Daily Devotional For Wednesday, September 25, 2024
It’s Wonderful Wednesday and you have made it to “Hump Day.” Pat yourself on the back. Congratulations. If you have been following these devotionals, you know we are making our way through Jesus’ Sermon On The Mount. We are in Matthew 5, working our way through six topics that Jesus starts out with, “You have heard that it was said by . . . but I say to you . . .” Here are the six topics below:
- murder (5:21–26)
- adultery (5:27–30)
- divorce (5:31–32)
- oaths (5:33–37)
- retaliation (5:38–42)
- love (5:43–48)
We are on number four – oaths, found in Matthew 5:33-37. Jesus said this:
“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).
The “tradition” that Jesus references in Matthew 5:33 was biblical, but over time, it fell short of God’s intent in two ways. Pastor and author John MacArthur lets us know:
“First, it was an important ingredient. And what was that ingredient? – the proper circumstances for making an oath. Virtually any kind of oath, used for almost any kind of purpose, was acceptable— just as long as it was not false and the person would fulfill it. The missing ingredient of a serious circumstance led to frivolous, meaningless oath-making that completely vitiated the legitimate purpose of oaths. People would declare anything and promise anything with an oath, while having no qualms about providing means by which lying or breaking their word could still be done. Indiscriminate and insincere vows became so commonplace that no one took them seriously. Instead of being a mark of integrity they became a mark of deceit. Instead of prompting confidence they prompted skepticism.
Second, there was a misplaced emphasis. The misplaced emphasis was in limiting the honest oaths to vows to the Lord, to oaths made directly to Him or in His name. The keeping of those oaths was mandatory, whereas the keeping of others they made optional. The system of oaths between one person and another was like a giant game of King’s X. People would swear by heaven, by the earth, by the Temple, by the hairs on their heads, and by any other thing they thought would impress those they wanted to take advantage of. That kind of routine oath-making was usually lie-making; and it was considered by those who practiced it to be perfectly acceptable as long as it was not in the name of the Lord.
The command, “You shall not swear falsely by My name” (Lev. 19:12) was conveniently interpreted to mean that swearing falsely by any other name was allowed. The command “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” (Num. 30:2) was interpreted as permitting the reneging on oaths made to anyone but God.
Thus, through rabbinic tradition, God’s standard of absolute truthfulness was contradicted and lowered to a level that accommodated the sinful, selfish capacities and purposes of the people. They wanted to lie, and they did not want to be hampered by God’s absolute standard of truth. Instead of calling on the Lord to help them live up to the divine standard, they reduced that standard to suit their own carnal abilities and interests” (Source: John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, “Matthew,” p. 323).
Jesus was appalled that the Jewish religious people had taught God’s people that lying in certain situations was okay and acceptable. Jesus reminds us and those listening then – lying under any circumstance in which you intend to not keep your word has never been sanctioned or acceptable to God. New Testament scholar William Hendrickson writes this:
“What we have here in Matthew 5:33–37 (cf. James 5:12) is the condemnation of the flippant, profane, uncalled for, and often hypocritical oath, used in order to make an impression or to spice daily conversation. Over against that evil Jesus commends simple truthfulness in thought, word and deed” (Source: William Hendrickson, Exposition of the Gospel According to Matthew, p. 309).
Jesus was not forbidding any and all oaths since the Old Testament Law allowed oaths in certain circumstances. Jesus had said that He came to fulfill the Law, not destroy it (cf. Matthew 5:17-18). We learn quickly as children to lie, misrepresent the truth and to be unwilling to fulfill or keep our word. As little children we were prone to say: “Yes, I’m telling the truth. Cross my heart, hope to die and stick a needle in my eye.” As you can tell by such an oath, as children we were serious and sincerely we were telling the truth. HA!
New Testament scholar T. H. Robinson says that in Jesus’ day, people did not think lying to another person did not concern God. But if you invoked God’s name as validation that you were telling the truth but lied, then you should expect God’s punishment (Source. T. H. Robinson, The Gospel of Matthew). Jesus’ point is that making an oath using God’s name should not be necessary or needed by His disciples. Why? Our own consistent integrity would be good enough.
University of Chicago professor Mortimer Adler, editor of The Encyclopedia Britannica and the Great Books of the Western World series, says in his classic How to Read a Book:
“The question, “Is it true?” can be asked of anything we read. It is applicable to every kind of writing.… No higher commendation can be given any work of the human mind than to praise it for the measure of truth it has achieved; by the same token, to criticize it adversely for its failure in this respect is to treat it with the seriousness that a serious work deserves. Yet, strangely enough, in recent years, for the first time in Western history, there is a dwindling concern with this criterion of excellence. Books win the plaudits of the critics and gain widespread popular attention almost to the extent that they flout the truth—the more outrageously they do so, the better” (Source: Mortimer Adler, How To Read A Book, p. 124).
His point is well taken. We say today, “Don’t believe everything you hear or read.” As disciples of Jesus Christ, we by our very persona give people the impression that we are trustworthy and will keep our word. Meaning – as disciples of Christ we do not lie – ever. There is an urgent shortage of the truth today – not just in politics and by politicians, but by everyone including pastors:
“There is, indeed, a crisis, but we must not make the mistake of thinking it occurs only out there because it happens among us too. It is difficult to always tell the truth. The great preacher and writer George Macdonald wrote to his son on December 6, 1878, “I always try—I think I do—to be truthful. All the same I tell a great many lies” (Source: Edward Hastings, The Speakers Bible, Vol. 6, p. 130).
We all can identify with that. When we are speaking to someone and suddenly we realize that what we are saying is not the truth. Perhaps you have experienced the same. The difficulty comes from the combination of our own deceitful nature and the pervasive deceptiveness of the surrounding culture. I have a friend that every time he tells the same story, he changes it some. His family says that he is “adding some local color” to it. Perhaps he is. We all have given our word with the intention to keep it but then we got inference or and interruption and we broke our word. That is not what Jesus is addressing here. Jesus is addressing when we give our word and we have no intent of keeping it.
Questions To Consider
- When you were a child, did you ever use that children’s quote above to give validation that you were telling the truth? If so, and you were ever lying, what if people who learned later were lying, decided to inflict the punishment you vowed with what you – “stick a needle in your eye” and etc? Would you still make such a vow?
- When you give your word, do you consistently keep it?
- Do you ever exaggerate, add “local color” or distort the truth for any reason? Why?
- Do you always believe everything you hear or read in the media or online? If not, why? So, why should people always believe everything you tell them as the Gospel truth?
- Pastor George MacDonald wrote an unbelievable confession to his son. He is regarded as one of the greatest pastors ever. What does that tell you and why?
Scripture To Meditate On: Proverbs 12:22, “Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD, but those who act faithfully are His delight” (ESV).
Prayer To Pray: “Dear Jesus, help me to be a person of integrity by being truthful and honest. Lord, I want people to say about me, `You can take his word to the bank.’ Lord, I do not want anything I do and especially say be an abomination to You. I love You Jesus. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you Southside!--Pastor Kelly