Some Greek manuscripts add “without a cause”, but even if this is the proper reading of the text, and this can’t be determined certainly, the problem of the sin of murder by anger is still there. Jesus goes on to increase the knowledge of sin by saying that if our anger proceeds to having contempt for a person, we are sinning before God even more deeply. Then if we call a person a fool, and vilify him or her, then it is even worse still. The fact is we can destroy people by the way we talk about them and treat them. In this way we kill them, even though we do not physically kill them.

The fact is that anger and contempt and vilification are the seeds which produce the outward action. By these emotions within we are committing murder with our hearts and with our minds. This is just as sinful before God as the act of murder. When Cain murdered Abel, it all started because he was angry at Abel receiving God’s blessing when he did not, and the anger grew until it burst out in violence.

The fact is that the problem of murder and violence and disruption in society is seated in the anger and hate proceeding out of the heart of people.

Jesus goes on to point out in verses 23 and 24 the positive side to the true meaning of the 6th commandment. It so easy to avoid facing the sin of anger and falling out with people, and harbouring grudges and hate, by engaging in active worship and service of God. We calm our conscience by engaging in religious duties or charitable works, and so we avoid facing the real sin within. We think that in some way the good we are doing will cancel out the evil of hating. God is not mocked. All these virtual sacrifices don’t please God in any way while we are harbouring hate against someone. So Jesus says, we must leave our gift to God, our service and worship, at the altar, and go and get right with the one with whom we have quarrelled or hated. Until we have repented, and put things right here, it is no use coming to God and expecting him to be pleased with our worship and service.

The truth is that we must not simply put away murder in our hearts, we must positively go out and love our enemies, and the people who have hurt us.

Jesus ends his teaching by calling us to put things right quickly because time may run out and we find ourselves punished for our sin against another person in the way we think of them, speak of them, and treat them. Jesus speaks in terms of earthly justice, but he has in mind very much eternal justice. If we die before we have put things right, then eternal damnation is our lot.