Yes and No

INTRO:

AG: Have you ever watched a “realitiy show”? Inevitably someone needs allies to “vote” their way and they start making promises.

Then, to make them sound more believable, they add words:

by my children.

by my house

on my life.

Now, does anyone really believe that if they go back on their word, their house, children, or even life will be taken?

TS: In Jesus’ outline of the character of His disciples, He now turns to our honesty in speech and oaths. The Law of Moses had already spoken to this issue, but the scribes and Pharisees had perverted the teaching of the Law and had chronically missed the spirit of the Law.

They had developed an elaborate way to swear to their truthfulness which they felt didn’t leave them bound by God. Let us examine what Jesus had to say:

Matthew 5:33–37 ESV

“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.

You have Heard it Said

Jesus first addresses the past

Don’t make a false oath

Leviticus 19:12 ESV

You shall not swear by my name falsely, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.

OT standard was fulfil all vows.

This teaching was accurate and Biblical

Make no vow you don’t fulfill because GOD required them to be kept.

Deuteronomy 23:21 ESV

“If you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay fulfilling it, for the Lord your God will surely require it of you, and you will be guilty of sin.

God takes it seriously!

However, like all things we humans touch, the oral law passed down by rabbis included lesser oaths to get around this.

Instead of swearing by God, which they still viewed as unbreakable, they swore by the alter, the sacrifice, the treasure, the dust..... get the picture?

They assumed they could get away with breaking these “lesser oaths”

Keep your vows

Numbers 30:2 ESV

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.

This is why they were compelled to develop a system

They knew a real vow or oath, would be bound by God.

So they built an escape hatch: swearing by the left horn of the alter.

each of these man made lesser oaths were viewed as binding to a different degree

Bottom line: They were no longer keeping their oaths and had to use these multipliers, to try to sway others.

Jesus says

Make no Oath

I don’t believe Jesus’ point in Matthew 5 is that oaths are evil or that an oath can never be legitimate

God Himself made oaths in the Scripture

He wrote some oaths into the Law (Nazarene)

I believe His point is that the swearing of oaths as practiced by the scribes and Pharisees was evil, in its entirety – because they deliberately swore their oaths by everything EXCEPT God in a foolish effort to sidestep their accountability TO God!

They wanted to persuade others to go along with them, but had no intention of keeping their word.

He isn’t saying any oath, such as an oath of office, nor any promise is wrong.

So what does He mean?

He is speak plainly and honestly.

It is better to make no oaths at all if you are making false oaths

Use No Multiplier

Matthew 23:16–22 ESV

“Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred? And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.’ You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it. And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it.

Do you see where the scribes and Pharisees had taken this, and how Jesus stands their foolish logic on its head?

They were coming up with all sorts of mental acrobatics to insulate themselves from accountability to God, and Jesus told them you cannot get away from your accountability to God by invoking things, because God is sovereign over all things!

You think that in swearing by the temple you avoid accountability to God to speak words of truth? It is the shekinah glory of God that makes the temple what it is – the dwelling place of God! You think that in swearing by heaven you insulate yourself from being seen by God in your lies? Heaven is the very throne of God!

We should NEVER need such additions to make us more believable.

When you make an oath or vow, you should need to multiplier!

Jesus now gets to His main point:

Give a Firm Yes or No

Matthew 5:37 ESV

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

If we reserve truthfulness only for declarations that take the form of oaths or vows, and we neglect truthfulness the rest of the time, that is Phariseeism, and it is evil – and it makes oaths an instrument of evil.

Oaths must not become devices for lowering the standard of truthfulness that applies to us at all times as children of God.

James echoed this:

James 5:12 ESV

But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.

Jesus followers should be people whose words are characterized by integrity.

There should never be any need for formal assurance of our truthfulness.

Our “Yes” must be yes and our “No” must be no. No oath can make that so. Being believed is nothing. Being a truthful person in the eyes of our heavenly Father is everything.

Do you remember the days when a handshake and promise were enough to bind any contract?

We would say, “My word is my bond”

Men and women were people of integrity!

Today

We live in a culture in which the truth is often the first casualty of interactions between men. We have an incredibly elaborate system of lawyers and contracts and notaries and binding signatures to ensure that we do what we say we will do, at least when it’s perceived to be important enough. And none of it makes people any more truthful.

Several years ago I sat in and watch a trial over such a contract

The main point was that the way the 2 parties had treated it had changed the meaning of the words of the contract.

Their actions interpreted the contract, not their words

In fact, most people don’t even believe truth is an objective reality!

A recent study by Barna Research found that only 22% of adults in America believe there is even such a thing as absolute moral truth.

But the real kicker was what the study found related to those who profess to be “born again” Christians.

They defined “born again” Christians as “people who said they have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in their life today and who also indicated they believe that when they die they will go to Heaven because they had confessed their sins and had accepted Jesus as their savior.”

Among that specific group, only 32% of adults and only 9% of teenagers said they believe moral truth is unchanging or absolute.

We wonder why people have such a hard time telling the truth to each other. Well, apparently, the majority of them can’t even identify what the truth is in the first place!

Jesus wants us to be people of integrity who speak truth and whose word is their bond.

Conclusion:

We are taught by the Master to be truthful.

There should be no need to add swearing by x, y, or z because our word is our bond.

How are you doing in this area? Are we falling into the world’s trap? Are buying (and telling) the same half-truths and misinformation in our agreements?

Let us repent and come back to God’s way.