Let your yes be yes

Let your yes be yes

Scripture:

“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.’ But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: Jerusalem 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 5:33-37

Observation:

Having dealt with personal purity, anger, and marriage, the Lord now teaches us on the subject of swearing and making oaths. It was the existing practice for the Israelites to swear and make oaths in typical everyday life. They would swear by heaven or by earth, by the temple, by the gold of the temple or even by their own heads. However, the Lord teaches that all this is unnecessary. Simply let your yes be yes and your no be no! The Lord even warns that anything beyond that comes from the evil one.

Does this mean that all acts of taking oaths are sinful? After all, we take an oath before God in marriage, and in court, people have to take an oath before they testify. Looking at other parts of Scripture, we see how Paul called God as His witness in 2 Corinthians and when Jesus was on trial, He answered in the affirmative that He was the Son of God when the High Priest asked him to reply under oath. Therefore, we see, that there is a time and place for oaths, especially before God.

However, what Jesus was speaking against was a strange system of determining which vows were legal that the Jews had come up with in the day. In another part of Scripture, Jesus admonished the Pharisees for saying an oath by the temple was nothing while saying an oath by the gold of the temple was binding.

Application:

In practice for us today, we are not to use the words “I swear” or “I promise” flippantly. There are solemn and serious occasions when we are to make oaths but by and large, this should not be the everyday practice of our normal lives. Of greater significance however, is the strength of our character where people will believe us whether we say yes or no. Truthfulness and sincerity should be part of our character as God’s holy people.

Prayer:

Praise You, Father in Heaven, for the glory of Your name. Give me a pure heart O Lord I pray, that seeks truth and despises lies and deception. Teach me to follow the straight paths O Lord. Let my character be strong and sincere, whereby my yes will be yes, and my no will be no. Bless You, Heavenly Father. In Jesus name, Amen.