The moral WRITTEN image of God (the Ten Commandments contained in Exodus 20) is easily and repeatedly misinterpreted by the creature in general and even by His own people. Indeed, in Jesus’ times, religious people followed these written commandments to the letter, but they were actually light years from God’s will and His moral image. Jesus Himself apostrophized those religious leaders of His time with the term “whitened sepulchers”, which look good on the outside, but inside are full of dead bones and all sorts of putrefying matter (Matthew 23:27).
Jesus explains the “do not kill” commandment to me better:
“You’ve heard that our ancestors were told, ‘Do not kill: anyone who kills will be brought before the tribunal’; but I say, anyone who is angry with his brother will be brought before the tribunal; and anyone who says, ‘raca’ to his brother will be brought before the court; and anyone who says ‘madman’ will be condemned to hell fire. (Matthew 5:21-22)
So, even hatred and anger toward my neighbor are included in this commandment and not just literal murder. Such an understanding is not possible if I only rely on the individual words written in the Ten Commandments. Indeed, Jesus goes much further and explains to me the profound, true meaning of the commandments and thus the true moral image of God the Father. In other words, Jesus wants to get me out of the Matrix by making a distinction between a false exterior observance of God’s law and an inner life coherent with His example. Only those who are like Jesus on the inside bear real Christian Style fruit on the outside… and so really do not kill!