Thursday, May 31, 2018
Criminal minds
Matthew 15:19
For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.
The last of the 10 Commandments that Moses received in the wilderness, the commandment against covetousness, focuses our attention inwardly to the motives of the heart. To covet something is to desire it with a motivation that is completely evil and that often leads to evil actions to acquire it.
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.” Exodus 20:17
We have a family friend who’s most memorable words are “I want one like that.’ Whenever we get something new and that family comes over to visit and they see it, our friend would always express a desire to have one. However, our friend has no evil motive, it’s just that once they see the beauty or utility of the thing we acquired they want to have those benefits as well. They work hard for what they want.
We know, though, that there are others, who, upon seeing what others have, are prepared to take action to deprive the owner and acquire that thing for themselves. My friend wants one like it, these guys want it.
Francis Schaeffer argued that “we break this last commandment, not to covet, before we break any of the others. Any time that we break one of the other commandments of God, it means that we have already broken this commandment in coveting. It also means that any time we break one of the others, we break this last commandment as well. So no matter which of the other Ten Commandments you break, you break two: the commandment itself, and this commandment not to covet.”
Schaeffer goes on to point out that, “This is the hub of the wheel. In Romans 7:7-9, Paul states very clearly that this was the commandment which gave him a sense of being sinful: “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.” But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead. I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died.”
Matthew chapter 15 starts out with Jesus being confronted by the scribes and Pharisees because the disciples were practising poor hygiene. Jesus’ disciples were having meals without washing their hands. This, of course, is a problem. Those of us who are parents have spent, or are spending, a great deal of time teaching our children proper hygiene practices, including the need to wash their hands before meals.
Rest assured though that these Jewish troublemakers were not concerned about good hygiene. They were still on the looking out for an opportunity to trap Jesus for breaking the traditional Jewish laws and accompanying regulations.
Jesus shot back at them because, while they upheld and followed all of the traditions and regulations, they were still finding ways to pervert the very essence of God’s laws. Jesus also pointed out that this was a common practice which had previously cause God to speak out about it through the prophet Isaiah, “Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.” Matthew 15:7,8.
Here is the essential point, to break God’s commands in our hearts is just like breaking them in action. The crime is formed and committed in the mind before any action is carried out. Jesus had already explained this in the Sermon on the Mount but many there had apparently forgotten.
Here is how Jesus addressed it, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire.” Matthew 5:21,22. In other words, murder begins in the heart. Plunging the knife in, or drawing the rope, or pulling the trigger is the outworking of that which was already formed in the heart.
Also, Jesus used sexual sin as another example. “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Matthew 5:27,28.
So then, the commandments about murder, sexual purity, stealing, and relationships with others, all start with what is going on in our minds.
When we are confronting criminal elements, like the thieves and robbers we looked at yesterday, we have to recognise that it is in the heart, in the thought life, that we first commit the crimes.
The apostle Paul summarised this in Colossians 3. In verse 5, he addressed the same issues from the 10 Commandments, idolatry, sexual sin, broken relationships, and covetousness. “Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” Colossians 3:5. But he wrote this after he addressed the matter of the mind, “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.” Colossians 3:1,2.
This is the reason why introducing criminals to Christ is the most powerful tool for their transformation.
Think on these things:
- Do you have control over your thought life?
- Are you able to link any actions you ever took to do wrong with what you first thought about it?
- Does the system of justice in your country reflect God’s justice, if not, what could be done to close that gap?
Prayer focus:
Let us pray today for the renewing of the criminal minds we encounter.
In His Grace
Pastor Alex