Considered the strongest, most sensitive, most flexible muscle in our body, the human tongue is…bizarrely wonderful.
It contains 10,000 taste buds and 150,000 nerves which send messages to our brains to detect all manner of various tastes and textures. It’s normally true that men have longer tongues than women, yet it also true that women use the tongue more frequently than men. Women by average speak 20,000 words a day while men only speak around 7,000. This means after one year women on average speak 7.3 million words while men only speak 2.5 million words. That’s a difference of 4.8 million words. That number of words is the equivalent to reading War and Peace, in its entirety, 8 times. It would take the normal man to 3 years to speak as much as a woman does in 1 year. No wonder the number one problem in marriage is communication. Wives speak too much while husbands hardly speak at all!
With our tongues we taste, talk, swallow, lick, smack, spit, or stick them out. With it we can encourage or inflict. We can raise an army to war or rebuke someone in the wrong. We can comfort the hopeless or confront the rebellious. With the tongue we can wage war or woo that special someone. Thus, Proverbs 18 is spot on when it says, “Life and death is in the power of the tongue…” We all know this to be true. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why Jesus teaches on speech in the Sermon on the Mount.
This is in view today, our speech. The text is Matthew 5:33-37, and as we come to it I must say I think this is one of those passages that doesn’t immediately jump off the page as supremely significant to our lives. Yet, a deeper look reveals how truly relevant it is for us.[1] For all us are in need of improvement in our speech, both our inner and outer dialogue. And more so, Jesus sure thought this was an important enough topic to teach on in the Sermon on the Mount, that alone is reason enough for us to give our attention to it.
Two headings before us today. See first…
The Perversion of the Jews (v33)
“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.’”
As we begin here in v33 we must remember what Jesus is doing. He’s not teaching on the insufficient nature of the OT, not at all. Back in 5:17 He told us He came, not to abolish, but to fulfill the OT and bring it to its intended completion. Jesus shows us this in two ways. First, He points out the false interpretation of the scribes and Pharisee’s of His own day. And second, He reveals the true interpretation of the OT, what it was teaching all along, that men have twisted and perverted to their own designs.
We’ve seen that so far in the first few examples He gave on anger, lust, and divorce. But I think we see this even more clearly here in v33. How so? Because v33 is not a quotation from the OT. You can’t and won’t find these exact words in the OT at all.[2] What then is Jesus quoting? He’s summarizing what the scribes and Pharisees teach on oaths and vows.[3]
Now while you can’t find this teaching anywhere in the OT, you will find similar sayings in various passages of Scripture the Pharisee’s used to compile their teaching. Such passages as Exodus 20:7, the third commandment, “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.” The ninth commandment is also in view, Exodus 20:16, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” Leviticus 19:12, “You shall not swear by My name falsely, and so profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.” Numbers 30:2, “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.” And Deut. 6:12-13 was likely in the mix as well, “…take care lest you forget the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. It is the LORD your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by His name you shall swear.”
From all this we can see that an oath or a vow, simply put, has three elements to it. First it begins with a statement of truth. Second, after a truth is stated there is a call to God or a greater party to witness and attest to the truth of the statement. And third, concluding the oath or vow is some kind of action, penalty, or consequence demanded to bind the parties involved. We know what this is. How often have you said or heard someone else say, “I swear to God…” Or maybe you’ve been in court and have had to place your hand on a Bible swearing to tell truth and nothing but the truth followed by the phrase, ‘so help you God.’
This is not all that different from the Jewish leaders of Jesus’ day. They had indeed read and studied these passages and it seemed these Scriptures formed and filled out the understanding of the scribes and Pharisee’s. And so, they read these passages and taught what Jesus says in v33, that one should not swear falsely, but should perform to the Lord what has been sworn. This all sounds well and good on the surface but herein lies the trouble. What began as a good practice devolved into something perverted. The making of oaths and vows might have looked entirely righteous on the surface but these sacred words were often used to hide lies and deceit. It was a common belief among Jews of this time that an oath or vow between man and man didn’t really matter at all if they never brought God’s name into it. Meaning if they left the divine name out of their bond they were free from all guilt, even if they used the oath to defraud their neighbor.
