Matthew 5:33-37

Oaths

33 “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.’ 34 But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.

Accidentally missed verses 31-32

Not sure whether or not you noticed but two weeks ago we left off on verse 30, and today we’re picking up by starting in verse 33. Which means I’ve skipped verses 31-32. Now, I wish I could tell you that I’ve done this for good reason but I can’t. All I can tell you is that while I was studying these passages I somehow got it in my head that Jesus’ teaching on divorce followed his teaching on oaths, so I began studying and preparing to preach on oaths, and after several hours of work I looked down and realized that verse 38 was not what I expected it to be. I looked up the page and much to my surprise there was Jesus’ teaching on divorce, just prior to his teaching on oaths. So at that point rather than waste my initial momentum I decided I would preach on oaths this week and then preach from verses 31-32 during our next time together.

Jesus reforming the teaching of the scribes and Pharisees

So this morning we continue our study of Jesus’ sermon on the mount. If you’ll remember during our last two times together we looked at Jesus’ explanation, or exposition, of the Law, particularly concerning murder and adultery. And in both of those teachings we saw Jesus introduce them with these words, “You have heard that it was said...” or “You have heard that it was said to those of old...” and today Jesus continues that pattern here in verse 33 when he says, “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old...”.

The reason I bring this to our attention again is because understanding his introduction is crucial for us to rightly understand what Jesus is about to say in the verses to follow. When Jesus says to his disciples, “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old...” we should immediately recall that Jesus is speaking here specifically of the teaching that had came from the scribes and Pharisees concerning God’s Law. Jesus isn’t abolishing or changing God’s law but he instead intends to contrast and ultimately correct the teaching that had come from the religious leaders of their day with his own. He’s seeking to reform the teaching that had come from the scribes and Pharisees, and point his listeners back to the original intent and principles of the Law.

So when Jesus says, at the beginning of verse 34, “But I say to you..” he’s not bringing a new teaching or departing from law of God but instead intends to help us rightly understand God’s law.

Jesus is gracious to us in that he explains the meaning of God’s law

And I think it would be helpful for us to see here that this is one of the ways Jesus is gracious toward his people. Jesus, in a very real sense, is angry that the law of God has been obscured by the teachers in Israel. God’s people have been lead astray and even oppressed by the teachings of the scribes and Pharisees, and Jesus’ aim here is to remove all of the trappings and man made traditions so that his people can be free to keep God’s commandments.

And one of the first steps to being able to obey God’s commands is rightly understanding what it is he’s commanding us to do. One of the most basic components of preaching is to help the hearers understand the text that’s being taught. If you can’t understand it, whether rightly or at all, you’ll never be able to obey it. And Jesus cares enough about his hearers to take the time to explain God’s law to them. This is grace of God. He wants you to understand his Word, and a significant part of Jesus’ ministry is helping his hearer’s rightly understand God’s law.

How cruel would it be of a parent to punish their child for disobeying their rules when

Now, let’s look again at the text starting in verse 33,

English Standard Version Chapter 5

33 “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.’

English Standard Version Chapter 5

Oaths

33 “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.’ 34 But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.

This particular command to perform what you have sworn to do, or to keep your word, is recorded similarly in where it reads,

This particular text has

English Standard Version Chapter 30

Men and Vows

30 Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes of the people of Israel, saying, “This is what the LORD has commanded. 2 If a man vows a vow to the LORD, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.

So what we read here in the book of Numbers is almost verbatim of Jesus’ words in verse 33, so the question then becomes what was wrong with what the scribes and Pharisees were teaching with regards to this verse? But Jesus simply doesn’t say. And in his immediate context he may not have needed to, likely because his disciples were already intimately acquainted with the popular teachings their day. Or maybe Matthew leaves out Jesus’ explanation because he assumes the readers of his book are already familiar with what the scribes and Pharisees taught. Either way what’s missing for us as 21st century readers is historical context. What wrong teaching concerning oaths and vows is Jesus seeking to correct?

To begin answering that question I want to survey what the Scriptures teach us concerning oaths and vows, because the danger here in this text is for us to read it without consulting the rest of the Old and New Testaments. For instance, look at the first half of verse 34 again,

What’s missing for us as 21st century readers is historical context.

English Standard Version Chapter 5

34 But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all

Many Christians have taken this to mean exactly what it seems to say at face value, which is, “Do not take an oath at all.” As if taking an oath or making a vow is somehow evil in and of itself, or at the very least that we shouldn’t take an oath or pronounce a vow because “anything more” than simply saying ‘yes’ or ‘no’ “comes from evil.” I mean look at what Jesus says in verse 37,

English Standard Version Chapter 5

37 Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.

