Matthew 5:33-37 “Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:
But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne:
Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.
Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.
But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.”
“Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?”
How many times has this sentence been spoken in a courtroom? Thousands, tens of thousands of times every day I’m sure.
To “swear” something means to make a solemn statement or promise undertaking to do something or affirming that something is the case. To make an oath.
There is a saying that a man is as good as his word, meaning, if someone says that they are going to do something, they will do it. They are honest and trustworthy and don’t need to add a bunch of oaths and declarations to try to instill confidence that they will carry out what they have said they will do.
Jesus, in John 14, told His disciples that He was going to do something.
John 14:1-4 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.
Here Jesus was speaking to His disciples and He told them that He was going to do something. He was preparing a place for them, and when He came back He would bring them there to be with Him. Jesus didn’t add an oath to the end of His promise by saying, I swear by God in heaven that I will do this. He didn’t need to, and do you know why? Because Jesus does not lie. He tells the truth and does what He says He will do. He IS preparing a place for us, and He WILL come again.
Really, if someone needs to swear an oath about something then it means that they are not always truthful. They are not always honest 100% of the time, so it requires them swearing an oath to make others believe them.
As Christians, we have been taught to let our yes be yes and our no be no. Honest speech all the time. The Apostle James reiterated what Jesus taught in James 5:12 – “But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation.”
Yes, or no. That is all a person needs to say.
In Christ,
Andrew
Teufer Lake King James Bible Church 