The Ten Commandments: A 10-Day DevotionalSample

You Shall Not Murder

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus deepens and transforms this commandment, helping us to understand its true significance. The sixth commandment not only prohibits violent acts of murder but all violent emotions and intentions of the heart (Matt. 5:21–26). You and I can be 100 percent murder free but still face the wrath of God if our life is marked by anger, bitterness, invective, insult, and rage.

So what do we do? We look to the garden of Gethsemane and find Jesus there with another cup. As he is facing his death on the cross, he prays, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will” (Matt. 26:39). What’s the cup? It’s not the cup of our wrath but of God’s wrath for sinners like us. It’s his righteous, perfect anger directed toward people like us, who have so often displayed such unrighteous, unholy anger.  And Jesus says, “If this is the only way, Father. I’ll take it.” We deserve that cup, but he took it upon himself. 

Reflect

In what ways can we not escape the reality of our own guilt concerning the sixth commandment? What specific action of Jesus covers this particular guilt?