Daily Devotional For Thursday, September 26, 2024

Can you believe it? Thursday is finally here and you are closer to the weekend. We are making our way through Jesus’ Sermon On the Mount. Currently we are looking at Jesus’ teaching about making oaths in Matthew 5:33-37:

“Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not make false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord.’ (34) But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, (35) or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. (36) Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. (37) But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil” (NASB).

Jesus referred to a practice that Jews had in His day using certain words in oaths as a way to stress intention to honor the oath: heaven, earth, Jerusalem, and the word head. Some of this might seem strange to us today, but Jesus knew people’s hearts. He knew that invoking and using such terms, that the one making the oath had no intention of honoring their oath. It was all for show and pretense. At times, we are no different. We may not use words such as heaven, earth or Jerusalem or head to attempt to stress our sincerity to honor our word, but we do have more modern and scrupulous ways today. 

Jesus would come back to this deceptive uses of terms in oath making in Matthew 23:16-22:

“Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple is obligated.’ (17) You fools and blind men! Which is more important, the gold or the temple that sanctified the gold? (18) And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, that is nothing, but whoever swears by the offering on it, he is obligated. (19) You blind men, which is more important, the offering, or the altar that sanctifies the offering? (20) Therefore, whoever swears by the altar, swears both by the altar and by everything on it. (21) And whoever swears by the temple, swears both by the temple and by Him who dwells within it. (22) And whoever swears by heaven, swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it” (NASB).

Did you follow and catch Jesus’ logic here in proving how silly and foolish it was to swear by “the gold of the Temple” or by “the offering in the Temple.” Jesus said that not only was their tradition to swear an oath by such means illogical, it was also deceptive and dishonest. It came down to which was more important, the Temple or the gold the Temple sanctified? Which is more important: the offering or the altar that offering is sacrificed on in the Temple?  It comes down to an issue of how we attempt to compartmentalize our lives to justify certain sins and behaviors.

New Testament scholar William Barclay gives us some great historical context for Jesus words as he  writes this:

“But in the time of Jesus there were two unsatisfactory things about taking oaths.

The first was what might be called frivolous swearing, taking an oath where no oath was necessary or proper. It had become far too common a custom to introduce a statement by saying ‘By thy life’, or ‘By my head’, or ‘May I never see the comfort of Israel if …’. The Rabbis laid it down that to use any form of oath in a simple statement like ‘That is an olive tree’ was sinful and wrong. ‘The yes of the righteous is yes,’ they said, ‘and their no is no.’

There is still need of warning here. Far too often, people use the most sacred language in the most meaningless way. They take the sacred names upon their lips in the most thoughtless and irreverent way. The sacred names should be kept for sacred things.

The second Jewish custom was in some ways even worse than that; it might be called evasive swearing. The Jews divided oaths into two classes, those which were absolutely binding and those which were not. Any oath which contained the name of God was absolutely binding; any oath which succeeded in evading the name of God was held not to be binding. The result was that if a man swore by the name of God in any form, he would rigidly keep that oath; but if he swore by heaven, or by earth, or by Jerusalem, or by his head, he felt quite free to break that oath. The result was that evasion had been brought to a fine art.

The idea behind this was that if God’s name was used, God became a partner in the transaction; whereas if God’s name was not used, God had nothing to do with the transaction. The principle which Jesus lays down is quite clear. In effect, Jesus is saying that, far from having to make God a partner in any transaction, no one can keep God out of any transaction. God is already there. Heaven is the throne of God; the earth is the footstool of God; Jerusalem is the city of God; our own heads do not belong to us; we cannot even make a hair white or black; our lives are God’s; there is nothing in the world which does not belong to God; and therefore it does not matter whether God is actually named in so many words or not. God is there already.

Here is a great eternal truth. Life cannot be divided into compartments in some of which God is involved and in others of which he is not involved; there cannot be one kind of language in the Church and another kind of language in the shipyard or the factory or the office; there cannot be one kind of conduct in the Church and another kind of conduct in the business world. The fact is that God does not need to be invited into certain departments of life, and kept out of others. He is everywhere, all through life and in every activity of life. He hears not only the words which are spoken in his name; he hears all words; and there cannot be any such thing as a form of words which evades bringing God into any transaction. We will regard all promises as sacred if we remember that all promises are made in the presence of God” (Source: William Barclay, The Daily Bible Series Commentary, “Matthew,” Vol. 1, pp. 183-184).

