October 12, 2025
Matthew 5:33-37
“Honest to God”
Service Overview: In a culture of spin, exaggeration, and half-truths, Jesus calls for something simple and stunning: let your “yes” mean yes, and your “no” mean no. This teaching challenges us to live with such integrity that oaths become unnecessary; our character confirms our words, and our speech reflects the truth of God’s kingdom.
Memory Verse for the Week:
Ephesians 4:25 (NIV) – “Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body.”
Background & Technical Insights:
- The taking of oaths and vows was part of life for Jesus’ contemporaries. The two kinds of promises were distinct. An oath was concerned with one’s future actions. A vow was related to objects and their use. Sometimes the effect was one and the same. According to the Old Testament, in swearing an oath, the Lord’s name was not to be used falsely (Lev. 19:12). On this basis, the Jews developed a ‘theology of oaths. (Sinclair B. Ferguson, The Sermon on the Mount, 95)
- The Jews of Jesus’ day revered the idea of truth in principle, but in practice it was buried under their system of tradition, which over the centuries had continually cut God’s law down to fit their own sinful perspectives and purposes. In Matthew 5:33-37 the Lord proceeds to expose their convenient distortion and contradiction of the divine revelation they claimed to love and teach. In these five verses Jesus sets forth the original Mosaic teaching, the traditional perversion of that teaching, and His own reemphasis of what God’s standard for truth has always been. (John MacArthur, Matthew 1-28, 369)
- What we have here in Matthew 5:33-37 (cf. James 5:12) is the condemnation of the flippant, profane, uncalled for, and often hypocritical oath, used in order to make an impression or to spice daily conversation. Over against that evil Jesus commends simple truthfulness in thought, word and deed. (William Hendriksen, Exposition of the Gospel According to Matthew, 309)
- Jesus’ prohibition of all swearing (its comprehensiveness is indicated by the emphatic holōs, “at all”) will be explained in principle in v. 37. With regard to vows, which were voluntary, Jesus is not so much opposing OT legislation as telling his disciples not to take up an option which the law offered but did not require. (R. T. France, The New International Commentary on the New Testament: Matthew, 240)
- This is not the sin of “cursing,” but the sin of using oaths to affirm that what is said is true. The Pharisees used all kinds of tricks to sidestep the truth, and oaths were among them. (Warren Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, 21)
What does Jesus reveal about the kind of honesty that honors God?
- Kingdom honesty begins with integrity of heart.
(vv. 33–34, cf. Ps 15:1–2; 24:3–4; Pr 4:23; 10:9; 11:3; Lk 6:45; Eph 4:25; Jas 3:10–12)
The point of this passage is integrity. Jesus observes that since God witnesses every word we say anyway, we should be able to tell the truth without having to call God to witness by a formal oath. (Craig S. Keener, Matthew, 115)
Sincerity means that the appearance and the reality are exactly the same. Remember, says Jesus, that you stand before the tribunal of God, not of men; practise the right kind of speech and your Father in heaven will back up all that is true. If you have to back it up yourself, it is of the evil one. (Oswald Chambers, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, 38)
- Kingdom honesty refuses manipulative speech.
(vv. 34–36, cf. Pr 6:16–19; 26:24–26; 2 Co 4:2; Eph 4:29; Col 3:9; 1 Th 2:3–5; Jas 1:26)
To dishonor and compromise any truth is to dishonor and compromise [God’s] truth. Heaven is God’s, the earth is God’s, Jerusalem is God’s, and every person’s head is God’s. It is therefore wicked and sinful to use anything of God’s, whether His name or a part of His creation, as witness to anything that is dishonest, deceitful, insincere, or in the least way knowingly false. (John MacArthur, New Testament Commentary: Matthew 1-28, 375)
Jesus’ prohibition of swearing is based on the assumption that God requires truthfulness. A simple Yes or No should be all that is needed. As soon as it is necessary to bolster it with an oath in order to persuade others to believe what is said, the ideal of transparent truthfulness has been compromised. (R. T. France, The New International Commentary on the New Testament: Matthew, 241)
- Kingdom honesty speaks with simple consistency.
(v. 37, cf. Ps 34:13; Pr 12:22; 25:14; Zec 8:16; Eph 4:15; Jas 5:12; 1 Pe 3:10)
Jesus sets aside the intricate discussion of the relative weight of different oaths in favour of the ideal of simple truthfulness, which makes oaths and vows unnecessary. (D. A. Carson, New Bible Commentary, 912)
In Our Lord’s day the habit was common, as it is to-day, of backing up ordinary assertions with an appeal to the name of God. Jesus checks that, He says never call on anything in the nature of God to attest what you say, speak simply and truly, realizing that truth in a man is the same as truth in God. (Oswald Chambers, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, 39)
Our Lord is saying that the radically righteous men and women of God’s kingdom do not need to swear that they are telling the truth and in fact should refrain from using oaths and vows. Here again Christ surpasses and supersedes the requirements of the Law. The radically righteous do not need oaths. Their word is truth! (R. Kent Hughes, The Sermon on the Mount, 126)
How can we cultivate the kind of honesty that reflects the heart of God?
- By examining our hearts before we open our mouths.
