Consider also the passage that follows the one on oaths and vows : Matthew 5:38-42 . Jesus teaches on retaliation and uses an “ eye for an eye ” from Exodus 21:24 as His background . Before Moses ’ words , people would often exact more punishment than they had experienced . If , for example , a person stole one sheep , in ancient times the victim might steal two of the offender ’ s sheep . If the first offender than tried to outdo that retribution , he would steal three or four sheep . And on and on . Moses intended to stop the madness of retaliation and pay back offense for offense without any added victimization . Jesus took this process a step further . But , did Jesus mean for us to always and in every situation “ turn the other cheek ”? Every time ? No matter what ?
In regards to oaths , when Caiaphas questioned Jesus in Matthew 26 , he called upon Jesus to answer an oath , and Jesus responded ( Matthew 26:63 , 64 ). Did Jesus break His own instructions ?
Paul details two oaths he took – one in 2 Corinthians 1:23 and the other in Galatians 1:20 . Luke records an oath Paul took in Acts 18:18 ( probably a Nazarite vow ). The writer to the Hebrews in 6:13-18 describes how God Himself confirmed His words with an oath . God and Paul God took oaths .
So how do we manage the words of Jesus about oaths and vows with the whole of the New Testament in mind ?
Returning to the context , Jesus includes His words in the Sermon on the Mount , a primer on life in the Kingdom of God . If you want to know how life would look like when Kingdom principles dominate , study the Sermon on the Mount . Does our present life emulate the Kingdom ? Not really . Most times not even close . But that does not negate the standard God aspires for us to follow .
In the true spirit of the Kingdom , oaths and vows lose their substance since a person ’ s word , in and of itself , becomes a binding action that requires no further support . A “ yes ” means “ yes ” and a “ no ” means “ no ” without any slight or hesitation in application . No lawyers involved . No legal action . No wiggle room . A simple word meets all the complexities of right and wrong . In a Kingdom where humans abide by God ’ s standards , oaths and vows fall into obsolescence . As with the other teachings in the Sermon on the Mount , Jesus desires His children to exhibit Kingdom values in the here and now , rather than awaiting some future fulfillment of their reality .
We can interpret the other sections of the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew 5 – anger , lust , divorce , retaliation , and enemies – in the context of Kingdom life . When Christians follows Kingdom standards , these issues featured by Jesus lose their negative import since the force of light prevails over any demonstration of darkness .
As we study the culture before and during Jesus ’ time , we will note a consistent theme about one ’ s word . If persons did not take an oath , then those persons could fall back with a rather lame excuse if they did not fulfill their word . Think of hearing this : “ Well , I didn ’ t make an oath , so I can break my word . If I had really meant it seriously , I would have taken an oath .”
As children , we would make statements we knew did not “ tell the whole truth ,” but a single action could prevent others from calling us out on the failure to keep our word - crossing our fingers . Somehow , we believed , that if we crossed our fingers while making a statement , our crossed fingers would exonerate us from any responsibility to have uttered the truth in the first place . We would even hide our hand behind our backs to disguise our deception from others .
If someone questioned us on our truthfulness , we would exclaim , “ I crossed my fingers !” Although frustrating to others , that action got us off the hook and restored our character – in our imaginations at least .
The religious elite of Jesus ’ day could claim they “ crossed their fingers ” if they had not actually made the oath and merely gave their word without the confirmation of the oath . Their word did not stand alone as the truth apart from the reciting of an oath . Only the oath or vow would make them fully responsibility for the content of their words .
With His words , Jesus confronts these religious elite who would utter oaths and vows with no intention of fulfilling them . He in-