To Swear or Not to Swear (Part 2)

Matthew 5:33-37

“Do not swear” that’s your sounds pretty absolute doesn’t it. Well, it may be an absolute statement, but that doesn’t mean it is a statement that should always be universally applied. Let me explain, I’m going to give you the reasons, that I do not think that although this is an absolute stamen it doesn’t mean it can’t be done if approached in the correct way God intended. I believe this is the case because in the rest of the verses Jesus says, 

But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one. 
(Matthew 5: 34-37)

That is the explanation of this passage most of these phrases are coming from the Old Testament.  Rather than have you look at all these verses I’m just going to site a few. Isaiah 66 says, for example, “heaven is my throne and earth my footstool where is the house that you were built for me”.  or Psalm 8 refers to Jerusalem as, “the city of the great king” and Psalm 48 it talks about Jerusalem being the place of the temple and that’s where the very presence of God dwells, so it calls it “the city of God as King”. The point being, that any object or place by which a man can swear, Jesus is saying is so inseparable from God that when they swear by it, they swear by God anyway. That goes for your own head or body as well notice he says in this passage not to swear by your head because you cannot make even one hair black or stop going white. To swear by my head was the same as the swearing on you own life anyway. To say it another way it was like saying something that if you understood the ramifications of it would be the same as saying, I will forfeit my life if I’m not telling the truth.

Jesus is saying, don’t do that because its frivolous and you’re just skirting the issue and you’re using and abusing the name of God whatever way you approach it. Have you ever heard anybody say, “I swear on my mother’s or my children’s grave”. That is an exact modern parallel to what they were doing in those days, to swear on your own head means to swear on your own life and Jesus says in the case of the Pharisees they thought if they did that it wasn’t binding.  Jesus is saying don’t do any of that kind of stuff or use references to God in taking an oath in ordinary conversation. Jesus is saying you may think it’s not binding, but I say to you don’t do that because it is.

So, it’s absolute but that is not does mean it’s universal. Do you see the difference it’s absolute that you not take a frivolous oath in ordinary conversation, but it’s not universal that you cannot take an oath under any circumstances, at any time. It absolute, but it is not universal. 

So, here’s my conclusion. If you’re in court you can or up for jury service, you can take an oath that’s not a violation of this passage of scripture. The interpretation I’m giving to this passage is one that has been used or has agreed upon by most Christians for generations. I am not alone in giving this interpretation to this passage.  I’m going to quote a couple of statements of what people have said about this passage. These are all from respected commentators and I’m taking them through a span of last couple 100 years. One said, “evidently it is swearing in common conversation and on frivolous occasions that is meant here”. Another said it was, “the practice of swearing in common conversation especially the swearing by created things that is being condemned here”.  Another says it was, “The foolish and wicked habit of swearing in private conversation or swearing on every occasion, and by everything, that Jesus condemns”. And finally, another said, “The Lord here condemns the light taking of an oath or entering into a pledge or promise frivolously.

Swearing taking and oath when no oath was necessary is what is being talked about here. Also, what is sometimes called, “evasive swearing”, or leaving the name of God out so that the oath would not be valid is what is being talked about here. Now just to make sure I’ve said this clear enough I’m going to just say it in bullet points.

·        You can take an oath. 

I want to make that very clear, taking an oath is not a violation of what Jesus said on the Sermon on the Mount. To say it another way it is alright to take an oath if the oath is the right type of oath. That’s our problem, the problems is not the taking of the oath, the problem is taking the oath to cover the truth and you’re not telling the truth. My point is you can take an oath swearing that you're telling the truth provided you tell the truth, and if you don’t the government calls it perjury, but God calls it sin. The point is take an oath but tell the truth.

·        Don’t take an oath frivolously.

Let me suggest that what I think Jesus is really doing is arguing that you should not take an oath in conversation frivolously and that you shouldn’t swear on the life of yourself, your wife, or your children because that is totally inappropriate according to Jesus.

.       Finally let me suggest that you should not take an oath in conversation to deceive people.