The point Jesus is making in both passages in Matthew is that truth has no shades or degrees. A half truth is still a lie and a “white lie” is really a “black lie.” Why? God has never had any standard than absolute truthfulness. Here are several Bible verses that remind of this:

• David reminds us of this in Psalm 51:6, “Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being, And in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom” (NASB). 
• God hates a lying tongue as Proverbs 6:16-17 states: “There are six things which the Lord hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: (17) Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood” (NASB). 
• We see this in Proverbs 12:22, “Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, But those who deal faithfully are His delight” (NASB).
• Look at Psalm 119:163, “I hate and despise falsehood, But I love Your law” (NASB).
• Psalm 58:3-4, “The wicked are estranged from the womb; These who speak lies go astray from birth. (4) They have venom like the venom of a serpent; Like a deaf cobra that stops up its ear” (NASB).
• Jeremiah 9:3, “They bend their tongue like their bow; Lies and not truth prevail in the land; For they proceed from evil to evil, And they do not know Me,” declares the Lord” (NASB).
• Revelation 21:8, “But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death” (NASB).

God’s absolute, unchanging standard is truth and sincerity in everything. Not only should oaths be totally truthful and dependable, but even the most routine conversations should be truthful in every detail. This is why Jesus said, “Let your statement `yes’ be yes and your ‘no’ be no.” The Greek New Testament word Jesus used here for “statement” is [λόγος, logos]. It means “word.” Jesus is saying that every word you and I say should be truthful with no “additives” that attempt to imply we are telling the truth. Our word should be as good as the Lord’s. 

James, who was the half-brother of Jesus and and an Apostle reminds us of Jesus’ words in James 5:12, “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” (NASB). Because God is holy, His people are to be holy also – especially in their words. Pastor and author Chuck Swindoll writes this:

“Jesus’ answer to this culture of subtlety and deception was simple: “Let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil” (Matt. 5:37). Just a single word will do. When we agree to pay a debt, we shouldn’t need to sign thirty pages of contracts; we should just pay it . . . If we say we’ll meet somebody at five o’clock, we should follow through on our commitment unless uncontrollable circumstances prevent it. An elaborate “oath” isn’t needed to buttress the word of a believer who values truth and commitment. Just tell the truth and keep your promises!” (Source: Charles R. Swindoll, Swindoll’s Living Insights New Testament Commentary, “Matthew,” Vol. 1A, pp. 102-103).

Pastor and author John MacArthur writes this:

“God is a holy God, His kingdom is a holy kingdom, and the people of His kingdom are to be a holy people. His righteousness is to be their righteousness, and anything less than His righteousness, including anything less than absolute truth, is unacceptable to Him, because it is of evil. So our Lord shatters the fragile glass of their hypocritical oaths, which they used to cover lies” (Source: John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, “Matthew,” p. 326).

As I wrap up here I like what New Testament scholar Bruce B. Barton writes on this:

“Are you the kind of person who:

• •     can’t say no when a caller asks for a donation?
  •     takes on too much at church?
  •     worries over whether people like you?
  •     worries over whether God likes you?

If so, this verse is your first lesson in assertiveness training. You need to learn how to say yes and mean it, and how to say no and stick to it, as a child of God. Try this. Next time someone asks you to do something you cannot accept, resist the urge to launch into a twenty-minute explanation of your schedule conflict, and just say, “I’m sorry, but no.” Wow! Does that feel good? Pretty soon, you will start believing in your own yes and no as genuine reflections of your intentions. You’ll be you again, and not someone else’s image of you” (Source: Bruce B. Barton, The Life Application Study Bible Commentary, “Matthew,” p. 101).

Questions To Consider

1. Can people count on you to keep your word? Do you ever give your word knowing you have no intention of keeping it? Why?
2. When you feel you can’t promise to do something, do you give a long explanation as to why you can’t? 
3. Why do you think we have a tendency to include “additives” in a promise as if that makes it more sincere?
4. Jesus says every word we speak must and should be the truth. Is this you? Is every statement, every word you speak the truth? Why or why not? 
5. Would you pledge beginning today to do what Jesus said – tell the truth completely and tactfully? Let your “yes be yes” and your “no be no”? Why or why not?

Scripture To Meditate On: Proverbs 12:17-19, When you tell the truth, justice is done, but lies lead to injustice. (18) Thoughtless words can wound as deeply as any sword, but wisely spoken words can heal. (19) A lie has a short life, but truth lives on forever” (GNT).

Prayer To Pray: “Dear Jesus, this is one area that I need to work on in my life. I need to let my “yes be yes” and my “no be no.” I need to be honest and truthful with every single word, sentence and statement I make. Jesus, please help me to honor You with every single word I speak and think. I love you Jesus. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”

I love you Southside!--Pastor Kelly