The Weekend Word
Matthew 5:33-48
Oaths
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.’
Wow, you would think that taking an oath and standing by the oath would be a good thing.
34 But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God,
- But Jesus said; do not take an oath in the first place.
- Heaven or earth or Jerusalem is all the same as invoking God’s name.
- This is not to a specific commandment, but could be tied to the 2nd “not taking the Lord’s name in vain.”
- The understanding here is that in this culture, there had developed a grand system of elaborate ranking of oaths by their Validity and Binding.
- What was the highest you swore on as a kid?
35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.
- All of these include “I swear on my grandmother’s grave.”
- What are you going to swear by that matters or that you have control of?
36 And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.
- You can’t even swear by yourself as you have no control over yourself.
37 Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.
- Have the reputation where your YES or NO are believed.
- As disciples of Jesus, we are not to use words lightly.
** Jesus continues his authoritative exposition of the divine intent of the Torah ***
38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’
- This is not punitive, but is the proper limitation of punishment.
- If you do something the proper action should be equal – not “you poked out an eye, I am going to cut your head off.”
- It was meant to be the Biblical admonition = just penalties and recompense.
- What was happening was everything was turning into keeping score – tit for tat – Do unto others before they can do it to you
- LXX Exodus 21:24 = eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.
- Lev 24:20 = “bruise for bruise, eye for eye, tooth for tooth: as any one may inflict a blemish on a man, so shall it be rendered to him.
- ”Deut 19:21 = “And the rest shall hear and fear, and do no more according to this evil thing in the midst of you. Thine eye shall not spare him: thou shalt exact life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.”
- Retaliation = Revenge
39 But I say to you, do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.
- This is personal to the person and not in the civil realm.
- Societies & Governments need to live by the law or they invite chaos.
- This goes to the doctrine of the 2 kingdoms.
40 And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.
41 And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.
42 Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.
- These 23 verses contain one thought.
- Instead of a spirit of grudging recompense and quick revenge – Jesus calls us to lives of reckless generosity and naiveté.
- If we are to err, it should be on the side of not retaliating, But yielding – of giving or being taken advantage of.
- But Luther also warned – “Christ is not telling me to give what I have to any scoundrel that comes along and to deprive my family of its or others who may need it and whom I am obliged to help, and then to suffer want myself and become a burden to others.”
- He is not saying that we should give and lend to everyone, but “to him who begs from us.”, that is the one who really needs it.”
What about your attitude towards your Enemies?
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
- So why be good? It looks like God hands out his goodies to all equally.
- Now understand that my objection comes as a true baby boomer, who expects things to be fair.
46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?
47 And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?
48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
- A great statement of the law – left by itself.
- How does it sound if I send you out of here with just that message?
- But in reality, this is gospel in that the only way we can get this perfection, is that Jesus gives us His perfection in the Great Exchange.
“So why be good? It looks like God hands out his goodies to all equally.
Now, understand my objection comes as a true baby boomer, who expects things to be fair”
Isn’t that just it, though? it seems a radical concept to thing of God as unfair.
Good thing we don’t get what we deserve……
Vs. 48: Our perfection must correspond to God’s perfection? Woah!
That doesn’t sound like grading on a curve.
“What was the highest you swore on as a kid?” in my neighborhood it was “cross my heart and hope to die!” 🙂
good lesson… brought to mind the Romans study – the apostle Paul got the message… Romans 12
Put last weeks lesson with this weeks lesson…and if it doesn’t break you, there’s a problem.
I don’t hurry to reconcile.
I don’t turn the other cheek.
I don’t look much like this at all.
We want to believe the enemy of the church is the culture…I think I’m it’s enemy.
Vs. 45 defines what we Reformed types call “common grace”.
It is not the same as saving grace…
Is the Pledge of Allegiance an oath?
The Jehovah witnesses think so.
#7- from my computer dictionary: allegiance:”noun loyalty or commitment of a subordinate to a superior or of an individual to a group or cause : those wishing to receive citizenship must swear allegiance to the republic ”
by that definition, i don’t think it is an oath… when i was a Girl Scout we recited what we, then, called the Girl Scout “promise” “I promise to do my duty….” … i think those scouting required recitations are now referred to as oaths – not sure… because then… we have the question of marriage vows… hmmm
i guess my ponder now is, is a promise an oath or just a statement of intent? thinking….
I have never said the Pledge of Allegiance, even since high school. I always stand respectfully and don’t make a fuss. My allegiance is to a different Kingdom.
