What is the meaning of Matthew 23:20? So then The Lord’s words “So then” (Matthew 23:20) tie this verse to His immediate rebuke of the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus has just exposed their habit of making fine-sounding distinctions between kinds of oaths (Matthew 23:16-19). With “So then,” He draws the unavoidable conclusion: every oath is ultimately made before God Himself. • Earlier in the Sermon on the Mount He said, “Do not swear at all… Let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’” (Matthew 5:34, 37). • James reinforces the point: “Above all, my brothers, do not swear… so that you will not fall under judgment” (James 5:12). The phrase signals that what follows is not optional advice but binding truth flowing from God’s unchanging character. He who swears by the altar The altar in the temple was the God-ordained place for sacrifices (Exodus 27:1-8; 1 Kings 8:64). Swearing “by the altar” sounded pious, yet the religious leaders treated it as a lesser oath, conveniently breakable (Matthew 23:18). Jesus rejects that loophole. • Anything connected to God’s worship carries His authority (Malachi 1:6-8). • Even under the New Covenant the imagery of an altar points to Christ’s sacrifice (Hebrews 13:10). Calling on the altar in an oath is therefore calling on the God who prescribed it. Swears by it “Swears by it” underscores that the altar itself—made holy by God’s command—cannot be separated from Him. • “I will wash my hands in innocence and go around Your altar, O LORD” (Psalm 26:6) highlights that the altar belongs to the LORD. • Isaiah hears the seraph touch the altar’s coal to his lips, declaring, “Your guilt is taken away” (Isaiah 6:6-7). Only God can give that power. By invoking the altar, a person is, whether he admits it or not, placing himself under the scrutiny of the Holy One. And by everything on it The leaders claimed that only an oath “by the gift on the altar” was binding (Matthew 23:18-19). Jesus reverses their logic: the altar sanctifies the gift, so an oath by the altar also includes “everything on it.” • Sacrifices placed on the altar were “a pleasing aroma to the LORD” (Leviticus 1:9). • Under the New Covenant, Jesus “offered for all time one sacrifice for sins” (Hebrews 10:12). Every offering points to God’s ultimate provision, and swearing in its presence calls down His witness and judgment. summary Jesus demolishes man-made rankings of oaths. The moment someone swears “by the altar,” he has already sworn before the God who designed it and accepts the sacrifices upon it. No part of divine worship can be cordoned off as a safe zone for casual promises. Christ’s words press believers to straightforward truthfulness, knowing that every word is spoken in the presence of the living God. |
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