An oath is to call on someone greater than ourselves to assure that our words are true. In the Old Testament God assured the Israelites that he would do what he had promised. After Abraham’s sacrifice, God made an oath to Abraham. He said, “By myself I have sworn” (Gen 22:16). This was to assure Abraham that God would keep his promises, because God is true. In the New Testament, we read that people swore by the gold of the temple, but they did not keep their promises. Therefore, in the Gospel proclamation, Jesus tells the people that everything belongs to the Lord, so if they made an oath by the temple, or by Jerusalem or by their hair, it made no difference because everything belongs to the Lord. Jesus cautions us to be careful about our words and instructs us that it is better to refrain from oaths. He wants us to practice being truthful whenever we speak so that we will not need oaths. Let our “yes” mean “yes” and our “no” mean “no.”

PRAYER: Abba Father, may we seek to honour you in every word we speak. Amen.