But I say to you, do not swear at all

 

 "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery.'  But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.  If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.  And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.

"Furthermore it has been said, 'Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.'  But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.

"Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.'  But I say to you, do not swear at all:  neither by heaven, for it is God's throne; nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.  Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black.  But let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No.'  For whatever is more than these is from the evil one."

 

- Matthew 5:27-37 

 

We are currently reading through the Sermon on the Mount.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus taught:  " "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.'  But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.  And whoever says to his brother, 'Raca!' shall be in danger of the council.  But whoever says, 'You fool!' shall be in danger of hell fire.  Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way.  First be reconciled to your brother, then come and offer your gift.  Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison.  Assuredly, I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny."

 

 "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery.'  But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart."  My study Bible explains that the issue here is not the God-given mutual attraction of men and women, but the selfish promptings of lust.  Sin doesn't come out of nature, it says, but out of the distortion of nature for self-indulgence.  Thoughts which enter the mind involuntarily are not sins, they are temptations.  They become sins only when they are held and entertained.  

"If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.  And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell."  This imagery, of casting off an eye or hand, is meant to be illustrative of decisive action to avoid sin, and to continue in purity.  An eye may glance with covetousness and greed, a hand may reach out for what does not belong to it.  We must consider Christ's message as vivid in order to convey the importance of our inner state of mind and our awareness of where we are led.

"Furthermore it has been said, 'Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.'  But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery."  My study Bible comments that in contrast to the easy access to divorce under the Mosaic Law, and because of the misuse of divorce in His time, Jesus repeatedly condemns divorce (Matthew 19:8-9) and emphasizes the eternal nature of marriage.  The possibility of divorce on the grounds of sexual immorality is actually a very important teaching, because it tells us that marriage can be destroyed by sin -- indeed sin, in its very nature, is abusive to relationships and hence to community.  Broken relationships are part of what is often called the brokenness of the world.  The early Church would expand cause for divorce to include other specific abuses of the marriage relationship.  My study Bible comments that while recognizing divorce as a serious sin, the Orthodox Church allows divorce and a second marriage as a concession to human weakness and as a corrective measure of compassion when a marriage has been broken.  A third marriage is permitted under specific, limited circumstances, and a fourth is never permitted.

"Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.'  But I say to you, do not swear at all:  neither by heaven, for it is God's throne; nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.  Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black.  But let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No.'  For whatever is more than these is from the evil one."  My study Bible comments that trust cannot be secured by swearing an oath by things that are not in the possession of human beings anyway, but only by simple integrity.

I'm intrigued by Christ's statement on swearing oaths.  Just like the significance of our inner thoughts and the importance of our awareness of them (and understanding of the potential in them), Christ is trying to teach us about the significance of our words and how important they are.  We don't need to swear oaths at all, according to Jesus.  Let us pay attention to the powerful things He wants us to recognize:  to swear by heaven is to implement the very throne of God into what we wish to attest to.  To swear by the earth is to put into our own oath God's creation.  Jerusalem is known still as the Holy City, the one that belongs to God the great King.   This phrase, "the great King," is found in Psalm 48.  It is one that praises God, and the "city of our God," which is Jerusalem.  The psalmist writes, "God is in her palaces; He is known as her refuge."  It is the "city of the Lord of hosts."  As Christians, we understand the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets in Christ has also meant that we understand the fulfillment of this spiritual history to be in the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of God, and the place out of which the Gospel, the Word of God, comes.  This is the fulfillment of the Lord of hosts, the presence of God the Holy Spirit "in our palaces" indwelling the world as in the tabernacle.  Jesus is telling us that our own integrity must be substantial, equivalent even to these powerful things, of which we are not the author, nor are we in control.  But our own word, our own integrity, can be that powerful if we stick, in humility, with what is simple and true.  He says it more perfectly than anyone else with His own simple turn of phrase:  "But let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No.' "  And He adds, "For whatever is more than these is from the evil one."  What I take this to mean is that when we get beyond a simple focus on our own integrity, and in the humility we have in the light of God, we invite in the grandiose, the thoughts that lead us astray that He's already warned us about, all the things that gather about to tempt us to be more than we really need to be if we are following His word and command.  The whole world will seemingly conspire to ask us to be more:  to be more powerful, to have a greater looking spouse, or home, or attractive and impressive sounding job, and especially to carry more social clout in whatever way that might happen or manifest in our particular circle of the world.  But Christ asks us to get down to what really matters and count on that as all the world's wealth:  that our words -- even the simplest of them -- carry meaning and value through our own integrity.  This is the rock bottom of His call to cast away from ourselves the thoughts that lead us astray with selfishness or greed at their root, looking with the eye and grabbing with the hand what seems to be better, or where the grass must be greener.  We start off with the heart and learn to treasure integrity, a purity and simplicity He has preached from the beginning of this Sermon.  For this is where our real treasure and value will be, and this is all we really have in our control.

 

 

If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you

 "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery.'  But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.  If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.  And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.

"Furthermore it has been said, 'Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.'  But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.

"Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.'  But I say to you, do not swear at all:  neither by heaven, for it is God's throne; nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.  Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black.  But let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No.'  For whatever is more than these is from the evil one."

- Matthew 5:27-37

We are currently reading through the Sermon on the Mount, which begins with Matthew chapter 5.  Yesterday we read that Jesus taught:  "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.'  But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.  And whoever says to his brother, 'Raca!' shall be in danger of the council.  But whoever says, 'You fool!' shall be in danger of hell fire.  Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leaven your gift there before the altar, and go your way.  First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.  Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison.  Assuredly, I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny."

"You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery.'  But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart."  In yesterday's reading, Jesus quoted and then elaborated on the statute against murder.  In today's He quotes the statute against adultery (Exodus 20:14, Deuteronomy 5:18).  My study bible says that the issue here is not the God-given mutual attraction of men and women, but rather a selfish prompting of lust.  It says that sin doesn't come out of nature, but rather out of the distortion of nature for self-indulgence.  When we have thoughts that enter our mind involuntarily, that is a temptation, not a sin.  But something becomes a sin only when such thoughts are held and entertained.  The key idea here is selfishness.  To lust after something or someone is to desire possession.

"If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.  And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell."  My study bible says that the imagery here isn't to be taken literally, but rather refers to decisive action to avoid sin and to continue in purity.  Jesus will use similar imagery in 18:8.  If we think about the eye in the context of what Jesus is saying, this is about how we look at things.  Do we desire selfish possession?  To get something (or someone) in order to use it in some way?  The hand reaches out to grasp and grab; again Jesus' reference is to a form of theft, prompted by an indulgence in desire.  We begin within ourselves, not with the simple letter of the Law, in order to prevent loss of the soul, and life in Christ.  Jesus suggests a voluntary sacrifice of what can feel like a true part of ourselves, in order to truly save ourselves.  My study bible calls it "decisive action to avoid sin."

"Furthermore it has been said, 'Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.'  But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery."   Jesus' words are in contrast to the easy access to divorce under Mosaic Law, and He also references the misuse of divorce in His time.  He repeatedly condemns divorce (see also 19:8-9, in which Jesus speaks of the "hardness of your hearts"), emphasizing the eternal and holy nature of marriage.  Here the possibility of divorce on the grounds of sexual immorality tells us that, like other things, marriage can be destroyed by sin.  The early Church would extend some grounds for divorce.  Jesus' emphasis is on relationship and relatedness; not on possession.

"Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.'  But I say to you, do not swear at all:  neither by heaven, for it is God's throne; nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.  Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black.  But let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No.'  For whatever is more than these is from the evil one."  My study bible says that trust cannot be secured by swearing and oath by this that are not in a person's possession anyway.  Only simple integrity creates trust.  Once again, there is an emphasis here on the internal, not the external.  A type of purity of heart is referenced here, in which our external actions reflect an internal condition.

What is personal integrity?  What does it mean to each person?  In Christianity, we follow the teaching of the Old Testament, that we are each created in God's image.  What does that mean exactly?  Jesus as eternally-begotten Son of God, Incarnate as human being, gives us an image of God via His human life.  (See John 14:8-9, in which Jesus says, "He who has seen Me has seen the Father").  As such, we who are created in the image of God have an integrity to cultivate that reflects our capabilities to become more "like God," with qualities we learn from Christ.  Jesus speaks against pure selfishness as motivation in life, and so the cultivation of who we truly are is not about a selfish demand for acquisition and possession.  To feel an attraction for someone is "natural" in the sense of what is given by God.  To take this into a form of desire for possession or use, and to cultivate that within ourselves, is not.  Jesus speaks against divorce in terms of the "hardness of hearts" He mentions in 19:8, not as a consequence of abuse in a marriage, but rather as a consequence of simple displeasure with one treated as a sort of property.  (We should remember that only men could initiate divorce.)  Jesus emphasizes the process of the internal shaping the external, and the need to understand ourselves and change what needs changing to more truly reflect this image in which we were created.  "Hardness of heart" surely indicates a failure of growth, of wisdom, of righteousness.  The powerful injunction to swear no oaths reflects this emphasis on real integrity and what that means.  It isn't a question of simply reflecting one's desires, but rather a question of fidelity to the image in which we're created.  If our "yes" means "yes," and "no" means "no," then we are not false to others.  We reflect a type of fidelity to our own meanings and values; we testify truly to ourselves and our character.  Jesus' emphasis is on the cultivation of such character.  The drastic images of self-mutilation teach us that we must cut off self-centered impulses that lead us away from the true image of the self as creation of God.  We're headed in the wrong direction with a kind of selfish goal or drive.  Rather than living a righteous or right-related life, this will lead us to abuse, to the breaking of relationship.  Being true to a bond of relationship also falls into the category of speaking truly without need of swearing by an external.  The emphasis here is on the heart, the center of the self -- and the clear teaching is the malleability of that heart, our capacity for growth and change and repentance, to more truly reflect the image in which we're created.  How do you turn to Christ for help with that?  Does integrity of this sort count in your life?  Does it make a difference in your world and community?