(1 Sa 16:7; Ps 19:14; 139:23–24; Pr 21:2; 28:13; Mt 15:18; Lk 6:45; Heb 4:12; Jas 4:8)
Jesus taught that our conversation should be so honest, and our character so true, that we would not need “crutches” to get people to believe us. (Warren Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, 21)
You ought not to have to call in anyone to back up your word; your word ought to be sufficient; whether men believe you or not is a matter of indifference. (Oswald Chambers, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, 38)
Christ calls us to a life of profound truthfulness. Our problem is that we live in a radically deceptive world, a world that is deceitful at its very roots. We are awash in a sea of media deception. (R. Kent Hughes, The Sermon on the Mount, 128)
- By remembering our every word echoes before a holy God.
(Ps 19:14; 139:4; Pr 15:3; Eccl 5:2; Mt 12:36–37; Heb 4:13)
Jesus’ followers should be people whose words are so characterized by integrity that others need no formal assurance of their truthfulness in order to trust them. (Craig L. Blomberg, Matthew, 112)
You and I as Christians are to live our lives differently than those around us. We are to handle the driving forces—anger, sex, and so on—on a totally different basis than the society of which we are a part. Now, Jesus is saying, the same is to be true of our communication. (Stuart Briscoe, The Sermon on the Mount, 113)
The huge mistake nearly every “prophetic” person under the sun makes is to say, “The Lord told me.” I sometimes think God looks down from heaven and says, “Really?” It is the worst kind of name-dropping. I realize you are only wanting them to believe God has spoken. But the reason you are using God’s name is so they will take your word seriously. You may not realize it, but chances are you are not doing this to make God look good—you are misusing His name, appealing to that name to make yourself look good. And credible. (R. T. Kendall, The Sermon on the Mount, 147)
The greatest freedom is having nothing to prove. (R. T. Kendall, The Sermon on the Mount, 147)
God does not need to be invited into certain departments of life, and kept out of others. He is everywhere, all through life and in every activity of life. He hears not only the words which are spoken in his name; he hears all words; and there cannot be any such thing as a form of words which evades bringing God into any transaction. We will regard all promises as sacred if we remember that all promises are made in the presence of God. (William Barclay, Matthew, Vol. 1, 160)
Gospel Connection:
Because the Word kept His word (even unto death) we who broke ours can be forgiven and made new.
(Jn 1:14; 17:17; Ro 5:8; 2 Co 5:21; Php 2:8; Col 3:9–10; Heb 10:23; 1 Pe 2:22–24; 1 Jn 1:9)
When you look at the Cross, what do you see? You see God’s awesome faithfulness. Nothing – not even the instinct to spare His own Son – will turn Him back from keeping His word. (Sinclair Ferguson, A Heart for God, 46)
Christians claim to have the truth, and to follow him who is the Truth (John 14:6). In our conversations, therefore, truth must be our watchword. (D.A. Carson, The Sermon on the Mount, 48)
Spiritual Challenge Questions…
Reflect on these questions in your time with the Lord this week, or discuss with a Christian family member or Life Group.
- How does Jesus words, “Let your yes be yes,” challenge our speech?
- Why do people sometimes feel the need to “strengthen” their words with oaths? What does that reveal about the heart?
- In what ways can modern culture (social media, advertising, politics) tempt us toward manipulative or self-serving speech?
- Jesus says anything beyond ‘yes’ and ‘no’ comes from the evil one. What does this teach us about the spiritual stakes of our speech?
- How can the gospel free us from the fear or pride that leads to dishonest words?
- How can our words become a witness to Christ—the One who kept His word even unto death?
HFM @ Home …
Resources for discipleship from the Free Methodist and Heidelberg Catechisms; providing solid, historic, Scripture-based teaching to help us learn and reflect on our shared faith as Jesus’ disciples.
The Heidelberg Catechism
Q3. How do you come to know your misery?
- The law of God tells me. (Rom. 3:20; 7:7-25)
Q4. What does God’s law require of us?
- Christ teaches us this in summary in Matthew 22:37-40:
“‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’1 This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’2 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (1 Deut. 6:5 2 Lev. 19:18)
“The Bible Actually Is the Word of God”9
In His mercy God has revealed this truth to us. Our primary source of revelation is the Holy Scriptures.10 Further, God has guided the church through the centuries so that it has come to understand the teachings of the Scriptures.11
“The Scriptures… Testify About Jesus”12
The Holy Scriptures are the written record of Moses, the prophets, the apostles and especially Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh. These Scriptures report to us what God has done both in His saving work for Israel and through Jesus Christ and what this saving work means. They also teach us about other subjects such as: human nature, God’s will for our lives and our eternal destiny.
“All Scripture Is God-Breathed”13
God, by His Holy Spirit, uniquely inspired the prophets and apostles to give us His truth in a written form. Though the authors of the Scriptures originally addressed their messages to peoples of ancient times in their own languages and literary forms, God continues to speak through this Word to each generation and each culture. The unique inspiration of the Scriptures is shown by:
- the authorization of its writers to speak for God14
- divine assistance which enabled them to speak God’s Word 15
- the Spirit’s illumination of the written Word as it has been read throughout the ages. 16
9 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 10 John 5:39; 11 John 16:13; 12 John 5:39; 13 2 Timothy 3:16; 14 Exodus 3:2-4:17; Isaiah 6:1: Mark 3:14-15; 15 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:2-21; 16 1 John 2:24-27