June 15, 2019

Gospel: Matthew 5:33-37
You have also heard that people were told in the past: Do not break your oath; an oath sworn to the Lord must be kept. But I tell you this: do not take oaths. Do not swear by the heavens, for they are God’s throne; nor by the earth, because it is his foot stool; nor by Jerusalem, because it is the city of the great king. Do not even swear by your head, because you cannot make a single hair white or black. Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ anything else you say comes from the evil one.

Reflections
“An oath sworn to the Lord must be kept.”
Jesus is aware of what people are expected to do when taking oath. They must do it. They must be serious about it. But Jesus unexpectedly does not want his disciples even to make oaths or promises with all the big props like heaven, earth, Jerusalem or small one like the hair. His followers are supposed to know what they are committed to.
They should stand by their simple “Yes” or “No.” They should simply do it. One should not say “Yes” when he has no intention of doing it. One should also not say “No” when later he wants to do it. Christians should not make false or mixed signals to avoid confusion.
Confusion is the work of the devil. Too bad that our culture forces us to commit to something which we are not convinced of. We participate in activities which at first we have not enlisted our­ selves, causing confusion in our activities.
Christians should be clear and decisive when making or not ma­ king commitments to avoid false expectations. Christians should make good of their commitments to serve the church. It is uncharita­ ble to disappear after declaring in public our availability to serve.

© Copyright Bible Diary 2019