Matthew 5:33-37

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.”

Good morning !

I hope you all have had a great Memorial Day weekend thus far. Today, we remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice so you and I could live in a country where we can worship God freely!

This week, we are continuing through the Sermon on the Mount, and what we’re seeing is the greatest sermon ever preached! This section of the sermon is jam packed with cultural context, and it’s vital that we understand it in order to see what Jesus is teaching.

When Jesus states, “you have heard that it was said to those of old,” He isn’t directly quoting a specific passage in the Old Testament, rather He is summarizing a general theme that shows up in several passages. For example, Leviticus 19:12 states, “You shall not swear by my name falsely, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.” Notice in the passage, the law says you should not swear “by my name.” This parallels what Jesus is stating in today’s passage about “swearing falsely.” Here’s how… In the ancient near east, it was custom to make vows and oaths in the name of a god and if one were to swear falsely or break the oath, it would “profane” the god in which the oath was taken.

However, when we get to the time of Jesus, many traditions had begun about which oaths were binding, and which ones were not. Many Jews would take oaths with intentions of creating a loophole in the system. For example, they would swear by heaven, earth, Jerusalem, and so on, and since they didn’t directly take an oath in “God’s name,” they would often betray their oath. Jesus recognizes the broken system and comes to bring an end to this…
Jesus teaches the crowd the proper way of taking an oath. The answer? A simple “yes” or a simple “no.”

Jesus recognizes the tradition of trying to find loopholes to not have to keep an oath. Jesus’ goal is for His followers to be men and women of integrity. Men and women who tell the truth. Men and women who do what they say when they say they’re going to do it. The reality of it is this: it doesn’t take much to be a person of integrity. Unfortunately, it’s still uncommon.

For us as followers of Jesus, let’s make it a habit to be intentional about doing what we say we’re going to do. When we say “yes,” let it mean yes, and when we say “no,” let it mean no! Being a person of integrity is as simple as yes and no.

Happy Memorial Day!

-Taylor