JESUS said to His disciples, “You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, ‘Do not take a false oath, but make good to the Lord all that you vow.’ But I say to you, do not swear at all; not by heaven, for it is God’s throne; nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Do not swear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black. Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ Anything more is from the evil one.”
The WORD Today
Jesus voices out His opposition to oaths because these involve swearing. A Jew makes an oath to guarantee the truthfulness of his statement. The oath-formula, although avoiding naming God directly, still tries to involve him as the guarantor of the affirmations. The expressions "by heaven," "by earth," "by Jerusalem" are all indirect references to God. For Jesus, to use these is to infringe on God’s majesty and transcendence. It is just like taking the Lord’s name in vain. No one can call on God to testify to one’s sincerity. No one can control God for any purpose.
Jesus exhorts His disciples to be plainly truthful and trustworthy. Since they are witnesses to the truth of the gospel, they should never stop being truthful. By swearing an oath, they themselves cast a shadow of doubt over their other affirmations. Thus, they play into the hands of their enemy who constantly seeks to discredit them and the gospel they preach.
SOURCE:
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