Swear Not at All Matthew 5:34

Matthew shared how Jesus began to preach saying, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”, and He called Peter, Andrew, James and John to be His followers. Matthew continued to share how Jesus' fame spread throughout Galilee, and many others were gathered unto Him. Matthew continued by sharing how Jesus taught concerning the “beatitudes” of the “Kingdom of Heaven”, and He said His disciples were the “salt of the earth” and the “light of the world” and 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 continued with the example, “You have heard that it was said by them of old time, You shall not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: ... whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, you fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has ought against you: Leave there your gift before the altar, and go your way; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles you are in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver you to the judge, and the judge deliver you to the officer, and you be cast into prison. Verily I say unto you, You shall by no means come out from there, till you have paid the uttermost farthing. You have heard that it was said by them of old time, You shall not commit adultery. But I say unto you, That whosoever looks on a woman to lust after her

has committed adultery with her already in his heart. And if your right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from you: for it is profitable for you that one of your members should perish, and not that your whole body should be cast into hell. And if your right hand offend you, cut it off, and cast it from you: for it is profitable for you that one of your members should perish, and not that your whole body should be cast into hell. It has been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causes her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced commits adultery.” Jesus added, “Again, you have heard that it has been said by them of old time, You shall not forswear yourself, but shall perform unto the Lord your oaths”, and in chapter five and verse thirty-four of his book, Matthew shared how Jesus told His disciples,“swear not at all” where we read:

But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne:

The verse reads, “But I say unto you, Swear not at all;” Matthew began with the word, “but” which means “moreover and”, “I say” which means “Jesus utters, declares and proclaims” “unto you” or “to His disciples”,“swear not” which means “do not affirm, promise or threaten with an oath” “at all” or “wholly and altogether”. Rather than speaking with highly inflated and promising words that will not be kept, Jesus told His disciples not to ever “make oaths”.

The verse continues, “neither by heaven; for it is God's throne:” Matthew added the words, “neither by heaven” which means “not by the region above the sidereal heavens, the seat of order of things eternal and consummately perfect where God dwells and other heavenly beings”: “for” or “because, since and on account that” “it is God's” which means “heaven is the Godhead bodily and trinity's” “throne” which refers to “chair having a footstool which denotes kingly power or royalty”. Jesus told His disciples they were not to “swear” by “heaven” because “heaven” is used by God as His “throne”.

When we think through Matthew's words in this verse, we recognize that people usually “swear” by something that is greater than they. For example, “I swear on the Bible” or “I swear on my mother's grave” or some other thing that is of more importance. Jesus told His disciples not to “swear at all”. In other words, there should be no need to “swear” by anything when a person is truthful. Jesus wants to have a relationship with every person, and He knows the failure people have when it comes to speaking “truthful” and without a “lie”. This is why He came. Jesus desires to “save” people from the heart issue of being untruthful, and those who are wise will yield their lives to the One known as “the truth” who said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6)

Next time Jesus tells His disciples not to “swear”, “by the earth” or “Jerusalem”, 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.