You Shall Not Murder

(Part One in a Series)

by Pastor Paul Wolff

God first wrote the commandments in our hearts. But after the fall into sin God wrote them on stone tablets which He gave to Moses and the Israelites at Mount Sinai.

The sin of murder is considered to be the worst sin that a person can commit against another. Though you have to wonder, since murder is so bad, then why is it so popular? And why is murder seemingly gaining in popularity (at least in America and several other places around the world)? As I was researching this topic I saw a news story which said that murders in the United States were up 30% in 2020 over the previous year. Though 2020 was a chaotic year with all kinds of government leaders at many levels all around the world acting like tyrannical dictators. That kind of high profile lawlessness always leads to lawlessness at every level, and murder is the epitome of lawlessness.

All sin is equally evil in God’s eyes. God is holy and sinless, and He first made people holy and sinless as He is. All mankind was condemned to live in sin because of what was essentially Eve’s sin of thievery which was combined with coveting and idolatry (the underlying sin which leads to all other sins). However, that theft was full rebellion and rejection of God, and the equivalent of murder since it has so far led to the death of everyone born before 1903 (and hundreds of millions of people since then), though one man has risen from the dead and still lives.

God gave us the Fifth Commandment (as Lutherans and most other Christians count the Commandments), “You shall not murder,” because God is the “Living God.” God is called the “Living God” not just because He is alive, but because He is the source of all life, and the only one who can give life to the dead. God gave us the Fifth Commandment because He doesn’t want anyone killing the people whom He loves (including you, your neighbors, and your enemies). So we see that this commandment is good, as all of God’s commandments are good. You don’t want your neighbor murdering you, and neither does God – so God commanded “You shall not murder.”

The sin of thievery seems to be of lesser degree than the irreversable sin of murder. But both sins need Jesus to forgive them, so we may be saved.

Although all sin is equally condemned in God’s eyes, there is something unique about the sin of murder. By contrast, we see in Luke 19 the tax collector, Zacchaeus, repented of his thievery (forbidden by the Seventh Commandment: “You shall not steal.”) and promised, “Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” (Luke 19:8) Zacchaeus was certainly a wicked sinner (though as I have written elsewhere simply being a tax collector was not one of his sins – see also Luke 3:12-13), but since his wickedness primarily consisted of thievery, he was able to pay back what he had stolen, with a little extra as penance to show the sincerity of his repentance, and compensate those he sinned against for their inconvenience. Such “penance” does not even begin to undo nor remove the guilt of the sin, but it shows the sincerity of the repentance, and it can help assuage the anger of the person you sinned against so that they may be less likely to murder you for your thievery. However, when one’s sin involves murder, then what is stolen cannot be returned for love, nor money. Once you take a person’s life, it is gone permanently, and can never be given back. This is somewhat unique in the second table of the Ten Commandments, and makes murder seem worse than other sins committed against other people.

You will sometimes hear people say, “… at least I am not a murderer.” You know that someone is trying too hard to justify their pet sins when they say this. Murder is a pretty low standard for anyone to measure up against. That person is actually saying, “I may be a dreadfully wicked person, but at least I am not the worst person (for now).” Of course, once you get to this point, the sin of murder (in one form or another) is likely to follow soon thereafter.

Despite the horrific nature of murder, there is no lack of examples of murder in the Bible. This shows the corrupting nature of sin. The first person born on the earth (after God created Adam and Eve) ended up murdering his younger brother. When I have taught the Ten Commandments I have noticed that sins against all the Commandments in the Second Table (and likely all of the Commandments in the First Table, also) can lead to murder. From this I have concluded that there are many different causes of the sin of murder, such as dishonoring parents and authorities, adultery, theft, lying, and covetousness. However, as I have studied the Holy Scripture further, I believe there is a single underlying foundational cause of murder which leads to all the other superficial immediate causes of this terrible sin.

