Murder is bad.  Almost everybody agrees.  But however an intentional killing might take place, it starts with wrong attitudes in the heart.  Most of the time, those wrong passions do not produce a dead body; but God sees hateful desires as if they had already brought death (1 John 3:15).  So Jesus said that there is no room for moral complacency or spiritual superiority when love is absent from relationships.

The sixth commandment is a stark negative – 'You shall not murder' (Exodus 20:13).  It follows five commandments about how to relate with God and family; and it leads the five instructions about how to relate with ‘neighbours’.  Jesus gave a cascade of three attitudes which will eventually lead to murder, and must be repented of: anger, despising and detesting. Alarmingly, all of these mind-sets share a desire that the unwanted person should be out of your life … in other words, treated as dead.

Jesus says that people who hate like that should be answerable to the local elders and then the national elders (the Sanhedrin). Those who would not abandon their hatred were in danger of the Gehenna of Fire. That was capital punishment by stoning followed by burning in the Valley of Hinnom (Jerusalem's perpetually burning rubbish dump). These were severe punishments, but Jesus used the judicial system of the day as warnings because the final act of murder must be prevented.

While righteous anger has its place, the more we brood on it we easily personalise it.  Instead of letting God take His action against sinners, we assume the right to hold anger in our hearts.  Ephesians 4:26-27 says, "In your anger do not sin: do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold."  We have no right to take over God's responsibility of dealing with sinners (Romans 12:19): if we do, then we give Satan a foothold in our lives to undermine the grace of God's kingdom and the gospel message.  Considering the seriousness with which Jesus would punish hatred in our hearts, surely we should repent, and then love our enemies and pray for those who treat us badly (Matthew 5:43-44).  It is a very tough challenge, but we have no option.