Xenia,
I do the same.
Once you realize who’s image is in you, then you know what to render to God or Caesar.
“I don’t hurry to reconcile.
I don’t turn the other cheek.
I don’t look much like this at all.
We want to believe the enemy of the church is the culture…I think I’m it’s enemy.”
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Yes, because we have enmity between the flesh and the spirit. Perhaps the culture is made up of us and that’s the problem? 😉
not pledging allegiance to the nation doesn’t make sense to me… i, as a born again Christian member of this society pledge my allegiance to this nation and to its Republic … this is the land that i love for a lot of reasons…
maybe i am brain washed – as a skinny, yellow haired tomboy six year old in a country at war when we stood every morning before class and pledged allegiance (it wasn’t “under God” then) we were thinking about liberty and justice being destroyed – we were the good guys praising the Lord and passing the ammunition… didn’t quite have the good guys sorted out yet as somebody named Stalin in a dark far away place was on our side…
i now see a nation disintegrating in front of my eyes, so would i pledge allegiance to the geography,Old Faithful and the Grand Canyon and those amber waves of grain, apples and hay that are mostly shipped abroad to make somebody, hiding behind a slogan of feeding the hungry, filthy rich? dunno
if i can’t pledge allegiance to a nation i, for sure, wouldn’t want to suit up, take arms to defend it… so…. hmmm… maybe the JWs have a point worthy of consideration? dunno
“i now see a nation disintegrating in front of my eyes,”
I went to a retirement party for a friend Friday evening. Three young co-workers of my friend brought their babies with them. Yep, people are marrying, working, buying homes and starting families.
Nothing is disintegrating! Advertisers, however, are selling a lot of advertising on cable news apparently, because some are fixated on the latest sign of the [fill in the blank].
If anyone thinks the nation is disintegrating, please unplug from that false narrative. The nation is strong. There’s a groundswell of love and charity in this nation, even though it’s absent, ironically, in many church bodies and leaders.
Jean, with due respect, what you are declaring is that your area is strong – my area, too, is strong – it is an agriculture based section of the nation and a major (for now) shipping port – from the PNW we are bleeding wheat, beans, apples, cherries, hay (yes, even cattle fodder), gasoline (we have a law against exporting our oil, but none against exporting gasoline)…
my understanding (possibly incorrect figure) is that 80% of what we grow is shipped out of the country now…
is your argument that the rising tide lifts all boats? most folk in this nation ain’t got no boat
i wish we hadn’t sold ours, it might be a good time to put out to sea 🙂
to focus on the TV scare mongering “buy gold” hucksters is to focus on a red herring (don’t buy those guaranteed for life insurance policies either – IMHO)
that said, it is the structure and accountability of our government that is eroding and if that seems wrong to you, then all i can reply is that i hope you are correct, i really, sincerely do, but i smell fascism growing and it isn’t wearing a Republican shirt – well maybe there’s an elephant on its front, but it has donkey ears and on the back it says, “y’all come – i’m looking out for you” and the head sticking out the top is a generic politician’s
” Yep, people are marrying, working, buying homes and starting families.” that’s in your neighborhood
up here, i should have mentioned that one can work a good job and not be able to afford to buy a house and rentals? hope your parents have a basement
up here the houses are being bought up by foreign investors looking for a place to park their money – they’ll buy them at an inflated price and may rent them – to whom, i don’t know, or they’ll lock the door and leave them sitting vacant… this is not rumor, it is fact – it began in Canada and has spread south – Vancouver BC is trying to find a legal means to stop the practice
our local bureaucrats are pushing for what amounts to high density, “working class” ghettos now – forget that car in your garage or the driveway, you won’t have either one – take the bus
every city with jobs will be another, more sterile version of NY City – i guess that’s okay, but it doesn’t fit Jean’s description
and i should mention that i have a daughter very involved in local politics, city planning and such, so my info at #17 is not being fed to me by the TV
MLD asks, “What about your attitude towards your Enemies?” which is why i stopped by 🙂
the first question to ask is, “do you have enemies?” i’m betting that most have folk that they don’t get along with, but real enemies? hmmm
we were discussing that last night a bit… if you really are standing firm as a Christian, you probably will have enemies… it is sometimes hard to know how to be diplomatic and a peace keeper and still stand uncompromising for our Lord… thank God for grace, He knows our hearts and minds and our clumsy ways 🙂
if i post one more comment – “recent comments” at 5:20 will be all Ems lol
I agree with Jean about America not disinigrating. What we see as problems is in our effort to learn how to live in a global community, a global economy and a global geo political system. We should be commended for our efforts and realize we have some failures to deal with.