Any sin against the Second Table of the Commandments can lead to murder because these sins are committed against our neighbor. Taken to the extreme, every sin can lead to murder because murder is the ultimate expression of the sins against your neighbor, including dishonoring parents and authorities, adultery, theft, lying, and covetousness. There are also the so-called “seven deadly sins” which are pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony, and sloth. Although not all of these are always sinful (there can be righteous anger, and possibly pride – though righteous pride is much more rare than you might like to believe), these all could be considered deadly because they can lead someone to murder, and they lead people to lose faith in Jesus or lead us to reject Christ’s forgiveness and salvation.

In the Parable of the Good Samaritan The Priest and the Levite did not hurt the injured man, but neither did they help him.

As we consider the Fifth Commandment we should recall Martin Luther’s teaching on the meaning of the Fifth Commandment. “We should fear and love God so that we do not hurt or harm our neighbor in his body, but help and support him in every physical need.” Note that there are two parts: a negative and a positive part. We should first not hurt nor harm our neighbor in his body. This is the negative part. This is the wrong thing that we should not do. You should also note that what is forbidden is not only the extreme of murder, but God also forbids you from hurting or harming your neighbor in any way! However, as with all the commandments, there is also a positive good that we should do to keep this commandment. We should help and support our neighbor in every bodily need. It is not enough to avoid killing our neighbor with our own actions, but we must also help and protect our neighbor’s body and life. An example of this in Scripture is Christ’s Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). The priest and the Levite did not lay a finger on the man laying on the road to Jericho to hurt him, but neither did they lift a finger to help him after the robbers left him for dead. So, in God’s eyes, they were just as guilty of murder as the robbers who beat the man and took his possessions. In another article I will show how Jesus kept the Fifth Commandment by not only abstaining from murder, but by helping and healing those who were sick, injured, and dead.

Murder may have many immediate causes such as coveting, lust, greed, envy, hatred, and others. Yet underlying all of these immediate causes there is a fundamental sin which leads all these different causes to end up with the same result of murder. That fundamental murderous sin is an idolatrous selfishness which leads people to take into their own hands the power over life and death, which rightly belongs only to God. When someone begins to justify his pet sins in his own mind he is likely to forget God’s commandments and it is sometimes a short step to think that one’s own sinful desires are good and right. Once that happens, even the lives of others become secondary to what the sinful person desires. This is what we call “hatred”. I have shown elsewhere that no racist person begins by hating others. It can begin with something as seemingly innocent (though still wickedly sinful) as wanting what is best for a group that I identify with – over and against one or more groups that I don’t identify with. Sinful desires can grow into the same murderous hatred even though they have one of several different starting points. This is why we must repent of our sins early and often. Martin Luther suggests that we use our Baptism correctly if we remember our sinfulness daily and “drown” the old sinful nature through contrition (sorrow over sin) and repentance, trusting in Jesus to forgive our sins and give us what we need, even if it is not what we necessarily desire. If we delay repenting then those sinful desires grow into actual sins of word and deed, and can lead to murder long before we realize it.

In the days of Noah, God saw that “the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Genesis 6:5)

Because God created us He knows full well how our hearts are set on evil, including murder. God didn’t create people to murder, but to appreciate His gift of life and also for husband and wife to create new life through their expression of love for one another. Though sin has corrupted all of this, life is still a gift from God for which we can rejoice and be thankful. Also, in history, God has used our murderous desires to accomplish our salvation. Because sinful people desire to be gods ourselves, we believe we have to get rid of the real God because to our eyes He “gets in the way”. In our sinful delusions, we think we are holy, but the ugly truth is immediately apparent when we are in the presence of true holiness. What God did was to become incarnate as a man, Jesus of Nazareth, and when the time was right He let sinful men do to Him what sinful men always wanted to do to God, which is: to murder Him. This accomplished our salvation because Jesus is truly an innocent man, but He allowed Himself to be killed as a substitute for us. Jesus took the guilt of our sin upon himself, and suffered death innocently in our place so that God’s wrath over our sin could be poured out upon Jesus, and we could be forgiven and (eventually) remade as the holy, eternal, people whom God intended for us to be in the first place. The poetic irony of using our murderous tendencies to accomplish our forgiveness and salvation and eternal life is amazing, and the love of God, which caused Him to live and die for us sinners, is so amazing and wonderful that we, who appreciate what He has done to save us, will literally love Him forever in return.