So while oaths and vows are good and encouraged in many places in the OT for rare, solemn, and serious occasions, the people began using oaths and vows for anything and everything. The most awful part being that oaths and vows were filled with religious language, which gave the perception that one was very godly and devout while the oath itself was intended to sneakily trick another. Thus oaths and vows supposed to be seen as sacred, serious, and solemn things, were in reality seen as trivial things that carried little weight. They were seen as words used by hucksters to prove their case.
This is the teaching and the practice Jesus witnessed in His own day, and this is precisely what He intends to expose and correct. How does He correct them? See it next in our second heading…
The Correction of Christ (v34-37)
“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.”
In some of the strongest language available to Him, Jesus corrects all of this falseness by instructing to not take oaths at all! One might at first believe this to be a comprehensive rejection of any kind of oath taking or vow making. But then you read the rest of the NT and find many people entering into oaths and making vows for various purposes. God Himself even makes oaths and vows, accommodating to our weaknesses. But despite these clear facts some throughout Church history have still taught that oaths and vows are not for the Christian. For example all of the Anabaptists take this view against oaths and vows. One of these is well known. George Fox, the founder of the Quakers, was once thrown into prison for refusing to place his hand on a Bible and swear to tell the truth.[4] While that kind of steadfast conviction is certainly admirable, we do not follow suit because Jesus had a particular kind of oath taking in view.
Which kind did He have in view? He goes on to describe the oaths and vows He’s correcting. The kind that swears by heaven, or by the earth, or by Jerusalem, or by one’s own head or self. These examples are the kind of oaths being abused in His own day. We’ve already mentioned this a bit when we said oaths and vows were encouraged in the OT for rare, solemn, and serious occasions, but that the people began using oaths and vows for anything and everything. By stating these examples here Jesus further exposes their sin. You see, the scribes, the Pharisee’s, Jews in general, if they desired to make themselves seem religious or holy or reverent they would use an oath or a vow and would include one of these four examples or others to bring a kind of seriousness to it, showing how devout they were. Yet notice what’s missing in the oath? The divine name of God. By intentionally omitting the divine name the oath maker believed themselves to be free to make an oath or vow concerning anything in life without the fear of guilt. Because, according to them, as long as God isn’t mentioned, no lines are crossed.
It was a sham. It was hollow. It was sin. So Jesus says, don’t make oaths like this at all! And then He explains each one, how it still brings God into it and incurs guilt even if God Himself isn’t mentioned. So those that swore by heaven seemed to forget that heaven is God’s very throne. Those that swore by the earth seemed to forget the earth is God’s very footstool. Those that swore by Jerusalem seemed to forget it is the city of God’s kings. And those that swore by their own heads, seemed to forget that they were mere men, with no great power to bind or change anything themselves. Later on Jesus extends this out further saying one shouldn’t even swear by the temple, or the gold in the temple, or the altar in the temple, or the offering on that altar. All of these are examples of language used in this day prove statements of truth, like, ‘I swear by heaven, or by the temple…that what I’m saying true!’ This language is ironic. They intentionally left out God’s name and yet swore by all the works of God’s hands![5]
This is Jesus’ point. To make an oath or vow like this is to make an oath or vow with God in view even if you never mention God at all. Just because you don’t mention the name of God doesn’t mean you’re successful in keeping God out of the oath or vow. God is above all things, God is over all things, God owns all things, God hears all things, and God knows all things.. Nothing is hidden to Him on all the face of the earth! Everything we do, we do, before the face of God. Therefore, because all of life is lived before the face of God, all we do and everything we say in life is to be considered sacred.[6] Again, if read and study these OT passages about oaths and vows and only insist on the abiding by the external activity commanded, or the letter of the Law, you’ll fall far short of the Law. Jesus points us deeper, to the heart and spirit of the Law.
So what is Jesus’ counsel on oaths and vows? See v37, “Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.”