You shouldn’t take an oath knowing that you are using it simply to deceive someone. My all-time favourite example of this deception which is a friend of my mother used to use on her husband. When she bought the dress she put it in the back of the wardrobe for a month before wearing it, so if her husband asked if she was wearing a new dress she could say no I’ve had it for ages. Alright we’ve looked at the command, we’ve talked about how Moses received this command and then interpreted it. We then talked about how the scribes and the Pharisees abused this command, and we’ve looked at the clarification that Jesus now makes. The clarification is that Jesus is not saying that you should not take an oath under any circumstances but not to do it frivolously or deceptively. In fact, if you look in the scripture God swears by an oath in the book of Hebrews. Paul took an oath on several occasions. Jesus himself was put under oath by Caiaphas at his trial. So, this is not talking about all oaths in all situations, it is these clarifications that you should not take an oath in everyday conversation that is frivolous or deceptive, that is the point Jesus is making. What is the natural conclusion of all this

All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil”.

(Matthew 5: 37)

The conclusion of all of this is to let your yes be yes and your no be no. You don’t need in everyday conversation to add anything to that, just affirm that you’re telling the truth, and you should be telling the truth anyway. Don’t ever add anything to your oath that’s superfluous as a matter of fact adding anything can never make a true statement truer and can’t make a false statement true either. So why add it. In ordinary conversation just state the truth. I think another point that this verse is making that if your yes is yes, and your no is no, then anything added to than that comes from the evil one.  Because in the context of what Jesus has just taught anything that you’ve got to add to a truthful statement that is frivolous or deceptive isn’t from the Lord it’s from the devil, and that gets at the heart of the matter. 

Jesus said in John chapter 14, “I am the truth”, he said in John chapter 17, “God’s word is truth”, so if we, who claim to be following him, who said, “I am the truth” ought to be about telling the truth and anything other than that is not of him, who is the truth, but must come from the father of deception and lies, the evil one. The point is then we need to have real righteousness and that gets again at the heart of the Sermon on the Mount. The heart of Jesus’ teaching here is that you should have real righteousness, which is internal righteousness. Truthful people will tell the truth whether they are under and an oath or not. We don’t tell the truth because we’ve taken an oath, we tell the truth because it’s truthful and that’s the point Jesus is making in this passage 

Clement Alexander an ancient Christian author insisted that Christians must lead such a life and demonstrate such a character that no one would ever dream of asking them to take an oath. I don’t need an keep making frivolous statement or take oaths to back up what I say if everything I say is the truth. True righteous does not need an external guarantee, true righteousness doesn’t need additional oaths and you certainly should never add anything to what you say that is frivolous or deceptive in any way.

The Pharisees thought is just as long as their conduct appeared right and righteous all was Ok. So, they got to a point where they could say, “I didn’t swear by God therefore it wasn’t binding, I just swore by my own head and that’s not binding”. What Jesus is that what comes out of your mouth originates in your heart and you need to be truthful. So again Jesus teaching us that true righteousness is not about something that you  or say, it’s about something that you are.

This is not a plea to do better, it’s a plea to be better. It to say in your heart, I will follow him who said I am the truth, and I am going to be about truth in my life also. That’s what this passage is about and that’s what this Sermon on the Mount is about. Your righteousness needs to exceed the righteousness of religious people. It’s not just about murder it’s not just about anger or adultery, it’s not about lust or divorce it’s about who we are on the inside. This teaching by Jesus here is not about taking an oath, it’s about being deceptive or frivolous. Some people then as today think it is OK to lie all the time, just don’t get caught. But worse some religious people say it OK to lie unless you’re under oath. Don’t do that Jesus said. Do not lie under oath, in fact, do not lie under any circumstances. We just need to decide to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth when you’re under oath and when you’re not under oath, when you just speaking outside, every day. I trust you can exit this passage today knowing that you need to stop swearing frivolously and stop swearing deceptively, but even beyond that just tell the truth in all circumstances.