Wednesday
of Lent 4
21 March
2012
Fifth
Commandment: You Shall Not Murder
What does this
mean?
We should fear and
love God so that we do not hurt or harm our neighbor in his body, but help and
support him in every physical need.
Bible
Narrative: Genesis 4:1-16
4 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and
she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten[a] a man with the help of the Lord.” 2 And
again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a
worker of the ground. 3 In the course of time Cain
brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4 and
Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions.
And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but for
Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face
fell. 6 The Lord said to Cain, “Why are
you angry, and why has your face fallen? 7 If
you do well, will you not be accepted?[b] And if you do not do well, sin is
crouching at the door. Its desire is for[c] you, but you must rule over it.”
8 Cain spoke to Abel his brother.[d] And when they were in the field,
Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. 9 Then
the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I
do not know; am I my brother's keeper?” 10 And the Lord said,
“What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me
from the ground. 11 And now you are cursed
from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from
your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it shall no
longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the
earth.” 13 Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment
is greater than I can bear.[e] 14 Behold, you
have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be
hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever
finds me will kill me.” 15 Then the Lord said
to him, “Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.”
And the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack
him. 16 Then Cain went away from the presence of
the Lord and settled in the land of Nod,[f] east of Eden.
You
shall not murder
What does this
mean?
We
should fear and love God so that we do not hurt or harm our neighbor in his body, but help and support him in every physical need.
Anatomy of a murder.
You’re minding your own business
and then all of a sudden …
News alert! It’s scrolls along the bottom of the TV
screen. Before you can read it brunette bombshell anchor Mona Cohen interrupts
regular programming: “This just in to Paradise Lost Network! We have received disturbing news! It comes from one of the western farm
fields. We’re hearing unconfirmed
reports that one of Adam’s sons was found dead a short while ago. Let’s go live to our ace on the spot reporter
Biff Bernstein. He’s there with the
latest. Biff, can you confirm what we’re
hearing?”
“Mona,
yes the dead body has in fact now been identified by officials as Abel. Mona, this is a grisly scene. I’ve never seen any thing like this! It’s sickening! I can’t believe this has happened! This is no accident! It is criminal! Abel’s head has been crushed in! It is the goriest and most gruesome incident
I’ve ever covered… [Biff gags]. As you
can tell Mona, I’ve lost it. Who could
have done this? Who could have done this
Mona? Back to you.”
“Thanks
Biff. For those who have just joined us,
we have confirmed that Abel, the younger twin brother of Cain, has been found
dead from substantial blows to the head.
It is a gruesome criminal scene.
A massive manhunt has now begun for the world’s first ever killer. More breaking news as it happens.”
While you’re still in shock –
still is dismay – another breaking news alert from Mona Cohen of Paradise Lost
Network! “This just in! More dreadful
news! Authorities have confirmed that
Abel’s killer has been apprehended! The
killer is … are you ready for this ladies and gentlemen? … Abel’s older twin
brother Cain!”
Double tragedy! Double punch to the gut! Not just the world’s first murder! Not just a homicide -- BUT FRATRICIDE! Abel, viciously slaughtered by his very own
brother!
The very brother we all believed
to be the ONE! The ONE to bring back the paradise Adam and Eve lost by their
rebellion. The ONE to put an end to all
the pain and agony that Satan brought into the world by our parents’ sin. Cain!
Cain! Cain!
Cain’s no messiah! Far from it!
We were all foolishly mistaken on that one! We just all assumed!
Cain had us all fooled. Both boys went to church. Both heard sermon after sermon. Both offered their sacrifices of thanksgiving
and praise. All the neighbors said Cain
was a quiet boy. A good neighbor. Always on time. Reliable.
A hard worker. What went wrong? Why would he do such a heinous deed?
Then another news flash! “Mona
Cohen here again with more breaking news.
We have been told that Cain was a very angry young man. He had a very, very dark side. Hated his brother Abel! Had something to do with their offerings at
church. His intense anger appears to
have begun when the LORD favored Abel’s offerings but not Cain’s. Here to give us some perspective on why all
this happened is doctor Ruth Bernbaum.
Dr. Bernbaum, what triggered all of Cain’s anger and the savage attack
of his brother? Why couldn’t Cain master
the sin that was crouching at his door?”
“Well,
Mona, it could be a number of factors.
One, perhaps God likes ranchers more than farmers. Another explanation may be the way Eve
potty-trained these boys in combination with Adam’s laissez-faire
attitude. That probably didn’t go so
well. One more factor could be that Cain skimped with his offerings. Maybe the grain he offered wasn’t the best or
possibly he only offered chaff instead of wheat. Or, and this is the most likely explanation,
you did this to him! The pressure was too much for him! All the messianic expectations you all put on
him led him to this!”
And with that you shut off your
TV. You’ve had enough of this
rubbish! There’s got to be some other
explanation!
Well, there is. I’ll tell you. It’s called sin. Both brothers were sinners. But the difference between the two was
spelled: F-A-I-T-H! Cain doesn’t believe that he is a sinner. He’s
full of himself! First-born and all
that! Cain doesn’t fight against his
anger and hatred. Cain, therefore, doesn’t
believe in God’s promise to send the Savior. Cain refused to believe the sermons that the
LORD is gracious and merciful. Cain does
not and would not repent! No wonder the
LORD DID NOT look with favor on Cain’s offering. No wonder the LORD DID LOOK WITH FAVOR ON
ABEL’S!
