Matthew 5:37

Matthew 5:37

I. A very few examples will show us that, as in the case of submission to injury, so in that of abstinence from swearing, our Lord laid down a principle and not a positive precept, and had regard rather to a frame of mind than to definite actions. He Himself, when the high priest adjured Him by the living God to answer his questions, which was a form of putting him on his oath, did not refuse to reply. We read in the Epistle to the Hebrews that God, "willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath," etc.

II. The two great evils into which we are liable to fall when our communication is more than yea and nay, are (1) untruthfulness, and (2) irreverence. Thus we may account for the strength of language in which St. James reiterates the injunction: "Above all things, my brethren, swear not;... but let your yea be yea, and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation." No one can imagine him to mean that swearing is the greatest offence that we can commit; but if the foundation of the Christian society is mutual trust and confidence, then whatever tends to weaken that confidence or to lower our estimate of truth is above all thingsto be shunned. Let us remember that the two virtues of truthfulness and reverence are closely connected with each other, and are the beginning and foundation of all Christian faith and holiness. For "every one who is of the truth heareth God's voice;" Christ came into the world to bear witness of the truth. Any Christian profession which does not spring from the love of truth and the fear of God is unworthy of the name it bears; and therefore in reflecting either on our outward life or on our inmost feelings and convictions these are the two principles to which we must ever recur, and which we must pray God to confirm and strengthen in our hearts.

Bishop Cotton, Marlborough Sermons,p. 234.

Reference: Matthew 5:37. Arthur Mursell, Christian World Pulpit,vol. xviii., p. 24.