Billy was unfortunate. Some feel unfortunate that they never knew their father. Billy would have welcomed that misfortune. In the end, his father’s cruelty took Billy’s life before he was thirteen. There was not much light in Billy’s life. It was full of beatings, starvation, evil words, dark days in locked closets, and the sounds of his mother’s cries.
But there was that one day… As Billy sat in the back of his classroom, nervously hiding his bruises and hoping his stomach would not growl too loudly, one of his classmates spoke to him. Billy was afraid, but he could not stop listening. The story of God become human and suffering out of love for him was overwhelming.
“He died for me?” Billy thought. “And he’s alive!” Is this too good to be true? Is there really love in life? But Billy could see the truth in his classmate’s eyes… he could feel the love.
When Billy heard the god-man’s words, “My God, why have you forsaken me?”, he broke. The Son knew his pain. God knew his pain. And God cared. God was in it all.
God was in him.
In a flash, everything was pain and glory… death and eternal life. But it was all light.
Billy stopped crying and opened his eyes… and he smiled.
He died that night – killed at the hands of the man who fathered him… but received into his heavenly Father’s eternal embracing arms of love.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Steven smirked across the classroom. This was his last day here. Finally, his parents had come to their senses and were removing him from the sludge of public schools. The pale slobbering boy in the corner was disgusting… making such a scene… what was his name… William? – oh well, it didn’t matter. Tomorrow he would start his new life at the Academy… where success was virtually guaranteed to graduates.
And the guarantee proved true. After the Academy was the Ivy League. In college he co-founded a new way to store digital information. His life flowed. He wrote best-selling books on his success and rise to billionaire status. He provided the best nannies, boarding schools, and college education for his children. And they went on to build corporate empires in other countries.
He never knew need, so he never had a use for God. He died rich… His old wife, after all his brain activity had ceased, finally pulled the plug on the million-dollar machines that prevented him from feeling any pain and kept his organs operating.
Which life would you choose?
These stories are not supposed to advocate easy believism…
The point is not salvation minus discipleship.
The point is bigger than that…
There is something worse in life than death-
than torture and abuse and neglect
Life is more than operating organs.
The thunder crashed and the smoke was thick… A nation stood at the foot of a mountain ready to go conquer lands and God boomed…
You shall not murder. Exodus 20:13
the Bible uses specific words… it reads, “Don’t murder.” it does not read, “Don’t kill.”
That’s probably not about giving license for certain types of killings,
as much as it is saying something about life and its preservation.
Telling a nomadic society, fresh out of horrendous slavery, not to slay another human is quite a stretch.
Suddenly there was a value placed on human life that went beyond the simple human logic… and nature… of their day!
We know this commandment means more than interrupting the operation of the human anatomy. Jesus told us so.
[21 ] “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ [22 ] But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.”
(Matthew 5:21-22 ESV)
((((((((((
Liable to judgment? (A Parenthesis)
18 ] “You shall appoint judges and officers in all your towns that the LORD your God is giving you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. [19 ] You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality, and you shall not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of the righteous. [20 ] Justice, and only justice, you shall follow, that you may live and inherit the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
(Deuteronomy 16:18-20 ESV)
Righteous judgment is welcome to the innocent.
))))))))))
Whoeverinsults his brother– Literally, “whoever says to his brother, “Raka” – Raka is a hard word to translate… it could have meant something like “blockhead.”
“whoever says, “You Fool!” – the word translated, “fool” is "moré" It is used sometimes to refer to godless people.
Our word “moron” comes from it.
It could essentially be like calling someone a – godless moron
"You are nothing... less than nothing!"
You can see the progression of defamation… I’m angry with you… you are a blockhead… you are less than nothing!!!
What is murder… to Jesus?
the destruction of God-given humanity
humanity– the status of man before God’s eyes
Jesus takes man’s humanity seriously…
He died for it.
God spoke past the culture of the Hebrew’s day and declared that human life had a dignity and value… not because of the human… but because of humanity’s creator… He created us in His image.
And Jesus died to restore that image in us.
to dehumanize someone is to attack God… it is to murder.
How do you destroy the humanity of those around you?
It makes sense now why Jesus told us to love our enemies
and pray for those who persecute us…
We cannot allow ourselves to view them as anything less than human.
He died for them too.
How easy is it for you to murder.
What does it take for you to attack the humanity Christ died for?
a stupid driver? “You Raka!!”
a sexy picture?
a personal reputation furthered by rejecting others? “Look at that moron!”
a lust for stuff? “Buy this for me, Daddy!!!” (are people a means to an end?)
a lust for stuff?
“I know this probably cost someone their life… but I really want it!”
sweat shop clothes, coffee at the cost of human life, spices and oils at the cost of homes
A lust for happiness?
“everyone is here for my benefit”
a fear of sharing your faith?
“my comfort is more important than your soul”
The worst way to attack the humanity of others is to deny them the life that Christ has given you.
How can we be silent about the life we have in Christ?
We must not murder by hiding the gospel behind our shame or our self-righteousness.
In the end…
it is not really the murdered who lose their humanity.
They have an advocate.
The murdered can always find their true humanity in the arms of Christ…
No matter what others do to them.
In the end
it is the murderer who loses his humanity.
murderers leave their God-given image aside and become and agents of evil.
Murder… in every way discussed above…
is suicide.
Do you murder?
Don’t get swept up in the things of this life… don’t be Steven.
Be an advocate for Billy.
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