The Great Wall of China is 30 feet high, 18 feet thick, and over 1500 miles long. It was built to protect against invading barbarians, but was actually less secure than expected. At least three times, invading armies

simply bribed a gatekeeper and marched right in. Someone wrote, “Strength without integrity is nothing but a facade for weakness.” Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:33-37 deal with the reliability of a believer’s words. First, the Lord referred to the rabbi’s teaching—“You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.” (v. 33) The Law was clear; why did Jesus need to emphasize it? The religious leaders were clever at getting around the spirit of the Law while keeping it literally. In chapter 23, He listed an elaborate system of oaths they developed to cover up their deceitfulness. Second, the Lord related the error of the teaching—“But I say to you, ‘Do not take an oath at all … for …’” (v. 34) He gave four examples of oaths commonly made by the people, followed by four demonstrations of how they were useless. The problem is: man looks for loopholes, to avoid obeying the law without breaking it. The Pharisees taught how to split hairs and escape being guilty. Oaths using God’s name were binding but those without it could be broken. The result was the loss of respect for a person’s word. We do the same thing today: “May God strike me dead.” … “I swear on my mother’s grave.” … “I swear on a stack of Bibles.” … “Call _________ and see if I’m lying.” Jesus isn’t forbidding all oaths, just deceptive ones that provide a way of escape. Third, the Lord reminded of a believer’s integrity—“Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.” (v. 37) If you have to swear an oath to make people trust you, it’s deceit. Jesus had a simple solution for deception: tell the truth! Be a person of your word; let your words be reliable.

Sin cera, Erik

Erik O. Garthe is Associate Pastor at Canton Baptist Church in Baltimore, Maryland.

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