5:33
Now we come to oaths. This does not mean it is a sin to take an oath in court, or some similar situation. Lev 19:12 spoke about not swearing falsely by God’s name, but the point of this was that doing so would dishonour the name of the Lord. Num 30:2 also talks about honouring an oath. But our hearts being what they are, some took this as meaning that if we did not take an oath then lying or not keeping our word was less serious. Jesus is emphatically saying that this is not the case!
5:34-37
People would swear oaths by all sorts of things, and quite possibly arguing about the veracity allowed with each oath! Jesus is pointing out that all this is a load of nonsense. They were completely missing the point. We are meant to tell the truth, our word is meant to be as reliable as it can be. Playing around with the truth, being economical with the truth, or saying things which are technically “true” but are in fact misleading, all these things comes from the devil. God is true and we are meant to be like God in righteousness. The devil is the father of lies, and we are not meant to be like him!
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