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.”1
Section Overview
Throughout Matthew 5:21–48, Jesus states God’s commandments, then presses beyond the commands themselves to the righteousness God intends. In verses 21–26, Jesus looks beyond murder to the anger and disdain driving it. In verses 27–32, he explores the lust that motivates adultery and the legal abuse—heedless divorce—that promotes violations of the seventh commandment. In verses 33–37, Jesus’ teaching on oaths exposes another legal subterfuge that circumvents the law and impedes obedience. The section continues to explore Jesus’ programmatic statements in verses 17–20: he came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets by explaining their true sense and leading his disciples to a righteousness that includes legal obedience, but is not essentially legal. As always, Jesus presses beyond deeds to the heart (vv. 8, 28; 6:21).
Section Outline
Response
If God’s oaths reveal that humans are accustomed to hearing lies, then oaths, vows, and promises reveal that we are also accustomed to telling lies. We swear and promise because we are careless, at best. If a child asks a parent for a promise, the parent should hear it as an indictment, since it reveals that the child has learned he cannot quite trust his father’s word. His yes has not always meant yes. Ideally, a parent’s word should be so reliable that the child never thinks of guarantees. Indeed, every disciple should aim to be so reliable that no one asks him for promises.
Alas, if the goal is comprehensive honesty, every reader must face his failure: “No human being can tame the tongue” (James 3:8). Even if we never lie or gossip, we speak carelessly. We also remain silent when the truth is needed—or tell the truth so poorly that its power is lost. Because words are sacred, we should be “slow to speak” and must carefully weigh each word (James 1:19).
Jesus’ teaching confronts everyone with a tongue. Everyone makes promises they cannot keep, then breaks them. Everyone bends or fractures the truth. Consider when we are most prone to break a promise: We violate words spoken to the powerless—children—much more than we break promises to the powerful. We break invisible commitments (nursery duty) more than visible ones (teaching).
No one masters the tongue, because no one has a pure heart. So this word from Jesus the teacher leads to Jesus the Savior. The one who declared God’s word at the start of his ministry gave his life as an atoning sacrifice for those who disobeyed that word.