As if the word ‘more’ must mean to take an oath or make a vow, but I believe that such an interpretation is short sighted and that it fails to take into consideration at least two things 1) the whole counsel of God and 2) the historical context of Jesus’ day. So rather than telling you never to promise anything to anyone ever again, I want us to do some due diligence by searching the Scriptures a little further, and consulting the historical context of first century Israel, and I think after we do, the meaning of this text will quickly come into view.

So let’s start by jumping around the Bible to get a feel for what it teaches concerning oaths and vows. We’ve already looked at but let’s look at it again,

English Standard Version Chapter 30

30 Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes of the people of Israel, saying, “This is what the LORD has commanded. 2 If a man vows a vow to the LORD, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.

What’s implied or assumed here in Numbers chapter 30 is this, that there will be times that you may make a vow unto the Lord, and that, if you do, then these are the guideline that you must follow, which is “not to break [your] word.” or to “do according to all that proceeds out of [your] mouth.” Moreover, if you read the rest of the chapter you’ll find that it’s dedicated exclusively to how vows are to be regulated within the home. In short, there’s an assumption within Scripture that there are times and circumstances when an oath or a vow is appropriate.

If we turn back to the book of Exodus chapter 24 we read that when the people of Israel came out of Egypt, God gave them laws and statutes to follow, and after hearing God's words they make a covenant with God that, "all that the Lord has spoken we will do." In fact, if you read all of verse 7 there in chapter 24 it says,

English Standard Version Chapter 24

7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.”

A covenant is a pledge or promise made by one or more parties, and in this case God promises to bless Israel if they’re obedient to his commands, and the people of Israel promise to keep all the words that the Lord had spoken to them.

The OT is rife with oaths and pledges, and even God as the writer of Hebrews says in 6:13 swore by himself,

English Standard Version Chapter 6

13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, 14 saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.”

The entire Bible is made up of covenants, for instance, when we celebrate the Lord’s Supper we’re, as Jesus put it, celebrating the “new covenant”.

And finally, I’ll point out two last Scriptures before we move on, lest you think oaths and vows are merely a thing of the OT. Listen to as it records a portion of the Apostle Paul’s journey through a town called Cenchreae,

English Standard Version Chapter 18

18 After this, Paul stayed many days longer and then took leave of the brothers and set sail for Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchreae he had cut his hair, for he was under a vow.

and in the Book of John writes this,

English Standard Version Chapter 10

5 And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven 6 and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, that there would be no more delay,

So when we survey the Bible as a whole oaths and vows appear to be quite typical of God’s people, even expected. That’s not to say they’re to be taken lightly, but that making a promise or taking an oath is considered serious business, something that has consequences if not upheld. In light of this it seems strange that Jesus would abolish the OT’s teaching regarding oaths, and it seems strange that if Jesus did intend to ban the practice of making vows then why do we see the Apostle Paul still performing them himself.

So when we survey the Bible as a whole oaths and vows appear to be quite typical of God’s people, even expected. That’s not to say they’re to be taken lightly, but that making a promise or taking an oath is considered serious business, something that has consequences if not upheld. In light of the testimony of Scripture, it seems strange that Jesus would abolish the OT’s teaching regarding oaths, and it seems strange that if Jesus did intend to ban the practice of making vows then why do we see the Apostle Paul still performing them himself in the book of Acts.

Now the second item we need to take into consideration is the historical context of Jesus’ day, and I think this will prove most helpful.

Extrabiblical literature indicates that many rabbis did not consider it a sin to break a vow if it was not made explicitly in the name of God. Oaths made in the name of heaven or even the gold of the temple were not regarded as ultimately binding … this led to people making oaths by persons or objects other than God to give them an out in case they did not keep their word.” (Tabletalk, October 2012) So, in short, the “Jewish leaders [had] invented a system by which they could determine whether a vow had to be kept [or not].” (Tabletalk, October 2012).

The "men of old", as Jesus called them, had created a loophole within Israel's understanding of oaths. They basically said that if you swore by anything other than God himself then that oath or vow was not considered ultimately binding, effectively nullifying the law of God.

Now what’s particularly interesting is that this connects incredibly well with what Jesus said in verses 34-36,

English Standard Version Chapter 5

34 But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.

We also see throughout Scripture that God himself

Why does Jesus say, "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" or "by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black". At every point Jesus connects the object, whether it be heaven, earth, Jerusalem or the hair on your head, with God's presence and God’s authority. Therefore, if you swear by these things don't ever think that you've somehow escaped your obligation to keep your word. Yet this is precisely what many of the religious leaders had done and taught.

And the irony is glaring, because while the Pharisees and scribes had such a public persona of law keeping, in reality they were the very people who were making void, or nullifying, the law of God by their own laws and traditions.

