“You shall not murder” -- it's not just a good idea, it's the law! In fact, "murder is bad" is one of the few points with which nearly everyone on Earth agrees. On paper, most of us would say that, of the ten, this is the easiest commandment to follow. But, from a biblical perspective, what does it really mean to commit murder?
In the New Testament, Jesus equates murder and anger towards a brother or sister. This indicates that, in God's perfect plan for the world, it is not enough anymore to just not kill each other. We are encouraged to not even be angry with one another -- a task much easier said than done. We are encouraged to release our anger and let Jesus give us the eyes to see everyone we encounter the way he does: as beloved children of God.
By Rebekah Covington
Contrary to what we may have been told, this was never a one-dimensional command to obey our parents. Jesus himself did not always do what His earthly parents expected of Him; and of course, it originally given to adults, not children. Far from being about control or blind loyalty, it must be rooted in the ancient wisdom in the Genesis story, that tells us all it’s necessary to ‘leave’ our parents in order to love others well. In fact, only when we are rightly defined by God’s perfect love can we truly honor our parents. Of course, this isn’t a call to abandon or dishonor them either (which is clearly instructed by Jesus’ teaching!).
His way for us includes giving weight to those who came before us - even when they no longer seem useful to us - so that we may see ourselves in them and be free to learn from our pasts from a place of freedom and grace.
By Hannah Flint
As a culture, we tend to be very good at recreation, but less so re-creation. Sabbath is about the latter. It is the place where God re-orders us in line with his purposes and will.
Firstly, this means stopping all our work to reflect and delight. We remember that God is in control, that his plans for the world are good, and that our destination is heaven on earth, where ultimately all pain and suffering will cease. We catch glimpses of heaven all around us, even amidst the trouble of this world.
Secondly, this means preparation. During Sabbath we allow God to re-create His image in us where it has been marred. We allow Him to place His hand back into the imprint of our lives, and reorder our lives. We listen to His call, rather than pushing ahead with our own agenda.
Thirdly, and most importantly, we choose to surrender to Jesus and allow Him to do whatever it is he wants to do in us. It takes vulnerability to respond to Jesus’ surrender with our own. But as we come to him, as a helpless child might approach a parent, He does not lord his authority over us. Rather, He is gentle and humble with us, and places His yoke on us, giving true rest for our souls. What we receive is not something from Jesus, but Jesus himself.
By Ed Flint
To take God’s name in vain is much more than simply using it as a curse word. Blaspheme is a symptom of something bigger. ‘In vain’ means 'to empty.' So, we’re called, not to empty God’s name of its fullness, but rather to fill it with the fullness of God's nature and His work.
By His name, God has made Himself known: He revealed Himself to the Israelites as ‘The great I am', the one and only true God, the 'Beginning and the End'. And, in the person of Jesus, he has fully revealed himself to the whole world. His name is Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Prince of Peace, Everlasting Lord.
When we fill God’s name with the fullness of His nature, we see Him more clearly, giving Him His rightful status and place in our lives and the world. To fill God’s name with its fullness is also to acknowledge the unique work Jesus has done in making us right with God, beckoning us into God’s presence.
When we don’t empty God’s name of its nature and work, our prayer and worship lives are transformed. We approach God with confidence, not in our own name but in Jesus’ name, knowing He is the great God, whose name is above all other names, who can do anything for us his children.
By Ed Flint
The Second Commandment isn’t just about all the idols we worship - the ones we make ourselves, and the ones we bow down when we make ANYTHING more important than loving God - but about rediscovering who we truly are. God did not command his people not to make images of Him (which was was radical to a worldview that viewed idols and god-presence as interchangeable) because He’s against beauty or art, or because he doesn’t want us to know Him. Quite the opposite in fact— because He’s already made His image: US!
Long before golden calves or carved statues, God’s intention was to reflect His presence through human beings—created in love, for love. We look at how this ancient command speaks directly to us today: how we see ourselves, how we treat others, and how we understand God’s presence in the world. Jesus—the perfect image of God—restores what’s been fractured, and invites us to live fully as His image-bearers. Maybe in ways we’ve never even dreamt of. It was always about love, and it will always be revealed and restored by His love. Today is always the day to receive more of it.
By Hannah Flint
This new series, Jesus and the ten commandments, is a conversation on how Jesus embodies – and helps us to embody – the kind of life we are built for, and the kind of life framed by the Ten Words.
Bill starts with a re-framing of the Ten Words – which we mistakenly call Commandments – as more about relationship and reality than about rules and restrictions. When the Ten Words are reduced to rules restricting what we think of as our freedom, we will try and find ways to do end-runs around them – and discover that they were actually protections put in place to enable human thriving the way God intended.
Because Jesus is fully aware of this, He invites us to learn our lives from Him – to follow in His way. As we do so, allowing Him to shape us by alignment with Him, we discover that we live in the center of the Ten Words naturally and without thinking about it. They have become part of what it means for us to be human.
By Bill Dogterom