Wouldn’t it be nice if we lived in a
world where people were just like Pinocchio? What I mean is, wouldn’t it be
nice if when a person lied, their nose grew, or there was some other physical
sign to tell us they were lying. When you go buy a new vehicle you can ask the
sales person, “do you really think it’s worth the price you are asking or it?”
And you could be sure that no one would pull the wool over your eyes.
We live in an era where people are
always trying to lie to us. Most advertisement is designed as a lie.
Advertisements are designed to send you the message, “you need this, and you
won’t be happy without it.” That’s a lie. Most of the time, these subtle lies
are just meant to make us discontent with what we have so someone can get us to
part with money. And then there are more direct ways of lying. Con-men and
scams. You really have to watch out today because there are scams everywhere.
Someone might call you on the phone, in your own home, and tell you they are
from the IRS or from your bank and that you need to give them some information.
We are usually trusting, so an unsuspecting person may give them the
information without suspecting anything is wrong, and be swindled for thousands
of dollars.
In many ways, it would be nice if we
had some physical sign, like Pinocchio’s nose that told us when someone is
lying to us.
The next passage from Jesus’
explanation of the law talks about truth telling. He doesn’t quote the commandment
against “bearing false witness.” Rather, he reflects on an implication of it.
And Just as in the passages we looked at for the last few weeks, he leaves no
one off the hook.
As we have seen earlier in the Sermon
on the Mount, Jesus had said, “You think you’re doing pretty good because you
haven’t killed anyone? Have you been angry?” You think you are doing pretty
good because you haven’t physically committed adultery? Have you looked at a
woman with lustful intent.” Now Jesus says, “You think you are doing pretty
good because you tell the truth?”
Let’s see what Jesus says in Matthew
5:33-37:
33 “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.’
34 But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it
is the throne of God,
35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is
the city of the great King.
36 And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white
or black.
37 Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this
comes from evil.
Jesus continues in the same pattern.
He begins with “again,” telling us that he’s doing the same thing in this text
as he has done in the others. He says, “you have heard that it was said…, but I
say to you….”
“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.’” This statement is based upon the 9th commandment.
“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor,” which we often
shorten to “you shall not lie.”
The 9th commandment, “you
shall not lie,” is fundamentally important to all human interaction and it is
rooted in the very nature of God. God is truth. Jesus said, “I am the way, the
TRUTH, and the life.” Hebrews tells us that it is “impossible for God to lie.”
And, we worship a God who has spoken to us in a book. We believe the Bible is
God’s word and that it is true from cover to cover—every jot and tittle—because
if it were not true it would make God a liar.
It is also fundamental to human
interaction. Think of all the things in life that we count on truth telling
for.
- Marriage is based on making promises to one another—this breaks down if we cannot trust what people say.
- Business dealings count on truth telling. You want to know if you are being taken advantage of or being treated fairly. Every time you buy anything, whether a new car or house, or a bread and milk at the store, we want to know that what we are buying is good and that no one is pulling the wool over our eyes.
- Education—you want to know that your doctor really did his homework, that he didn’t cheat on his tests, and that he really did get his medical degree from a reputable institution, and that he didn’t just print off a fake diploma and lie on his resume.
Every day we communicate with people
and we depend on a system of mutual trust. When we lie it breaks that trust and
it undermines all of our interactions as human beings.
It also breaks down our readiness to
trust in God. If everywhere we look, people are lying to one another, how are
we supposed to respond when we come to a book that tells us who God is? And
more so for believers. If a person can’t trust us to tell them the truth about
things in our own individual lives, how will they trust us when we share the
Gospel?
While what Jesus says is based in the
9th commandment, it focuses in on one application of the
commandment. It focuses in on vows and oaths. He says, “you have heard that it was said to
those of old, you shall not swear falsely, but you shall perform to the Lord
what you have sworn.” So when you make a vow or a promise, it must be taken
seriously. When you make a vow, you bind yourself by your words. God takes this
seriously, and he expects us to follow through.
Now what is a vow? It is a promise
where we imply, “what I am saying is as certain as the thing I am vowing on.”
