Sermon on the Mount: Oath Taking
Sermon on the Mount Series • Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 90 viewsNotes
Transcript
Sermon on the Mount – Taking Oaths
Matthew 5:33-37
33 “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.’
34 But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God,
35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.
36 And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.
37 Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.
1. Introduction – On the surface, this seems like an innocuous passage.
a. It seems like it is less intense than the previous two sections we studied.
i. But that’s just on the surface. When we dive in to this text…
1. When we study what it says, means, and how it applies – we’ll see that this is a very demanding passage of Scripture.
a. This passage is relatable and it hits home for all of us.
b. Here’s what this passage does.
i. It seeks to protect out speech.
1. A few weeks ago, we looked at a command about murder and anger…
a. And we saw that Jesus wants us to protect and value our relationships in society.
i. Jesus was protecting the sanctity of human life.
b. 2 weeks ago, we looked at adultery and lust…
i. And when we studied that passage, we saw that Jesus was protecting the purity of his people.
1. He was protecting the union between husband and wife.
2. Last week’s command taught us to value and protect the marriage relationship.
a. And what we have to keep in mind throughout all of these commands is that Jesus is talking about righteousness.
i. A righteousness that surpasses that of the religious leaders of his day – something that is qualitatively different.
ii. And with the command we’re looking at today – we see that this righteousness is all-pervasive in our lives…
1. It leaves nothing untouched…it trickles down into the very words we use and how we talk to each other.
a. In the Christian life, in the kingdom of God, the trustworthiness of what we say is as important to a community’s welfare as how we think about each other…
i. It’s as important as how we act towards each other…
1. How we speak is as important as fidelity in marriage…the sanctity of sex.
iii. It may seem like a command about the taking of oaths can’t compare to the taking of a life or adultery or the breaking of a marriage…
1. But this command is rich and deep and impactful…and for many of us, more relatable than the others.
a. Hear God’s Word – Matthew 5:33-37.
c. So, the best course of action to take this week is to follow the same structure we have for the last few weeks.
i. We’ll start by looking at what was intended by God’s original command about oath taking.
1. We are going to look how the original intent had been degraded over time and what was being taught in Jesus’ day.
a. We’ll look at what Jesus said on this subject.
i. And we’ll se how these words still apply to and impact our lives today.
2. What God Intended – “You have heard it said…” Jesus continues…
a. But what Jesus quotes isn’t an exact quotation of any OT Law or command.
i. Instead, it is at best a conglomeration of a whole bunch of different commands about vows and oaths and swearing…
1. Not the cursing kind of searing, but the swearing of oaths.
a. So why did God give ancient Israel commands about oath taking? What was his intent?
ii. The answer is undoubtedly this…God put in rules and laws about oath taking and swearing to curb humanity’s proneness to lying.
1. It is similar to what we looked at last time.
a. Divorce was running rampant through ancient Israel.
i. So a concession was made to help protect the sanctity of marriage and the women of divorce.
1. The concession was put in place to help curb the rate of divorce.
2. Well, in ancient Israel, people had the tendency to lie to each other.
a. Life was becoming chaotic – and citizens couldn’t rely on each other because they didn’t know if someone was telling the truth of if they were being deceitful.
i. People were becoming untrustworthy – so God gave Israel a set of laws in order to curb that.
b. The other intent of this command was to show people who important taking an oath really was – to show people the importance of their words.
i. People had a tendency to take an oath about all kinds of trivial things.
1. So the laws about oath-taking were put in place to end indiscriminate, glib oath taking…
a. And to show the people that taking an oath was a serious matter.
i. It must be reserved for only those things that necessitate an oath.
c. The last intent of the oath laws was to remind ancient Israel of the seriousness of their whole lives.
i. It reminded that they were God’s people…and they were to be holy as God is holy.
1. It reminded the people that everything they did and said was done in God’s presence.
a. As God’s people, they were being reminded that ever their talk, their conversations and their oath taking was done under God’s watchful eye.
3. What was being Taught – So that’s what God intended.
a. He intended to control lying, to show his people the seriousness of oaths and to remind Israel of the importance of their words.
i. But what about in Jesus’ day? What was being taught about oath taking in Jesus’ day that caused him to set out to correct it?
1. Here’s what was happening…
a. The rabbis developed a highly structured and sophisticated hierarchy of oath taking.
i. In fact, in their writings…called the Mishnah…there was a whole section devoted to oaths.
b. And in it, they spelled out what was a binding oath…and what was a non-binding oath.
ii. So here’s what it boiled down too…
1. The rabbis taught that only oaths that invoked God’s name were binding…
a. These were the only ones that counted…the only vows that needed to be kept.
i. If a person wasn’t at all serious about keeping an oath or a promise---they would sear on lesser things…
1. By heaven, by earth, or by Jerusalem.
a. And since in those oaths people didn’t invoke God’s name…the oath wasn’t binding and thus didn’t need to be kept.
iii. Jesus addresses these kinds of loopholes in Matthew 23. Look at verses 16-22. Matthew 23:16-22
16 “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.’
17 You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred?
18 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.’
19 You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred?
20 So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it.
21 And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it.
22 And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it.
1. Jesus addresses this kind of hierarchy.
a. Binding…swearing by the gold in the temple.
i. Non-binding…Swearing by the temple itself.
1. Swearing by the altar…non-binding.
a. Swearing by the gift on the altar…binding.
i. This is a really confusing system.
2. These are nothing more than loopholes – looking for ways to lie to people…looking for ways to not keep your word.
a. It’s the ancient equivalent of “I had my fingers crossed.”
b. The teachers of Jesus’ day were bringing chaos back to their society by degrading the trustworthiness of people.
i. Playing on people’s penchant for lying…for not doing things they said they would.
