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Jesus urged a no-frills honesty.
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You also know that in the old days people said, You must not make a false vow, but must do what you have promised the Lord. But what I say is: do not make oaths at all. Do not swear 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 should you swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair black or white. Let your communication be: "yes, yes" or "no, no." Anything beyond that comes from evil.
The prohibition against taking the name of Jehovah in vain included a
prohibition against pledging to do something with God as a witness and
then failing to do it. For example, a person might pledge to give
some, probably pricey, animal offering to the Temple in return for
favor from God, only to renege later. Such an oath was held to be
binding. But scholars have found that Jewish legalists had decided
that any oath given by heaven or earth was not binding. Neither was an
oath by Jerusalem, though an oath toward Jerusalem was (presumably
because God resided inside the Temple's Holy of Holies).
Jesus, ever focused on motive, is saying that such legalistic evasions don't work, as everything has the hand of God on it and in it. The "material world" is in fact holy -- if we could only see that. In fact, what is the point of binding yourself in an oath to God? Should you not already be bound to do the next right thing? In particular, Jesus was guiding his new disciples on how they should behave once they had received the Holy Spirit.
Just say yes or no; everything else is rooted in evil, or, that is, in the fear and doubt that plagues the insecure mind.
Jesus, ever focused on motive, is saying that such legalistic evasions don't work, as everything has the hand of God on it and in it. The "material world" is in fact holy -- if we could only see that. In fact, what is the point of binding yourself in an oath to God? Should you not already be bound to do the next right thing? In particular, Jesus was guiding his new disciples on how they should behave once they had received the Holy Spirit.
Just say yes or no; everything else is rooted in evil, or, that is, in the fear and doubt that plagues the insecure mind.
NEXT PAGE:
Good and plenty
https://secretpath191.blogspot.com/2020/11/good-and-plenty.html
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