Communication with Yes, Yes and No, No Matthew 5:37

Matthew shared how Jesus told His disciples if their “righteousness” did not “exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees” they would, “in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Jesus then shared about “murder and adultery” and told His disciples, “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 shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black”, and in chapter five and verse thirty-seven of his book, Matthew shared how Jesus told His disciples,“let your communication be, Yes, yes; No, no” where we read:

But let your communication be, Yes, yes; No, no: for whatsoever is more than these comes of evil.

The verse reads, “ But let your communication be, Yes, yes; No, no.” Matthew began with the word, “But” which means “moreover and” “let” which means “allow and permit” “your communication be” or “the disciple's words, speech, things uttered, decreed, mandated and ordered exist as”,“Yes, yes” which means “verily verily, truly truly, assuredly assuredly and even so even so” “No, no” “no never no never. Jesus instructed His disciples to simply allow their “speech” be “yes” or “no”.

The verse continues, “for whatsoever is more than these comes of evil.” Matthew added the word, “for” which means “because, since and on account that” “whatsoever is more” or “whatever is exceeding abundantly and supremely further and surpassing” “than these” which means “that simply saying yes or no” “comes” or “consists, endures and means” “of evil” or “pertaining to labors, annoyances, hardships, toils, perils, bad, disease and wickedness”. Jesus declared anything more that a simple “yes” or “no” means “bad and wickedness” will come forth.

When we think through Matthew's words in this verse, we see how Jesus wanted His disciples to be men of their word. There was no need to “swear” if they just said “yes” when they meant “yes” and “no” when they meant “no”. If they gave any further explanation or words, the tendency was to have “evil” come from what they said. God desires a “truthful” relationship with everyone through His Son Jesus, and when they yield their lives to Him as “Savior and Lord”, there is no need to answer more than “yes” or “no”.

Next time Jesus said not to “you have hear … an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.