What is the meaning of Matthew 5:33? Again Jesus continues a pattern He has already used several times in this chapter. • Matthew 5:21, 27, 31 all begin with similar wording, showing a series of clarifications. • Each “again” highlights that the Lord is raising the righteousness bar, not lowering it (Matthew 5:20). you have heard In first-century Israel most people knew Scripture by listening, not by personal reading. • Jesus points to the common oral teaching of the day—what they had “heard” in synagogues and from rabbis (Mark 7:13). • By saying “you have heard,” He invites listeners to compare familiar tradition with God’s true intent (Matthew 15:6-9). that it was said to the ancients The phrase reaches back to the commandments given to Israel’s forefathers at Sinai. • Exodus 20:7 warns against taking the LORD’s name in vain. • Numbers 30:2 commands, “When a man makes a vow to the LORD…he must not break his word.” • Deuteronomy 23:21-23 stresses that vows are voluntary yet binding once spoken. Jesus honors these original statutes while exposing how later teachers had weakened them. Do not break your oath Breaking an oath is more than poor etiquette; it is sin against a holy God. • Psalm 15:4 commends the one “who keeps his oath even when it hurts.” • Ecclesiastes 5:4-5 urges, “When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it.” • James 5:12 echoes Jesus by warning against careless swearing. The Lord underscores that integrity must permeate every promise, public or private. but fulfill your vows to the Lord The positive command finishes the thought: every promise made before God must be completed. • “Sacrifice a thank offering to God, and fulfill your vows to the Most High” (Psalm 50:14). • Jonah, rescued from the fish, declared, “I will fulfill what I have vowed” (Jonah 2:9). • Even common speech is ultimately spoken before God (Colossians 3:17), so honesty is worship. Jesus will soon say, “Let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’ ” (Matthew 5:37), calling believers to live such transparent truthfulness that elaborate oaths become unnecessary. summary Matthew 5:33 confronts casual, loophole-laden oath-making by recalling God’s ancient demand for absolute truthfulness. Jesus reminds His listeners—and us—that every word is spoken in God’s hearing, so promises must be reliable, swift to be kept, and free from manipulation. Living this way reflects the Father’s own faithful character to a watching world. |
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