Jesus and the Law - Part 5

But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

Levels:

Unbeliever

Anyone who does not provide

Abuser

Abuse inside a marriage is murderous because it is an attack on the image of God

Abuse inside a marriage is adulterous because it is an attack on what God has sacredly joined together

If you ever find yourself in an abusive marriage (or any relationship for that matter), get out. You are free. The guilt is NOT on you. Abusers want to make those who they abuse feel as if they are at fault. This is part of the abuse cycle.

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.

Some have misunderstood this to be a universal prohibition of all oaths.

I would have interpreted this passage this way prior to a more thorough study...

Jesus submitted to an oath:

Matthew 26:63–64 ESV

But Jesus remained silent. And the high priest said to him, “I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

Paul invoked God as his witness:

Romans 1:9–10 ESV

For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you.

Westminster Confession of Faith Chapter 22

The Westminster Confession of Faith: Edinburgh Edition Chapter XXII. Of Lawful Oaths and Vows

A LAWFUL oath is a part of religious worship, wherein, upon just occasion, the person swearing solemnly calleth God to witness what he asserteth or promiseth; and to judge him according to the truth or falsehood of what he sweareth.

Old testament establishment:

Leviticus 19:12 ESV

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

New testament establishment:

Hebrews 6:13–16 ESV

For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise. For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation.

John MacArthur says, “Keeping oaths made to God is the mark of a true worshiper. To put it another way, true sons of the kingdom hate lies.”

Everything in this sermon thus far is addressing some twisted understanding from the Pharisees:

The late RC Sproul had this to say in his commentary on the passage:

The Reformation Study Bible: English Standard Version (2015 Edition) Chapter 5

Jesus is addressing a narrow and misleading legalism that requires a specific oath to make spoken promises binding, implying that trustworthiness in speaking is optional when unaccompanied by a solemn oath. Jesus demands an integrity in speaking such that everything is spoken as though it is under oath. He also prohibits the implicit idolatry of swearing by anything less than God.

This is really about lying...

Exodus 20:16 ESV

“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

Matthew: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary Chapter 30: The Spiritual Credibility Gap (5:33–37)

Truth is so scarce that nearly everyone is suspect. Business people, advertisers, commentators, clerks, salesmen, lawyers, doctors, tradesmen, teachers, writers, politicians, and even many, if not most, preachers are suspect. Our whole society is largely built on a network of fabrication, of manufactured “truth.” We shade the truth, we cheat, we exaggerate, we misrepresent income tax deductions, we make promises we have no intention of keeping, we make up excuses, and betray confidences—all as a matter of normal, everyday living.

Later in the commentary, MacArthur states:

Matthew: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary The Perversion of Rabbinic Tradition

The system of oaths between one person and another was like a giant game of King’s X. People would swear by heaven, by the earth, by the Temple, by the hairs on their heads, and by any other thing they thought would impress those they wanted to take advantage of. That kind of routine oath-making was usually lie-making; and it was considered by those who practiced it to be perfectly acceptable as long as it was not in the name of the Lord.

So, the Pharisees would look at Leviticus 19:12 and interpret it that to swear by any other name was fine, just don’t swear by God’s name.

Leviticus 19:12 ESV

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

So let’s look at the text again and unpack it’s meaning.

Matthew 5:33–37 ESV

Jesus is not prohibiting all oaths.

Jesus is prohibiting blasphemous oaths to others less than him. (Everything is God’s. To lie at all is to dishonor him)

Jesus is saying if you say you’re going to do something, do it. Everything you say ought to be truthful.

People want to lie and get away with it.

Isn’t interesting that we have the term “white lie”? It’s always the sin example that’s “not a big deal.”

God hates lying lips. (Proverbs 12:22)

Proverbs 12:22 ESV

Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who act faithfully are his delight.

All lying and deceit comes from Satan:

John 8:44 ESV

You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

I would be remiss to not speak of the gospel here.

Gospel

We are all born liars. You don’t have to teach children to lie. They come by it naturally, it’s in our sinful nature.

Ephesians 2:1–3 ESV

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

When Jesus was asked which is the greatest commandment, he said:

Matthew 22:37–40 ESV

And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

When we lie, big or small, we dishonor God and we hurt our neighbor.

We lie to protect ourselves, to avoid punishment

To gain something that doesn’t rightfully belong to us

To win the admiration of others, to make others think we are pretty special

To avoid embarrassment, (this seems good sometimes)

To increase our own wellbeing at the expense of others

Ephesians 2:1–3 ESV

Ephesians 2:4–5 ESV

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—

Jesus didn’t tell us these things so that we could live a perfect life and earn our way to God.

Jesus told us these things to make us realize just how imperfect our lives have been.

But he didn’t leave us there.

He lived perfectly...

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