Lesson Text: Matthew 5:1-2 and 21-22a
1 And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. 2 Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:
21 “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.’ 22 But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment."
Jesus tells us that under the Old Testament Law one of the 10 commandments is, "You shall not murder." (Exod. 20:13) Jesus then states that whoever does will be in danger of the judgment.
Ephesians 4:26a
“Be angry, and do not sin...”
We can be angry or mad but we must not allow our anger to cause us to do things that God does not want us to do, we must always do what God says.
What does it mean to murder? Let's look at a story about two boys, these two young men belong to the very first man and woman who lived on the earth.
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1 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, “I have acquired a man from the LORD.” 2 Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. 3 And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the LORD. 4 Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the LORD respected Abel and his offering, 5 but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.6 So the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.” 8 Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him." (Genesis 4:1-8)
Adam and Eve had two sons, their names were Cain and Abel. Cain was a gardener who grew fruits and vegetables, maybe tomatoes, lettuce, beans, corn, apples, strawberries... Abel was a shepherd and he took care of sheep. They both brought God an offering and we read that God did not respect what Cain brought.
God accepted Abel's sacrifice because Abel had done right in the sight of God.
Cain became very angry and God told him that he should not be angry, that if he would do things the right way (the way God says) then God would accept him and his offering. But Cain was still mad. He was so mad that he killed his brother Abel. Cain murdered Able!
FAMILY DISCUSSION:
Talk about something that made you really angry, telling what you thought while you were so upset. Were these thoughts good or bad? Do you think that Jesus would be happy with the thoughts you had? Remember, Jesus wants us to be loving and forgiving. Pray to God to help you to be more like Jesus.
YES OR NO
1. Jesus said that those who murder will be in danger of the judgment.
2. Jesus said we should not be angry with our brother and kill him.
3. We can get mad as long as we still do what God says.
4. God did not respect Cain's offering because he did not do it right.
5. Cain murdered Abel.
PUT AN X BY THE ONE WHO DOES THE RIGHT THING
Ann and Don were playing ball, Don hit Ann with the ball. Ann became really angry and....
1. ___ She took a bat and hit Don with it.
2. ___ She told him she was going home. Don told Ann he was sorry that he hit her, he really did not mean to.
3. ___ She picked up a rock and threw it at Don.
4. ___ She told Don that hurting her was not nice, she was not playing with him if he was going to hit her.
5. ___ She told him that since he hit her with the ball she was going to hurt him right back, and she did.
Note about clipart: We do not know what Jesus, or angels or any Bible character looks like. We use pictures to represent Bible people and places to help the children to relate to the story. Please explain to your child that no one knows what any of it looked like except from what we read about in the Bible or in history books.