1. By saying this is binding but saying that isn’t…is simply another way the religious leaders misused and mishandled God’s Word in order to suit their needs.
a. We saw it with murder – as long as there wasn’t a purposeful and premeditated taking of a life…they were good. Jesus said otherwise.
i. We saw it with adultery…as long as they physically didn’t have sex outside of marriage…they were good. Jesus said otherwise.
b. We saw it with divorce…
i. As long as they gave a certificate of divorce, regardless of reason – they thought they were good…
1. Jesus says otherwise.
c. And here…as long as they kept their word when they swore by the appropriate item…they were good.
i. But Jesus says otherwise.
1. There is no hierarchy of items to swear by, words need to have value.
a. People need to be trusted if society is going to function properly.
4. What Jesus Taught – And its against this background that Jesus come in and says “Don’t make vows or oaths at all!”
a. Don’t play into the hierarchical system of this counts by this doesn’t…
i. Don’t play around with, “I had by fingers crossed.”
1. Given that a whole sophisticated lying pyramid had been developed in Jesus’ day, it is perfectly clear why Jesus specifically mentions “by the earth” or ‘by heaven’…
a. ‘by Jerusalem’ and ‘by my head…”
i. All of those things would most likely be in the ‘non-binding’ category.
1. Meaning if you swore an oath by those things, you didn’t have to keep your word.
b. Jesus reminds his audience that there’s no division between sacred and secular.
i. Everything is sacred because everything belongs to God.
1. Heaven is God’s throne…is dwelling place.
a. Earth is his footstool.
i. Jerusalem is God’s Holy City.
2. The temple is where God’s glory rested…the gold in the temple is sacred because of God’s resident glory.
a. The altar…where God’s accepted sacrifices is sacred…the gift on that altar…sacred because it was offered to God.
i. Your own head…God created you…and you really have no control over it.
1. You don’t determine what colour your hair will be.
a. You don’t determine when you’ll go grey or when your hair will fall out.
3. Jesus is saying there are no ‘lesser things’ to swear oaths by, because everything and everyone belongs to God…everything is important.
c. Jesus sets out to remind his audience…and us today…that everything we do and everything we saw is done in God’s presence…
i. Because everything belongs to God.
1. Jesus says – instead of using fancy and flowery language…instead of swearing by this and making an oath by that…
a. Instead…a Christian’s speech should be marked by decidedly less words.
i. A simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ will do. Why?
ii. Because Jesus knows the duplicitous nature of the human heart…and he knows that those who talk more are most likely trying to deceive you.
1. In modern speech people say all the time, “I swear to God…” or “I swear on my mother’s gave…” as if those phrases add weight to what they’re saying.
a. But more often than not…that person is trying to convince you…or convince themselves…that what they are saying is true…
i. And Jesus tells his followers that less is more.
1. Swearing by this and by that…isn’t religious or theological…it doesn’t add weight to what you are saying…it’s actually superficial.
d. As soon as we feel the need to bolster what we’ve said with an oath in order to persuade others to believe what we’ve said…transparency and truthfulness have been lost.
5. Application – So what about for us today? How does this change our lives? Change our behaviour? Change our speech patterns?
a. This command hits home for us…because we have a tendency to use flowery language…and whether there’s this intent or not…flowery language and deceive others.
i. In this command, Jesus reminds us today that discipleship applies to our speech too.
1. If we are waling with Jesus, following in his footsteps, our speech will be markedly different.
a. Simpler, less-exaggerated, more down to earth.
i. Our speech should be marked by honesty, clarity, simplicity…not invoking God’s name casually.
1. We avoid careless words or meaningless sayings.
b. We don’t think that swearing by this or that will make us more believable or give our words more weight…
i. But we must speak simply, clearly and honestly.
b. Secondly, this command reminds us today that this is a test of our heart.
i. What we speak with our lips comes from our inner being.
1. A dependable heart with utter dependable words.
a. A person with an honest heart will speak honest words.
ii. If we add anything to our ‘yes’ or ‘no’ such as ‘Yes, I swear…” does it mean that when we don’t add the ‘I swear” to it, we don’t mean it as much?
1. See how important words are? How important it is that we choose our words carefully?
a. See how important it is to simply say “Yes’ or ‘No’ and let that stand on its own?
c. And finally, today…this section teaches us that we must be dependable with our words and actions.
i. Jesu said, don’t use flowery language…but let your yes and no stand for themselves.
1. As Christians we should be people of such character and integrity that our words stand for themselves.
a. We should be honest, trustworthy and dependable.
i. No duplicitous hearts, but absolutely dependable and believable.
1. Genuine, guileless and reliable.
ii. When a Christian says “Yes, I’ll be there…” the Christian will always be there.
1. When a Christians says “no” – they always mean no.
a. When a Christian joins a group or agrees to join a study or accepts an invitation…the Christian fully means it and is fully engaged in that group.
i. The Christians shows up…all the time. Not simply going when nothing else is happening, or when he or she feels like it.
1. Not going only when it’s convenient or when you feel like it.
b. We must be people of our word…and when we agree to something, we do so wholehearted and with full commitment.
i. When a Christian agrees to do something – the Christians is fully engaged and committed.
1. Their “yes’ means “Yes, I’m in.”
a. A Christian’s simple ‘yes’ is to be the equivalent of a whole slew of oaths.
d. Jesus teaches us to be careful with our words – Genuine, honest, believable and deceitless.
i. But he also teaches us to be dependable – if people can’t depend on us – if we are always backing out of commitments…or not showing up when we said we would…
1. Then we ae not demonstrating the truthfulness and transparency in our speech that Jesus requires of his followers.
a. Speak simply…act dependably.
i. Clarity in speech, dependability in action…that is what lies at the heart of Jesus’ teaching on taking oaths.