“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: 33-37.

Woe unto you, you blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor!  You fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifies the gold?  And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever swears by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty.  You fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift?  Whosoever therefore shall swear by the altar, swears by it, and by all things thereon.  And whosoever shall swear by the temple, swears by it, and by him that dwells therein.  And he that shall swear by heaven, swears by the throne of God, and by Him that sits thereon. Matthew 23:16-22.

This is really important, you have to know this:

  • Jesus exposed the religious leaders’ twisted games with truth and condemned their hypocritical oath systems as blindness and folly.

  • They exalted the gold and the gift above the temple and the altar that sanctified them—missing entirely the holiness of God and the call to integrity.

  • In both teachings, Jesus rejected all forms of deceptive speech, loopholes, and religious theatrics.

  • Jesus commanded this instead: speak the truth plainly. Mean what you say. Keep your word without needing to swear. Anything more comes from the evil one.

Our Father who sees all requires nothing less than honesty from the heart. The disciple of Christ must be known not by oaths, but by trustworthiness—whose yes means yes, and no means no.