Oct 22 - Matthew 5:33-37

Jesus said,

"Again, you have heard that it

was said to those of ancient times,

‘You shall not swear falsely, but carry out

the vows you have made to the Lord.’

But I say to you, Do not swear 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. ...

Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’;

anything more than this comes

from the evil one.

Matthew 5:33-37

For days, we have been watching Jesus interpret the law.

He states – or restates – the law legally. And then he interprets it spiritually. He is not re-interpreting the law, but showing where the world (in general) and the Pharisees (in particular) have interpreted God's law wrongly. Yes, he is not re-interpreting the law; the Son of God is showing us how to interpret it rightly!

Apparently a hypocritical tradition had developed by the time of Jesus: 

·       If you swore an oath to God, you were absolutely required to keep it. (God forbid that you break an oath to God, right?!) 

·       But if you swore a general oath – one not-to-God or in-any-other-name – you were allowed to break it. 

Do you see the hypocrisy?! The tradition had evolved to officially condone lying!

Jesus vehemently rejected this, "Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one."

Is your word always as clear as 'Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’? Or are you inadvertently aligning yourself with the evil one? (Ouch.)

In Christ's Love,

a guy who threw a "no-no"

is his only Little League

appearance as a pitcher

(That's a no-hitter!)

Note: That's not bragging.

I missed the plate so badly

that they would have needed

a nine-foot bat to hit my pitches.

It was a short pitching career.