SHARING BREAD
16 “Woe to you, blind guides! You
say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by
the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ 17 You blind fools! Which is
greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? 18 You also say, ‘If anyone
swears by the altar, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gift on it,
he is bound by his oath.’ 19 You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that
makes the gift sacred? 20 Therefore, he who swears by the altar swears by it and by
everything on it. 21 And he who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one
who dwells in it. 22 And he who swears by heaven swears by God's
throne and by the one who sits on it.”
Matt
23:16-22 (NIV)
“Blind
guides!”, “Blind fools!”, “Blind men!” –
not sounding too good for these religious leaders of Jesus’ day. In God’s estimation, those in leadership and
teaching positions are held in higher accountability for the truth they profess
as well as for their walk to match their talk.
Having professed to have a clearer knowledge of Truth, these teachers
were all the more bound to obey it. James
tells us:
1 Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my
brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. James 3:1 (NIV)
In our verses for today Jesus exposes the duplicitous
character of the religious elite who tricked their following by making fine
lines of distinction that could possibly invalidate oaths. They were forever allowing mental
reservations within their vows. Bottom line, they were not truly seeking to abide
by their word. In God’s estimation,
oaths are not something to tinker with or taken lightly – FYI. God detests any breach of faith whatever the
case may be. We are to be honest before our
Creator and His creation and careful of every verbal commitment we utter. God never looks lightly upon unfulfilled vows
freely falling from our lips – our words and actions matter very much to Him. He sees all and judges even the thoughts and
attitudes of our hearts. We are told in
Deuteronomy to be sure to do whatever our lips utter because we make our vows
freely with our own mouths:
21 If you make a vow to the LORD your God, do not be slow
to pay it, for the LORD your God will certainly demand it of you and you will
be guilty of sin. 22 But
if you refrain from making a vow, you will not be guilty. 23 Whatever your lips utter you must be sure to do,
because you made your vow freely to the LORD your God with your own mouth. Deut 23:21-23 (NIV)
Jesus took this a step further in the Sermon on the Mount by
stating we are not to even vow at all, simply let our “yes” be “yes” and our “no’s”
“no”. We are to be a people so well known
for living Truth and not deception that our word is our bond making vows unnecessary. Our lives should back up our words. All
oaths tend to do is emphasize the wickedness in a man’s heart.
33 “Again, you have heard that it
was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths
you have made to the Lord.’ 34 But
I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God's throne; 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or
by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36 And do not swear by your head, for you
cannot make even one hair white or black. 37 Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’
‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.” Matt 5:33-37 (NIV)
“When you read God’s Word, you must constantly be saying to
yourself, ‘It is talking to me, and about me.’” Soren Kierkegaard
“Every
time we resist the slightest temptation, we honor God. Every time we overcome even the smallest
problem by trusting and obeying our Lord Jesus, God is glorified in our
lives. Whenever we choose character over
convenience, faithfulness over ease, or honesty over deceit, we bring honor to
the Lord Himself.” Robert J. Morgan
However
we do find in Scripture both Jesus and Paul submitting to the world’s standards
regarding vows yet it is not to be our regular practice. Later in Matthew we discover the Lord Jesus finally
stating under oath to the high priest that He was indeed the Christ after a
period of silence. This serves as an
indication that it is not a sin to be forced to state an oath. Sometimes it is necessary for Truth’s sake to
submit to this practice as a confirmation to the world of the truthfulness of
our word:
62 Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, “Are
you not going to answer? What is this
testimony that these men are bringing against you?” 63 But Jesus remained silent. The high priest said to him, “I charge you
under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” 64 “Yes, it is as you say,” Jesus replied. “But I say to all of you: In the future you will see the Son
of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of
heaven.” Matt 26:62-64 (NIV)
Paul stated to the church in Corinth:
23 I call God as my witness that it was in order to spare
you that I did not return to Corinth. 2 Cor 1:23 (NIV)
What I glean from this:
· God calls teachers
to a higher accountability.
· It is
important to God that I do what I say.
· I honor
God (or dishonor God) before others by my life and words therefore I am to be
very careful. It is important to Him how
I live my life.
