Matthew 5:33 “You have also heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not break your vows; you must carry out the vows you make to the LORD.’ 34 But I say, do not make any vows! Do not say, ‘By heaven!’ because heaven is God’s throne. 35 And do not say, ‘By the earth!’ because the earth is his footstool. And do not say, ‘By Jerusalem!’ for Jerusalem is the city of the great King. 36 Do not even say, ‘By my head!’ for you can’t turn one hair white or black. 37 Just say a simple, ‘Yes, I will,’ or ‘No, I won’t.’ Anything beyond this is from the evil one.

To say more than yes or no is neither healthy nor fruitful.  Jesus took it further and declared to go beyond saying yes or no and mean it is to be under the influence of the evil one.  Being able to be matter-of-fact due to being confident of what your response should be is a precious thing.

Going beyond could indicate a fear of man, an insincerity of intent meant to move the other person to like you even though you are not in complete agreement with them in your heart.  To tell you the truth, I swear it, or on my mother’s grave, has no power to prove your sincerity.  In this case, the common practice among the Jews was to make a vow and then swear to uphold it by heaven, the earth, Jerusalem, or even by one’s head.  This would have been stated to convince another person of one’s sincerity and commitment.

Jesus was taking the need for such shenanigans off the table.

Many years ago, when I worked for a large company, I had an experience.  It was evaluation time again.  I had already been there several years and had excellent yearly evaluations.  At every review, my boss told me he wished he had ten other workers with my work ethic and abilities.  On the particular occasion, I want to bring to your attention, I was sitting at his desk when he once again, for the umpteenth time, stated how great I was and how he wished he had more like me; he then slipped a piece of paper across his desk showing what my raise would be.  When I viewed what was written on the paper, I was insulted.  What he had written wasn’t even close to what he was stating.  I slid the paper back across his desk, looked him straight in the eyes, and said, “If you believed what you have stated to me just now and the many other times we have had these evaluations, you would never have put such a number before me.”  He acted shocked and declared I do believe what I said to you.  I told him, “Then do not try convincing me with your words. Make that number larger in accordance with what you said; that number you just gave me is nothing more than a cost of living increase.  Your words of flattery do not feed my wife and kids or pay the bills”  I got up and left his office when he told me it was the most he could do.  He got up, following me down the hallway, declaring you can’t just get up and walk out during an evaluation.  I turned and said, “I just did.”

To make this story shorter, he asked me to come back, and I did, and he then slid another piece of paper across his desk to me, reflecting a much better number, to which I said, “This is better, thank you.”

People do not thrive on flattery.  People do not feel secure just because someone offers them insincere, over-the-top statements to get them to trust what they say.  Jesus never spoke words of flattery.  He did not talk to others with insincerity.  Jesus was genuine.  What you saw and what you heard was what you got.  He was consistent.  I want to be consistent and not worry about how others might perceive me but trust the Holy Spirit to help my words land on a heart the way I intended.  I realize I, too, will be misunderstood as Jesus was.  But that’s not bad company to be in.  The insincerity of flattery is like poison. But the genuine encouragement of truth is healing and empowerment to those who love the truth.  You can take what Jesus has declared about you to the bank and cash it in!  His words are true and trustworthy.  He is prepared to back them up with His power.