No Oats! (Oops, I mean Oaths)

Review: “You have heard it was said…But I say to you…” In recent weeks we have been challenged by Jesus’ counter-cultural teachings about the heart of God's law in areas where the spirit of the law was being violated by a merely external righteousness. Tough subjects like...

1. Anger Insults and Murder
2. Lust and Adultery
3. Divorce and its results

In all these areas, we have seen that Pharisaic legalism was not righteous enough, for it was simply looking for an authoritative ruling on what it could get away with. Jesus boldly pointed his hearers back to the heart of the Law. This week, we examined why Jesus said, “Do not take an oath at all.” in Matthew 5:33-37.

But before we start, try saying "No oaths" three times fast. If you are like me, it comes out sounding like "No oats!" which would be tragic for me since Cheerios are my favorite breakfast cereal. This silly exercise got me thinking about cereal box promises—that often try to make chocolate-flavored marshmallow-laden sugary cereal sound healthy. I don't buy it—literally. Are we given to the inaccuracies of fast-talking, over-promising, puffing the product, or spinning the facts, to our own benefit? Here is what Jesus said about oaths in Matthew 5:33-37,

               “Again you have heard

                          that it was said to those of old,

                     ‘You shall not swear falsely,

              but shall perform to the Lord

              what you      have sworn.’

    But I say to you,

                   Do not take an oath at all,

either by heaven,

                       for it is the throne of God,

        or by the earth,

                       for it is his footstool,

      or by Jerusalem,

                       for it is the city of the great King.

             And do not take an oath

          by your head,

                       for you cannot make one hair white or black.

          Let what you say be simply

                                   ‘Yes’ or ‘No’;

       anything more than this

                                         comes from evil.

What is an Oath?

An oath was originally the act of verbally invoking someone or something greater and more trustworthy than yourself to vouch for your truthfulness. It was something you said to get people to believe you that often involved an implied self-curse for lying (along the lines of the children’s rhyming oath, “cross my heart hope to die stick a needle in my eye”). Similarly, a vow was a promise (often conditional) to do something for God or for another. While two different things, by the time of Christ they were virtually synonymous.

The Old Testament Supported Oaths

Several passages in the Old Testament support using oaths while at the same time warning against not telling the truth and not keeping your promises.  Here are a few of those verses:

• Leviticus 19:11-12 “You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; you shall not lie to one another. You shall not swear by my name falsely, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.
• Exodus 20:7 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
• Numbers 30:1-2 Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes of the people of Israel, saying, “This is what the Lord has commanded. If a man vows a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.
• Deuteronomy 23:21-23 “If you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay fulfilling it, for the Lord your God will surely require it of you, and you will be guilty of sin. But if you refrain from vowing, you will not be guilty of sin. You shall be careful to do what has passed your lips, for you have voluntarily vowed to the Lord your God what you have promised with your mouth. (also Psalm 50:14)
• Ecclesiastes 5:4-7 When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow. It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. Let not your mouth lead you into sin, and do not say before the messenger that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry at your voice and destroy the work of your hands? For when dreams increase and words grow many, there is vanity; but God is the one you must fear.
• Hebrews 6:13-17 (Genesis 22:16) For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise. For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath

Why were Oaths such a problem for Jesus?

In keeping with the other passages we have studied, Pharisaic legalism would say that it is only when you swear (by God) that you have to keep your word. In fact, there was a whole section of rabbinic law dedicated to making clear what oaths/vows were binding and which were not. What had once guaranteed truthfulness and faithfulness had become a way to lie and cheat. In this passage, Jesus was saying something revolutionary—you have to keep your word all the time! If you have to "promise" or "swear an oath" to get people to believe you then you are not known for being an honest person. It should not be any surprise that this follows on the heels of the passages on lust, adultery, and divorce which all have to do with deception or broken promises.

Later in Matthew's Gospel, we see that Jesus went to great lengths to expose the hypocrisy and the legalism of the scribes and Pharisees. The focus in this current passage is on the place of oaths in the kingdom, but the scathing rebuke of the scribes' legal nitpicking is helpful in revealing the attitude of the Pharisees at that time.

“Woe to you, blind guides, who say,

     ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing,

but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’

You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred? And you say,

     ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing,

but if anyone swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.’

You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred?

  So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it.

And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it.

And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it.” (Matthew 23:16-22)

The lawyers of Jesus’ day knew that oaths invoking God were binding via the 3^rd Commandment's, “You shall not take the Lord’s name in vain.” So instead of keeping their promises, they carefully crafted loopholes to show that what they were swearing by did not invoke God’s name. D.A. Carson puts it in perspective, ““If oaths designed to encourage truthfulness become occasions for clever lies and casuistical deceit, Jesus will abolish oaths….Jesus insists that whatever a man swears by is related to God in some way, and therefore every oath is implicitly in God’s name—heaven, earth, Jerusalem and even the hairs of the head are God’s sway and ownership…”[1]

Do you remember Kaa the Constrictor in the old animated Jungle Book movie? His hissing hypnotizing song was much like the deceptive oaths of the Pharisees.

 “Trust in me, just in me,... and soon you’ll be inside of me.”

We should not lie to lower the defenses of others so that we might consume them!

There are at least two commandments involved here, “Do not take the Lord’s name in vain” and “Do not bear false witness.” No matter what we might swear by, we have no right to invoke it. There is no co-signer to our verbal promissory note and there should be no appeal to absent authority.

So how should a follower of Jesus speak and answer others?

Here are some of the simple notes we took…

1.    With Sincerity: give a thoroughly honest, integrous answer!

• Tell the truth all the time (Eph :15-16, 25) "Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, ¹⁶ from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love…Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another."

                    —not just when you swear
                    —not just when you swear to the Lord
                    —not just when you are in court (false witness)

• Mean what you say, and live your life in accordance.
• Tell the same story no matter who is listening.
• Sincerity doesn’t mean we have to be rude. We are to speak the truth in love.
• When you find yourself fudging the facts, correct the record. Remember my cereal box illustration. Even my healthy Cheerios' box makes the claim to be GMO free, but then stops to clarify that there may be some cross contamination from other product lines. Let's not minimize our inaccuracies, instead let's confess and correct them!

2.    With Simplicity: Yes or No. (v.37) anything more comes from evil.

·         Where many words are present, sin is not absent (Prov. 10:18-19) and we often use profanity to convince people that we are serious.

·         An Oath is needed only if a person’s word alone is unreliable; it is an admission of our failure in living a life of truthfulness.

3.    With Steadfastness: an answer that can be counted on to be dependable.

·         When we swear and break our word then

o   We hurt ourselves,

o   We put ourselves in bondage whether we realize it or not.

o   God holds us accountable for our vows.

·         James 5:12 [in the context of being patient while suffering] repeats Jesus command, “But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.”

In my message, I added several “Bonus Points” that I knew I would not be able to cover in church for people to figure out on their own, and I include them here for your use as well. #4 and #6 are easy, #5 will require interpretation and #7 is two words. Have fun!

4.    With ________________: to turn away wrath (Proverbs 15:1-2)

5.    With ________________: to keep from causing injury or offense (Col 4:6; Eph. 4:29)

6.    With _______________: giving the Lord time to speak to our hearts (James 1:19)

7.    With ____________  __________: If we are filled with the Spirit then He will direct our words (Eph. 5:18-20; Col. 3:15-17)

[Answers will be provided in comments at a later date...if anyone is interested.]

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[1] Expositors Bible Commentary, Volume 8, 153-154.