This is a call for a simple and straightforward truthfulness in all our speech. We who follow Jesus should be people whose words are characterized by integrity and truthfulness, so much so that no formal oath or vow is needed for us to be trusted.[7] This is not teaching that Christians are never to take vows. Vows exist in the NT as well as the OT, and vows exist in the world around us. For marriage, for military service, for holding public office, for testifying in court, and more. Negatively speaking oaths and vows exist because the world is deceptive, careless, and full of lies. Something needs to be added to our speech in order to aid others to trust our speech. Positively speaking oaths and vows exist in the world to remind us of the serious and solemn commitments being made.
So Christians in the world can make oaths and vows when oaths and vows are necessary, but even then they should be rare, fit only for the most sacred and solemn moments. And when they are done, simplicity is best. Anything else that gets added to this, Jesus says, is of evil, or from the evil one.
Conclusion:
Church, at first this might have seemed like a random passage that is at a distance from us in our day. But how relevant is this passage to us given that we just came through an election season where it was and still is common to hear enraged overreaction, embellishment, lies, and deception? It is far too easy for us to point a finger at all of them and call them out for their sinful speech. But Church, Jesus’ teaching here in v33-37 doesn’t just call corrupt politicians in view, His teaching calls out everyone with a tongue. Because we too overreact, embellish, lie, deceive, cheat, make empty promises, dodge, make excuses, state half-truths, and at times we even use God’s very name to back up our sins.
Think of Peter. In Matthew 26 we find the description of Peter’s three denials of Jesus. The first denial was simple. A servant girl recognized him and asked him if he was one of the disciples. Peter responded briefly “I do not know what you mean.” This was a lie for sure, but no false oaths. The second denial gets worse. Another girl recognized him and told some folks nearby that he was with Jesus. Peter responded to them all with an oath saying, “I do not know the man.” Now he’s not just lying, but making an oath too…probably saying something like ‘I swear to God I do not know the man!’ The third denial is worst of all. A bit later a group approached him saying his accent betrays him, and that he was certainly a Galilean like Jesus. Peter responded this time, it says, invoking a curse on himself saying, “I do not know the man.” Not just lying, not just an oath, but now he invokes a curse too! ‘I swear to God I don’t know Him! God is my witness if I’m lying may I be covered in sores from head to toe’ or something similar.
See the use of oaths and vows here? Peter used them to justify himself, and deny the Lord. No wonder why we read next after the rooster crowed, he ran off by himself and wept…bitterly.
None of us are above this Church. However you swear in daily speech: ‘I swear to God…’ ‘I swear on my mothers grave…’ ‘Over my dead body…’, we need to own our sinful speech, repent of it, turn from it, and endeavor after a higher, holier, simpler speech.
The remedy here though isn’t merely to try and fix your tongue, or to make more rules about saying this or not saying that any longer. The remedy lies deeper, in the heart. For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. So if your heart doesn’t treasure Christ, your mouth won’t honor Christ.
If we want to be people who speak beautifully to others we must be people who intentionally seek to see the beauty of Christ. So there is hope. You can begin again. You can start anew. You can return to Jesus, labor to see Him – who He is, what He has done – what He will still do. Seeing Him as He is, the most beautiful Person in the universe. When we see Him, our hearts will be filled up with a stout satisfaction, and our mouths will bear witness that we have seen the King in His beauty. Can you imagine what our congregation would be like if we we’re all seeking this together? Seeing the glory of Christ so clearly that our tongues reflect such beauty? Church, this could change everything. If your heart treasures Christ, your mouth will honor Christ.
[1] A.W. Pink, An Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1969), 97.
[2] Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Studies in the Sermon of the Mount (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1981), 1:263.
[3] R.T. France, The Gospel of Matthew, NICNT (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2007), 214.
[4] R. Kent Hughes, The Sermon on the Mount: The Message of the Kingdom, Preaching the Word Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2001), 131.
[5] Pink, An Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount, 101.
[6] Leon Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew, PNTC (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1992), 125.
[7] Craig L. Blomberg, Matthew: An Exegetical and Theological Exposition of Holy Scripture, NAC (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 1992), 112.