We have heard people say “I swear to God.” What that expression means is, “you
can trust what I say as firmly and as certain as you can trust God.” We have
heard people say, “I’ll swear on a stack of Bibles.” A person who says such a
thing is trying to give more weight to what they say. In effect it means, “you
can trust what I’m saying as much as you can trust what God says.”
However, Jesus here says to us not to
take an oath at all. He says, “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.”
This seems pretty odd. It seems that
the Old Testament allowed swearing an oath. In fact God swore often by himself to
express his promises to his people. What seems to be the problem here?
First of all, swearing an oath had
become abused. We see this in Matthew 23:16-17, where Jesus says, “Woe to you
blind guides who say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if
anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath. You blind
fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple which made the gold
sacred?” People began to abuse oaths. They would say that certain things were
not as important if you swear by them, but others are more important. They
would make loopholes to allow themselves to break their word.
Second, making vows makes you in
danger of breaking the 3rd commandment as well. The 3rd
commandment says, “You shall not take the name of the Lord thy god in vain.” We
often think that taking God’s name in vain is when a person uses God’s name as
a curse word. However, it is more than that. When we speak of God, we need to
speak with an understanding of who we are talking about. We should speak,
feeling the weight of who he is. We shouldn’t be frivolous when we speak about
God. Jesus is saying that we should not make a vow by heaven because it is
God’s throne, or by earth because it is God’s footstool, because when we do we
are in danger of breaking that command as well. What happens if we don’t
fulfill our word? It isn’t just us that is implicated, it is God himself.
Jesus also warns us against even
swearing by our own heads. He says, “And do not swear by your own head, for you
cannot make one hair white or black.” There are things you don’t have control
over. We are limited and we don’t have the ability to control our
circumstances. So Jesus warns us, don’t swear by your head, because you don’t
have the ability to control the circumstances. Something might happen that you
were not expecting and stand in the way of your fulfilling your vow.
Finally, Jesus says to us, “Let what
you say be simply ‘yes’ or ‘no”; anything more than this comes from evil.” The
final reason Jesus warns against vows is that they are unnecessary. Vows assume
that they are some how more binding than regular speech, but Jesus is saying to
us that we should be people of our word. We shouldn’t need to make a “vow” to
leverage us into a position where we keep our word. In a way, making vows
cheapens the idea of telling the truth in our normal speech. By saying you
really have to be sure to keep your promise because of the nature of the vow,
it seems to lessen the force of just saying, “I will do this.”
Jesus wants his people to have
credibility. He doesn’t want us to be people who have to bind themselves by
oaths to be trusted. He wants every word we say to be trustworthy.
Just like Jesus did with murder and
adultery, he does with truth telling as well. Do you think you are a good
person because you keep your promises? Do you think you are a good person
because when you make a deal with someone you always follow through? Think
again. God doesn’t just expect us to be truthful when we make a promise or
express our will in the form of a vow. He expects every word to be truthful.
Often we say things that we cannot
fulfill because they are out of our control. Often we may fudge on the truth
for our own advantage or for convenience. Jesus warns us in Matthew 12:36-37
that “on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they
speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be
condemned.”
We have all spoken careless words,
and we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ one day. We will all
give an account to God, not just for the things we say in the form of an oath,
but every word will be laid bare. Who can stand before this Holy God who judges
the hearts and knows our every secret?
But there is a remedy. Jesus is the
remedy. While we are all sinners, while we have all spoken careless words and
even hurtful words, Jesus was totally sinless. He was innocent of all guilt. He
lived a perfect life of obedience to the Father from his birth in Bethlehem to
his crucifixion on Calvary. And when he died, he died as a sacrificial
substitute for us. When we believe on him, he takes our mess and he makes us
new. He washes us clean from all guilt and sin. He gives us a righteousness
that is not our own. The righteousness of Jesus is counted to us.
How can we know this is true? Because
He promised. His word says, “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord
and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be
saved. For with the heart one believes
and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who
believes in him will not be put to shame.”
For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is
Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the
Lord will be saved.”
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