We are still strong, wealthy and believe it or not the moral beacon of the world.
Check it out the gates in the US swing in far far more times than they swing out.
I don’t think the pledge of allegience is an oath in the way that this passage is speking. I think the key i what you swear by.
I swear on a sack of Bibles
I swear on my grandmother’s grave
I swear by infinity
I swear by infinity doubled. 😉
What he is saying is do not take an oath that you need to include something higher than yourself, because (1) you will not keep it and (2) the things you swear by “my grandmother’s grave” do nothing to help you keep the oath.
Just be a person who can be trusted when he says yes or no.
I think the pledge is an matter of conscience and probably does not meet the exegetical definition of an oath.
I can only pledge allegiance to one kingdom, because other kingdoms have competing agendas.
I cannot do so as a matter of my conscience,but that does not bind anyone else.
I understand what you are saying, I just didn’t want people to confuse the context in which Jesus is speaking.
This could bring up the wedding vows – is that not an oath to love, honor cherish and obey? Again, even if it could be considered an oath, it is not what Jesus is speaking of.
MLD,
I am basically agreeing with your conclusion.
I only mentioned the topic as some sects do consider the pledge, wedding vows, and trial situations as being unbiblical oaths.
I have a real hard time with the “last days of America” meme.
When I was a kid we had drills to get under our desks in case of nuclear attack.
Underneath Medford is a series of “civil defense” tunnels that everyone has forgotten about.
My generation saw the assassination of our President in the midst of this.
In ’68 we had the symbol for civil rights killed and the late Presidents brother murdered as well.
Meanwhile the cities and campuses were often on fire.
This is nothing…but if we keep prophesying doom it will come.
Michael – and this is why I teach… to straighten those folks out. 😉
MLD @ 27…my mail says you’re doing a fine job. 🙂
“I have a real hard time with the “last days of America” meme.”
Yeah, me, too.
It almost always goes along with a Religious Right rant.
They speak with forked tongue.
one last question: are we confusing things a bit – the last days of this Republic – the one intended by our forefathers – the one i see disintegrating – the one that it is clear to me, from what i read here, is no longer even understood – have no bearing on the disintegration of this North American nation – or continent – what is ahead in that regard is an open question
the times they are indeed changing – travel and communication have put us in a whole new framework – good or bad? only time will tell
Em,
I think when ever this topic comes up we talk past each other because we have a different frame of reference for how we understand the nation generationally.
My generation has no heroic war to look back on.
We have Vietnam and our escapades in the Middle East.
We have heroes assassinated, Nixon resigning, and a host of other corruption that is the norm.
When I hear really patriotic people speaking about America, I do not recognize the place they are speaking of.
This is a good place to live.
The Bill of Rights is an incredible document.
The ideals we profess are the finest possible…but we have had real issues living up to them.
Foreigners didn’t buy up all our housing and drive the market north…Californians did.
This made me very angry until I dealt with the reality that Oregonians sold out.
I was in favor of hanging, but was out voted by my now wealthy neighbors…
I will take up arms to defend the State of Jefferson and if they come for our water they’ll never know what hit them. 🙂
Michael, what you say is true… a different frame of reference – not so much due to that heroic war… my husband served in the Korean war and many of my generation served in Viet Nam (those were heroic men, no matter the wars or the outcomes) and they were an education for us all as Eisenhower’s warning about the military industrial complex came into full bloom (my husband said that, if our son came of age and that war was still on, he’d be in Canada before he was 18)… but where did the young ones (equally heroic) come from to go to the Middle East? most from the blow on 9/11 i suspect, but that was long ago and politics hasn’t been able to hide its ugly self – we’re all wiser and less trusting now
yes, this is a good place to live
yes, the Bill of Rights is an incredible document (so was the Declaration of Independence), but it takes integrity, intelligence and guts to make it function
yes, the ideals we profess are fine ideals for a nation to aspire to – we want life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, but those don’t come showering down from heaven – all men aren’t really created equal, all are endowed by their Creator with certain rights, but not those that we want to think are inalienable by declaration…
so our frames of reference do vary, yet not by the times, themselves, as much as by who we trust … ultimately most here have ultimately chosen wisely on that – IMHO