Swearing by the Temple and By God - Matthew 23:21

Matthew the apostle wrote how Jesus said, “Woe unto you, you blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor! You fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifies the gold? And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever swears by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty. You fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift. Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, swears by it, and by all things thereon”, and in chapter twenty-three and verse twenty-one of his book, Matthew wrote how Jesus shared about, “whoso shall swear by the temple” where we read:

And whoso shall swear by the temple, swears by it, and by him that dwells therein.

The verse reads, “And whoso shall swear by the temple, ...”. Matthew began with the words, “and whoso” which means “whatever person whether male or female” “shall swear” which means “will affirm, promise and invoke with an oath” “by the temple” or “using the temple at Jerusalem, but only of the sacred edifice (or sanctuary) itself, consisting of the Holy place and the Holy of Holies”. Matthew shared how Jesus referred to the person who “makes and oath” by the temple in Jerusalem.

The verse continues, “... swears by it, and by him that dwells therein.” Matthew added the words, “swears by it” which means “affirms, promises and invokes with an oath by the temple”, “and by him that dwells therein” which means “and by the person who dwells and lives within the temple”. Matthew shared how Jesus said the person who “makes an oath” by the “temple in Jerusalem” also “swears” by the people who are within the temple.

When we meditate upon Matthew's words in this verse, we see how Jesus spoke concerning “swearing” by the “temple” and the people within the “temple”. Neither one is excluded from the other, and when the “scribes and Pharisees” “swore” by the “temple”, they were actually “swearing” by the people inside as well. Jesus desires to have a relationship with people based upon “truth”, and there is no need to “swear” by anything when the word of a person is “observed, kept and valid”. Let all who consider these words understand the “temple” and those within it are as one, and simply telling the truth complies with Jesus' ways.

Next time we see Matthew write how Jesus makes a statement about, “he that shall swear by heaven”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

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