Jesus’ Teaching on Oaths

“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.” –Matthew 5:33-37 (ESV).

An oath involved invoking God’s name, or substitutes for His name.  By thus speaking, it was to indicate a guarantee of the truth of the statement.  Moses taught this about taking vows, as we read in Numbers 20: 1-2 (ESV): “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’”  Jesus was essentially saying that it is not necessary to reinforce your speech by vowing by something you think is solid and sure, as “I swear by heaven,”  or “As I live and breathe…” A Christian’s word should be his bond without the necessity of adding anything to make the vow sound more authentic.  Jesus’ followers are not to swear at all.  Their very character and lifestyle should stand for truth so that they will be believed by their very words.  To swear by something is not ever necessary.

What about being asked to serve on a jury, or to appear in a court of law as a witness?  Is taking an oath forbidden under these circumstances?.  We know that law requires us to swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.  In Jesus’ admonition to ‘swear not at all,’ was he forbidding Christians to participate in these obligations of our society?  Hardly.  He was looking forward to a time, (ideal, indeed), when truthfulness will be so binding that oaths will not be necessary, even in the courts of the land.  We certainly have not come to this point yet in our society.  Even at His own trial before the Sanhedrin, Jesus allowed Himself to be put on oath:  “And the high priest stood up and said, ‘Have you no answer to make?  What is it that these men testify against you?’ But Jesus remained silent.  And the high priest said to him, ‘I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.  Jesus said to him, ‘You have said so.  But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven” (Matthew 26:62-64, ESV).

We sometimes fall into undesirable speech patterns.  I cringe when I hear someone say, “I swear” and then they go on to state what they have to say.  Even by the prefactory phrase, “I swear” a flag goes up and I listen—and also observe the speaker—to see if I can discern whether the truth is actually being spoken.  To swear by God, by heaven, or by something substantial in nature or in society does not add an iota of truth to one’s statement.  Jesus is teaching that the truth should be told at all times, and that the character of the speaker should be beyond reproach so that hearers will know the person speaks the truth.  It is not necessary to preface what we say by an oath.  Jesus is teaching in Matthew 5:33-37 that our conversation should be so honest and our character so trustworthy that we do not need crutches such as oaths to have people believe us.  Words attributed to Solomon in Proverbs 10:19-20 fit well as we consider that oaths are not necessary to our speech:  “When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent.  The tongue of the righteous is choice silver; the heart of the wicked is of little worth.”  May we remember Jesus’ teaching about oaths the next time we are tempted to use an oath to preface what we say.  Just say what you mean and mean what you say.