If you doubt any of this Hebrews
11:4 clearly explains the discrepancy between the two brothers. Listen.
“By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he [Abel] was commended as a righteous
man, when God spoke well of his offerings.
And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.” Again, the difference between the two
brothers was FAITH!
Cain’s unbelief, his impenitence,
fed his hatred. Hated his brother. Hated God!
He did not fear, love, or trust in the LORD. His heart was at odds with the LORD. Therefore, his heart was also at odds with
his brother. “Whoever hates his brother is a
murderer” (1 John 3:15; Matthew 5:21-22)! So Cain did what was in his
heart. He lured Abel into the field with
a hypocritical act of brotherly love.
When Abel turned his back Cain bashed in the back of his brother’s head! Calculated, cold-blooded murder! Colossal carnage!
When Adam sinned the ground was
cursed (Genesis 3:17). Now here Cain,
for the spilling of Abel’s blood, for just standing there and letting Abel
bleed out, is directly cursed! He has
desecrated the ground with a murderous blood bath! Cain refused to be his brother’s keeper! So the earth opened up its mouth to receive Abel’s
blood from Cain’s hand. Cain can only be
a restless wanderer now because the earth will refuse to bear any crops for
him! He can till and till and till –
plant, plant and plant – BUT THE EARTH WILL GIVE HIM NOTHING! For Abel’s “blood cries out the LORD from
the ground!”
In addition, Cain must live the
rest of his life with eyes in the back of his head. He won’t be able to sleep very well at
night. After all, everyone is
outraged! It is highly probably that
someone will try to avenge Abel’s murder!
Therefore the LORD puts a mark on Cain to show that he’s off limits to a
human executioner – an avenger of blood!
Life in any stage is a gift from
the LORD. The LORD wants your neighbor’s
life protected. Always! Thus the Fifth Commandment! The LORD forbids the taking of life in any
way. From abortion to euthanasia! From shooting someone in cold blood to
slitting someone’s throat or putting poison in their food! The LORD forbids the taking of your own life
too. Judas did that, you remember, when
he despaired of the LORD’s forgiveness.
You shall not murder! That’s God’s categorical personal address to
you! No “ifs,” “ands” or “buts!” Do not hurt or bring harm to your neighbor in
any way! Instead help and support
him/her in EVERY physical need.
And we have failed! Our tongues are instruments of death! We ruin reputations! We destroy lives with our angry words and
hate-filled discrimination.
We sit quietly and do nothing
when our neighbor needs help. We care
about ourselves first. Our needs. Our wants.
Our desires. Our hopes.
We stand by and do nothing as our
neighbor drinks himself to death, starves herself to death, forces his child to
live in a cage like an animal, or as 1.2 million of unborn innocent lives are
cruelly destroyed each year in this country. “Am I my brother’s / sister’s
keeper?” we ask! With that
question we incriminate ourselves just like Cain!
So it is time to repent! It is time to “love one another” and “not
be like Cain who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother,” (1
John 3:11-12) It is time to give up something during this Lent and all of our
lives! And what is that? Your sin!
Time to confess your sin. All sin
against God’s will to protect and preserve life. Life that He alone gives.
Abel’s murdered blood cried out
to the LORD for revenge! But the Blood
of Jesus – that’s different! A whole
different ball game! His Blood speaks
and proclaims just the opposite:
FORGIVENESS! For sinners! For you.
For me. “Father, forgive them – they
don’t know what in the world they’re doing!”
Exactly! We sure didn’t! We falsely believed that we were doing God a
favor! That everything would be so much
better if we would get rid of Blasphemer Jesus!
He can’t be God! We are! (At
least we pretend to be!) So we too shouted: “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!
Be rid of Him! We’re in charge
here! His Blood be on us and our
children!” We “killed the author of life” (Acts
3:15)!
“Father, forgive them!”
Yes, Jesus’ Good Friday, Lamb of God, Mount Calvary Blood for your forgiveness
pleads! His sacrificial Blood shed on
the cross atones for all your sin! For
His life – His divine life is given in, with and under His Blood! Bloodied – sacrificed on the cross Jesus –
sprinkles His Blood on you! That Blood
speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
Abel’s blood cried out for revenge!
The shed Blood of Jesus proclaims FORGIVENESS! “But
the blood of Jesus for our pardon cries!”
(Hymn #433 LSB stanza 4).
So here’s the truth! You, the sinner, are redeemed! You, the sinner, are sanctified! For the Blood of Jesus is on you and your
children. In a saving way: FORGIVENESS!
You, like the murderer Barabbas are set free! Jesus, the Holy One, willingly gives His life
and allows His divine Blood to be shed!
Your sin is His! His holiness is
yours! The Blood of Jesus purifies you
from all sin!
It is His Good Friday Blood that
He puts into your mouths in the Sacrament for your cleansing. For your purification! For the forgiveness of all your sin. In the Lord’s Supper the Blood of Jesus
speaks! It says: “given and shed FOR YOU! FOR YOU AND FOR YOUR SALVATION!”
Faith trusts this Word from the
Good Friday Jesus! Now He has good use
for you in this world as His instrument.
He now uses your body in this life to help and support your neighbor in
his/her body! And that is quite a
sacrifice or offering of thanksgiving and praise in response for all that
Jesus’ Blood has given you!
In the Name of Jesus
