Matthew 5:33-37
Oaths and Vows
33 “Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’ 34 But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 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 swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37 All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.
As one read the things that Jesus said, we can see that He is Divine...Even in the four verses of His teaching on oaths...The Third Commandment teaches us on oaths and using our Father's name in our words...Exodus 20:7 (NIV): "You shall not misuse the Name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses His Name." ...In Deuteronomy 5:11 (NIV) we read: "You shall not misuse the Name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses His Name."...So we can see the importance of oaths and vows and why Jesus would teach on this...
Since Jesus fulfills the Old Testament law, we can find His fingerprint on this fulfilment in vows and oaths that we make...In the Old Testament, oaths and vows to God were taken very seriously, through the Third Commandment...They were considered binding agreements between a person and God, and breaking them was seen as a grave offense...So Jesus seems to be including our promises to others...These oaths, vows, and promises were important and considered a sacred commitment...Oaths invoked God as a witness and guarantor of the promise...This made them a sacred commitment, not to be taken lightly...Oaths also had a legal and social aspect...Oaths were used in various contexts, including legal proceedings, treaties, and personal vows...They served to ensure truthfulness and commitment in these important areas of life. ..Oaths point to God when we use God’s Name in our oaths and speech...Making a vow to God was seen as a way of deepening one's relationship with Him, expressing devotion and commitment to His will...So, when Jesus discusses oaths in His Sermon on the Mount, we can see the daily and cultural importance of why He addressed this subject of oaths...
In Jesus's teaching it is not about abolishing the importance of vows to God, but about fulfilling the deeper intent behind them...Matthew 5:33-37 relates to the Old Testament understanding of oaths...People had an agreement on keeping their oaths and vows...Both the Old Testament and Jesus agree on the importance of keeping vows made to God...The Old Testament law explicitly commands it (Deuteronomy 23:21-23), and Jesus affirms this by saying, "You have heard that it was said...'Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the LORD the vows you have made.'"...
The core principle behind oaths in the Old Testament was to ensure Truthfulness and commitment...Jesus intensifies this principle by saying that our everyday speech should be so truthful that oaths become unnecessary...While the Old Testament primarily focused on the external act of making and keeping vows...Jesus often moved to one's heart to talk about issues and subjects in life...Oaths, vows, and promises are from the heart...So often as Jesus did, He shifts the focus to the internal state of the heart...He is saying that true righteousness is not just about fulfilling formal vows but about being a person of Godly integrity and character in all aspects of one's life...Jesus addresses the abuses that had developed around the practice of oath-taking...People were using loopholes and lesser oaths to avoid the full weight of their promises...Jesus rejects this entire system, emphasizing that all Truth is sacred and that our words should be reliable without any external emphasis...And we should put this into the context that Jesus said that God's Word is Truth...Jesus emphasizes that all Truth is sacred and holy, not just truth spoken under oath, is essential to our integrity and character...
Jesus's command to simply say "yes" or "no" is not about diminishing the importance of serious vows to God...It's about elevating the standard of our everyday speech...He's saying that our words should be so trustworthy that there's no need to add anything extra to make them believable...Imagine the Old Testament law as setting our baseline for honesty: "If you make a promise to God, you absolutely must keep it."...But as Jesus did in His Sermon on the Mount He goes a step further than the Old Testament,...Jesus comes along and says, "That's important, but I'm calling you to something even greater...I want your heart to be so full of Truth that you don't even need to make formal oaths in the first place...Your everyday words should be your bond."...
Jesus isn't contradicting the Old Testament; He is fulfilling it...He's taking the principle of Truthfulness to a deeper level, emphasizing inner integrity and making oaths unnecessary in ordinary conversation...This doesn't negate the importance of keeping serious vows made to God in appropriate contexts, but it challenges us to live a life where our words are always trustworthy, reflecting our commitment to God in all we say and do...