Do not break your oath…
Posted by Nate Bush on Mar 10, 2010
Matthew 5:33-37. When Micah gets caught he says, “Just kidding.” He wasn’t “just kidding,” he was lying. I have seen many contracts with “just kidding” written eloquently in the fine print. It seems we never grow out of the “just kidding” phase. This is exactly what Jesus confronting in these verses.
Jesus summarizes a number of OT texts on lying and oaths (Exodus 20:7; Leviticus 19:12; Numbers 30:2; Deuteronomy 23:21-24). The Pharisees used oaths as a means of getting out of a contract. According to the Pharisees, swearing by heaven or earth, God’s throne, or Jerusalem (Matthew 5:34-37; Matthew 23:16-22) was not as binding as swearing by God himself. Jesus instructs them to stop this silly Tom Foolery. Just make your yes a YES and your no a NO.
Some have taken Jesus’ words too literally and refused to take oaths at all, even in the court of Law. But in the both the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 10:20) and in the New Testament (Romans 1:9; 2 Corinthians 1:18, 23; Galatians 1:20; 1 Thessalonians 2:5, 10) there are proper examples of oaths. Even Jesus testified under oath at his own trial (Matthew 26:63-64).
Jesus is advocating honesty. He is abolishing the “just kidding” clause. We are not permitted to break a promise, even if our legal promises have cleverly designed loop holes (otherwise known as “Just Kidding,” “Psych,” “Gotcha!”). We need to mean what we say (James 5:12).
As a parent this can be hard. If I extend a contract to my child (i.e. if you do this, than I will do that), I am obligated to follow through. If I don’t, than I am instructing my child to look for the “Just Kidding” clause. I don’t want my kids to look for a reason to not commit to their end of an agreement; thus I must keep my end.
How does this truth apply to your life? How do you struggle with this at home, work, with friends?
Father, help me to tell the truth!