Despite the terrible finality of murder, God still forgives repentant murderers. Murder is a sin in God’s eyes, like any other sin. The number of murderers in hell is not an indication that God does not forgive murderers, but that the murderers feel so guilty that they despair and think their sin cannot be forgiven, and so they do not repent and seek God’s mercy and forgiveness. In this life we think we have to pay for our own mistakes, but the sin of murder is too big. This leads to despair, and an unrepentant attitude which leads to damnation. Murder is not unforgivable, but the guilty murderer must repent and trust in Jesus to forgive him or her.

Jesus is the Good Samaritan who saved us sinners from death at the great cost of His own suffering and death on the cross.

Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount, “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ (a curse) is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.” (Matthew 5:21-22) This shows us that the sin of murder is more than just the extreme action of taking someone’s life. God gave us all life, and cares for our well being in every aspect of our life. This is why Martin Luther explained the Fifth Commandment as he did (see above).

Jesus did not murder, in any way, but helped His neighbors by healing them from all kinds of sickness, disease, injury, and even death. Then Jesus allowed wicked men to conspire against Him to have Him murdered. Jesus allowed them to murder Him as a sacrificial lamb so that He could take our place and suffer the wrath of God the Father for the sins of the world. Jesus did this so that you could be redeemed and rescued from sin and death.

Murder is a dreadful sin, and a terrible evil, but it is not unforgivable. Jesus died to pay the price to redeem murderers, as well as all sinners. If you are guilty of murder, or hatred, or neglect, or any other sin which breaks God’s commandment against murder, then repent and trust in Jesus to forgive these, and all your sins. It is a great comfort to know that the almighty and Holy God forgives even the sins of the worst sinners, that God may be praised and glorified forever for His great love and mercy.

---

Other Articles in this series:
The True God Cannot Murder 
The Opposite of Murder

 
Related Articles:
Why Does God Condemn Unbelievers to Hell?
A Biblical Argument for Self Defense
Anger
Why Christians Condemn Abortion but Support the Death Penalty
The Good Samaritan
Is it Easier to Heal, or to Forgive?
Christ Has Done All Things Well
The Promise of Christ in Water And Light
Modern Molechianism
“Let His Blood be on Us and on Our Children”
The Passion of Christ
The Slaughter of the Innocents
Friends and Murderers
The Promise of the Rainbow
The True Story of a Terrorist Turned Christian
The Morality of War
Rejecting the Survival Instinct
The Leading Cause of Death in America

 

The Freeing Power of Christ’s Forgiveness

by Pastor Paul Wolff

Jesus shows mercy to Zacchaeus

The story of Zacchaeus in Luke 19:1-10 is a remarkable story which gives us great insight into the merciful nature and personality of God. As a result, this story gives great comfort to Christians, but it gives great torment to Pharisees and all who are self righteous or who think that they are gaining some favor with God by their righteous acts.

Zacchaeus was not a popular person. Nearly everyone looked down upon him both literally and figuratively. Zacchaeus was a very short man so most people looked down on him in that way. This would not have been a problem if Zacchaeus had held a respectable position in society, but he did not. Zacchaeus was a tax collector. Tax collectors were despised in first century Palestine for two main reasons: First, they were seen as collaborators with the hated Roman government which was then occupying the vast majority of the civilized world. Second, tax collectors often took more money than they were required and kept it for themselves. Some people use wealth (and the luxury wealth affords) to comfort themselves when they are in disfavor with polite society – such as when they have come by their wealth dishonestly, or have used their wealth to circumvent justice.