So what Jesus is saying is that it’s better not to swear an oath at all if you’re looking for a way out of keeping it. (Tabletalk, September 2017) The point of God’s law and the intent of is to keep your word, and Jesus’ point here in Matthew is the same thing, that our ‘Yes’ should always be ‘Yes’ and our ‘No’ should always be ‘No’. Adding endless qualifications to whether or not we’re obligated to be a person of our word only ever comes from evil. That’s why Jesus concludes by saying, “anything more than this comes from evil.”

Not what I’m not saying is that under no circumstances can a commitment be broken. There certainly can be unforeseen extraneous circumstances that inhibit us from fulfilling the commitments that we have made. So Jesus’ aim here is to come against the idea that you can’t secretly twist God’s law to justify not being a person of your word.

Modern Day Abuses of Oaths

In our modern day context it can be common for us to 'promise' something in order to give emphasis and seriousness to our word, in order to communicate to the other party that we really mean what we're saying, that it's genuine and truthful. And it's also tempting, and all too common, for some of us to leverage promissory language to assure the other party that this time we'll keep our word, because this time we’re making a binding promise, as if we were somehow under less obligation to keep our word prior to giving an official promise. So promising something or taking an oath is not sinful, or even prohibited.

We have oaths and contracts because of our fallen condition

In fact, we make oaths and have contracts because of our fallen condition. The reason you put your hand on the Bible and swear to tell the whole truth, and nothing but the truth in a courtroom here in America is because we're all naturally inclined not to tell the truth. Oaths and vows are, by their very nature, designed to help us keep our word.

Example Story - Bobby

It's why in order to get a loan we have to sign a promissory note, giving a written promise to pay a stated sum to a specified person at specified dates. It's what holds us accountable to what was agreed upon. The bank wants some assurance that you're no going to go back on your word, so documents are drawn up and lawyers become involved.

Another day passes and Bobby's playing video games in his bedroom and his mother notices that the trash hasn't been taken out yet, so she graciously reminds her son that the trash needs taken out. He quickly jumps off of his bed and gladly takes the garbage out to the garage again.

The need for our Member’s Covenant

This is precisely why we have a member's covenant here at URC. And even though there is no scripture that commands us to have a written covenant between local church members, we have countless Scriptures that teach us that we are to be accountable to one another, that we are not to forsake gathering together, that we are to spur one another on to love and good deeds, and this is precisely the intention behind our member's covenant. This covenant is a written summary of biblical commands that we, as a local body of believers, will hold each other accountable to. So let me just read some of the document to you.

Another day passes and Bobby's outside playing with his friends. His mother again notices that the trash bin in the kitchen is full. She opens the back door and hollers at Bobby to not forget to take out the trash again. This time Bobby's expression turns sour. He begrudgingly acknowledges his mother and says he'll be in soon. The day passes and he never ends up taking out the trash. In fact, by the end of the week his mom has given up the battle to get Bobby to live up to his word and performs the job herself.

So let us be a people of our word. Let us love the Lord our God by being a people of integrity. As one bible commentator, Matthew Henry, once wrote, “… [our] sober words should be as sacred as [our] solemn oaths.” This is precisely Jesus point here today. Moses wrote in that, “God is not a man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?” It good news for us that God does not change, that God does not lie, because if he did what assurance would we have of even our own salvation? How could we ever think to rely upon his promises if we knew that at any moment he might not keep his word, that he might change his mind. So may we be like him, people of our word, reflecting his character in the world.

Another day passes and Bobby's outside playing with his friends. His mother again notices that the trash bin in the kitchen is full. She opens the back door and hollers at Bobby to not forget to take out the trash again. This time Bobby's expression turns sour. He begrudgingly acknowledges his mother and says he'll be in soon. The day passes and he never ends up taking out the trash. In fact, by the end of the week his mom has given up the battle to get Bobby to live up to his word and performs the job herself.

May we find great comfort in that God has made an everlasting covenant with us.

It's trash day and the family needs to take the large trash cans in the garage to the dump. Bobby's mother calls him to get ready to go and he realizes it's been a week and that his mother had promised him $5 for taking out the trash, so he comes barreling down the hallway asking for his money but his mom explains to him that he didn't fulfill his part of the agreement and that she's not going to pay him. Bobby immediately begins to plead with his mother, "Please, please, please give me another chance! I'll do better next time. This time I promise!"

Bobby understands that making a promise is a serious matter so this time he promises his mother because he thinks it'll mean she will give him another chance. But what's Bobby really doing here? He's using this vow to convince his mother that he can still be trusted, because he knows that he just blew it. In Bobby's case it's less about keeping his word and more about getting the money.

Matthew 5:33-37

Introduction

You shall not swear falsely

Surveying the OT concerning vows

Historical Context

Jesus’ Point Concerning Oaths and Vows

Conclusion

Prayer