Let Your Light Shine: Jesus’ Words on Vows (Matt. 5:33-37)

Let Your Light Shine:
Jesus’s Words on Vows
Matthew 5:33-37

INTRODUCTION:
When Rachel and I were dating in 1994, there was a song that played on the radio, and the title was “I Swear.” Here are the lyrics:

I see the questions in your eyes
I know what's weighing on your mind
You can be sure I know my part
Cause I stand beside you through the years
You'll only cry those happy tears
And though I make mistakes
I'll never break your heart

And I swear by the moon
And the stars in the sky I'll be there
I swear like the shadow that's by your side
I'll be there for better or worse
Till death do us part
I'll love you with every beat of my heart
And I swear

I'll give you everything I can
I'll build your dreams with these two hands
We'll hang some memories on the walls
And when just the two of us are there
You won't have to ask if I still care
Cause as the time turns the page
My love won't age at all

And I swear (I swear) by the moon
And the stars in the sky I'll be there (I'll be there)
I swear (and I swear) like the shadow that's by your side
I'll be there (I'll be there) for better or worse
'Til death do us part I'll love you
With every beat of my heart and I swear

The song “I Swear” was written by Gary Baker and Frank Myers and was turned into a hit by John Michael Montgomery in 1993. The song is about a man who promises, who swears, that he will always love his girlfriend or wife (the song never identifies their relationship).

The 2nd Sunday of December is the time I have set aside to examine one paragraph from the Sermon on the Mount (I have actually preached eight sermons from this sermon so I am averaging more than 1 a year). The Sermon on the Mount, recorded in Matthew 5-7, is not the most important of Jesus’ teachings; it is probably the most well-known and it encapsulates much of the basic teachings of Jesus, especially as it relates to inter-personal relationships.

In the paragraph we’ll look at this morning, Jesus warns us not to take oaths lightly. Let’s examine this paragraph and, if we need to change our behavior, our speech, to make them conform to the teachings of Jesus Christ, let’s be willing to submit to His instructions.

OLD TESTAMENT OATHS:
We are all familiar with the 10 Commandments and one specifically, which said, “You shall not take the name of the Lord Your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain” (Exo. 20:7). God warns us not to use His name in a careless, flippant way. God takes the use of His name very seriously. In Leviticus 24:10-12, two Israelites get into a fight and one of them blasphemed the name of God and cursed. The Israelites brought him to Moses and Moses went to Jehovah God to ask what to do with this man. Jehovah God, the holy and pure God who cannot look upon sin, commanded that those who actually heard the man blaspheme God should stone him to death. That’s what Moses and Israel did (24:23).

Related to the improper use of the name of God is the command not to swear an oath in the name of Jehovah God. In Leviticus 19:12, the Law said, “You shall not swear falsely by My name, so as to profane the name of your God. I am the Lord.” Notice the qualification: “Swear falsely.” God was not condemning all swearing but He was condemning false swearing, making an oath with an asterisk attached to you. In other words, leaving a “way out” in case you want to change your mind.

In Numbers 30:2, the Law commanded the Israelites that “if a man makes a vow to the Lord, or takes an oath to bind himself with a binding obligation, he shall not violate his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.”

Later in the Law, in Deuteronomy 23:21, God commanded Israel: “When you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay to pay it, for it would be sin in you, and the Lord your God will surely require it of you.” So God did not condemn all oaths. He simply condemns using His name in an oath and trying to leave “wiggle room” to get out of an oath you have made.

The verb "to swear” is used 17 times in the book of Genesis with half of those in the life of Abraham. Swearing an oath is not inherently sinful. Again, just in the book of Genesis, God swore to give to Abraham the land of Canaan and to give Abraham children (22:16; 26:3). In ancient times, when a person swore by his God / god, as Jacob does in Genesis 31:53, he is calling down God’s wrath on him if he does not fulfill his vow. That made the oath an extremely serious matter. In essence, they were calling God to be a legal witness to the truthfulness of the statement being made.

Listen to the words of King Solomon in Ecclesiastes 5:4-7: “When you make a vow to God, do not be late in paying it; for He takes no delight in fools. Pay what you vow! It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. Do not let your speech cause you to sin and do not say in the presence of the messenger of God that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry on account of your voice and destroy the work of your hands? For in many dreams and in many words there is emptiness. Rather, fear God.”