Zacchaeus likely did this, too, but not on this day. He had heard that Jesus was coming to Jericho and, like many in that town, he dropped everything and went to see Jesus. The problem was that so many people had come out to see Jesus that “wee-little” Zacchaeus couldn’t get a glimpse of this great man of God, and no one was going to step aside so the chief tax collector could get a good view. But Zacchaeus had heard great things about Jesus and dearly wanted to see Him, so he climbed up a tree so he could see Jesus as He went by.

You would think that of all the people in Jericho on that day the last one whom the Almighty, Holy, Righteous God would honor with His presence would be the thieving chief tax collector, Zacchaeus, but you would be wrong. This is where we learn about what God is like. Remember that Jesus is “the image of the invisible God.” (Colossians 1:15) He is God in the flesh. (John 1:14) Everything that Jesus does is exactly what God would do because Jesus is God. So when Jesus is in Jericho He calls Zacchaeus by name , and asks him to come down from the tree so He could stay at his house that day.

Moneybag for helping the poor

There were surely many more worthy people in Jericho than Zacchaeus to receive this great honor from Jesus, but that is the point of Jesus’ actions. It would have been a humiliating disgrace for any respectable person to be found in the home of such a despised thief, much less to give him honor in front of the great crowd who clogged the Jericho streets that day. Jesus, however, was not ashamed to humble Himself and be seen with sinners. After all, Jesus “did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the form of servant.” (Philippians 2:6-7)

You may find some preachers today who might try to tell you that Zacchaeus had somehow made himself worthy of this great honor by climbing the tree or some such thing. That is nonsense, and exactly the opposite of what the Scriptures teach in Luke 19 and everywhere else. Jesus did not look down upon Zacchaeus, and it wasn’t because Zacchaeus was up in a tree. Jesus singled out Zacchaeus for honor because Zacchaeus was just the sort of person Jesus had come to save – a miserable sinner.

It is worth noting that Jesus does not make His honor conditional by saying, “If you clean up your act and make yourself worthy I will come and honor you with my presence today.” In fact, Jesus doesn’t even speak one word of Law to Zacchaeus. Jesus simply says, “I must stay at your house today.” Jesus doesn’t preach the Law to Zacchaeus because He doesn’t have to. The Pharisees and the rest of society had done a sufficient job of preaching the Law to Zacchaeus. He was well aware that he was a sinner, but that didn’t save him or bring him to repentance. What the Pharisees failed to preach to Zacchaeus was that God is merciful and forgiving. They didn’t want to preach this because it would have made them look bad to admit that sinners like Zacchaeus could have salvation as easily as they could.

The Father welcomes back the lost son

Jesus simply showed mercy to the despised tax collector and Zacchaeus is so honored that he immediately repents of his sin. Zacchaeus doesn’t receive Christ’s grace as license to continue in his sinful ways, instead he has been freed from the burden of the Law and eagerly repents of his wicked ways. Then Jesus tells why He honored Zacchaeus in this way by saying, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:9-10) This is not to say that Zacchaeus was saved because he was a descendant of Abraham, because in the next sentence Jesus clearly says that he had been lost and unsaved earlier, though still a son of Abraham. Zacchaeus was saved the same was as the rest of us (including Abraham) -- through faith in Jesus as our savior from all our sin. So like Zacchaeus, “let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.” (Hebrews 12:2) For if Jesus has redeemed a despised sinner like Zacchaeus, He has also redeemed me and you.

One last thing to note is that Jesus also doesn’t tell Zacchaeus that he must quit being a tax collector. When the tax collectors came to John to repent of their sins and be baptized (Luke 3:12-13) he only told them to be honest and don’t steal, but be satisfied with the wages they were paid by their Roman overseers. Zacchaeus could serve his neighbors in love in his vocation as a tax collector. Though the position was despised, it was necessary. If the Romans did not receive their tax payment they would have sent in the troops to take their tribute by force and many innocent people would have been murdered. Christians can take comfort that serving our neighbor in love does not always mean that our loving service is appreciated, except by God who wants what is best for us even when we don’t appreciate it.