Our church is on a journey studying through the book of Matthew and we are currently in the Sermon on the Mount. Specifically, we are at that famous section where Jesus gives six examples of ways the Pharisees had twisted the Law and then shows what the Law was actually meant to teach us. We know these 6 examples by the phrase: “You have heard it said…but I say to you…”

This past Sunday, we studied Matthew 5:31-32 and saw what Jesus had to say about divorce. You can watch that sermon here. If you heard that sermon, you may remember that I mentioned that we were going to have to skip over verses 33-37 of that passage because we simply ran out of time. I promised to write a short blog post on those verses and this post is me attempting to make good on that promise. Ironically, these verses focus on the idea of making promises - or oaths.

Let’s first read the verses together:

“Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.”
Matthew 5:33-37 (ESV)

The Pharisees had read the OT Laws that warned heavily against making false oaths in the Lord’s Name (see Leviticus 19:12) and to prevent committing the sin of making a false oath in the Lord’s Name, they decided to recommend that people swear by different entities such as Jerusalem, or by heaven and earth. Jesus comes along and says “How about we don’t continue finding things to swear by and simply be people that tell the truth and follow through on our promises.

When we feel the need to swear by heaven, earth, or even the Lord Himself, we are not only in danger of breaking our oath and profaning the name of the Lord, but we are showing ourselves to not be people of the truth. Jesus says rather we should “Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’” and show by our actions that we are people of the truth.

The Pharisees were always seeming to try and find ways to show forth an external righteousness, so they felt the need to make grand oaths showing how serious and ‘righteous’ they were. Jesus says that’s not why the Law warned against false oaths. Rather, the Law was meant to teach you how to tell the truth in all things and to be a people of your word.

It seems to be a rare thing these days to truly be able to ‘take someone at their word.’ It’s hard to know who you can really trust. Jesus says that those transformed by the Gospel should be known - not for their grand oaths and gestures - but by their simple, humble, and honest actions. Be someone that only has to say “yes” or “no” and have people trust you because you are always true to what you say.

There are so many applications to this, but since these words came off the heels of Jesus’ teaching about marriage and divorce, I think the context leads us to apply this in our marriages. How often do we tell our spouses that “things will be different next time, I promise?” How often do we sin against our spouse and promise to make it up to them, and then never really follow through with that? How often do we go against the vows we made on our wedding day to love them for “better or for worse?” Let our marriages (and all our relationships for that matter) be defined by truth. Let us be people who are known for being true to our word, because we are people of The Word.

Let us not feel the need to add grand oaths and gestures to what we say we will do in order to get people to trust us. May they know we are people of the Truth by our “yes’s” and “no’s.” May the Gospel cause lies and deception to fall off our lips and be replaced by the Truth in all things. This is a kind of righteousness that cannot be achieved on our own and must come from Jesus Christ - who is Himself The Truth. May our lives be so filled with truth that even when the world hates us for the truth we tell, they can never prove to catch us in a lie.