Now, in the sermon on the mount, Jesus returns to the subject of vows and, as usual, He elevates the standard of righteousness which God expects from the followers of Jesus…

JESUS’ TEACHING ON OATHS - Matt. 5:33-37:
The first thing Jesus did, as He does throughout chapter 5, is to quote from what the ancients were told (vs 33). Sometimes, this is a quotation from the Law; sometimes it is the Pharisees’ interpretation of the Law. Here, Jesus is quoting the Law of Moses. This was the standard of behavior God expected of the Israelites.

The problem was that over the years, the Israelites, the Jews, specifically the Pharisees, had made swearing and oaths into a hierarchy of vows so that lower, lesser oaths could be broken with less punishment than higher oaths. So, higher oaths would be reserved for more serious oaths. In the Jewish Talmud (the Jewish law code of the rabbis), there was a whole essay devoted to different distinctions they recognized in their oaths! So, Jesus just plainly gives a guiding principle for Christians: Do not make any oath at all (vs 34). Then he gives a series of examples from His current culture to illustrate how the Jews would make oaths with those asterisks attached (vss 34-36):

1. Do not swear by heaven. Why not? Because it is the throne of God!
2. Do not swear by the earth. Why not? Because it is God’s footstool.
3. Do not swear by Jerusalem. Why not? Because it is the city of the great king (David) of God’s people.
4. Do not swear by your own head. Why not? Because you have no power to change a hair white or black; only God has that power. So all these oaths go back to God - only He is ultimately in control of everything. To “swear by the moon and the stars in the sky” means nothing; it sounds beautiful in poetry, but the statement and idea (swearing “by the moon and the stars”) mean nothing.

The problems with bringing God into oaths are at least two: 1.) If you swear by God’s name, are you involving God in something that is false, illegal, or immoral? In which case, you are blaspheming God’s holy name; 2.) Are you swearing by God in an effort to force God to support your actions or your behavior, as if the name of God can be used as a “stamp of approval” on anything we want to say or do?

Fundamentally, Jesus says that our word ought to be good enough so that we should not even have to swear (vs 37). Our word should stand on its own. If we mean “yes,” we should say “yes.” If we mean “no,” we should say, “no.” Anything beyond that has its origin in the evil one, or Satan. Let me add here that we should not even have to add other curse words to emphasize what we say. We will be judged by our words, Jesus says in Matt. 12:36-37, which means that if we have to use curse words to add faithfulness to our words, there is a serious problem with our credibility. If I say I am going to do something, then you, who know me, ought to know that I’m going to do my best to do what I say I am going to do. There should be no need for swearing oaths or by cursing to emphasize my words.

In Matthew 23, we see more teachings of Jesus on oaths, this time directed at the Pharisees, and we see just how much the Pharisees were willing to “split hairs” when it came to oaths: 23:16-22. You see, the Jews had developed elaborate ways to wiggle out of their oaths. If an oath was made by God, it was much more binding than an oath that was made by something that was more peripheral to God, like the temple, the altar, or the gold on the altar. Jesus relates everything back to God so that any oath is made under the eyes of God and breaking those oaths is sin against God.

THE NATURE OF OATHS:
So, all oaths are not inherently sinful. In Galatians 1:20 and 2 Corinthians 1:23, the apostle Paul makes an oath. In Galatians 1:20, Paul says, “I assure you before God, that I am not lying…” So, Paul made an oath. In 2 Corinthians 1:23, Paul said, “I call God as a witness to my soul…”

Also, in Hebrews 6:13-14, we see God swearing an oath in His own name, which elevates the truthfulness of God’s word as high as it can go. The Hebrew language does not have a word for “promise.” If God wanted to emphasize what He was saying, He did not say, “I promise.” He said, “I swear.”

In James 5:12, Jesus’ brother practically quotes Jesus’ words from the Sermon on the Mount: “But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath; but your yes is to be yes, and your no, no, so that you may not fall under judgment.”

So here’s the “bottom line” on what Jesus teaches about oaths: If you are going to make an oath, make sure you have the ability to fulfill your oath and accept the responsibility for fulfilling your oath. Therefore, there is nothing sinful at all for one to take the witness stand in the court of law and say, “I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.” If I take that oath, I have the ability to do exactly what I have sworn to do: tell the truth. But, for a Christian, whose life follows the man who is the embodiment of truth, being truthful in all our behavior is an absolute must and is the goal and direction of our entire lives, including our words and our intentions. In other words, our word ought to be as good as a legal contract.

Take home message: Let us be careful that what we say: 1.) We can do; 2.) We intend to do, so that: 3.) Emphasizing by oaths is simply unnecessary.