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Jesus says in Matthew 5:37, “Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil” (Matt. 5:37). In this admonition from the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus challenged the Pharisees’ elaborate system of taking oaths by heaven or the earth or Jerusalem or even one’s own head. The Pharisees had a sliding scale of honesty. In their thinking, the importance of an oath was tied to the importance of the object they swore by. Jesus asserted that it did not matter what you swore by. God is everywhere. He sees all. He knows all. He hears your words: “Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No.’”
Before we say, “Well, of course,” let us consider this. How would our behavior and the integrity of our speech change if our every word and deed were captured on video and livestreamed for all to see? The fact that such a scenario would modify what we say and do shows the degree to which we accept subtle shading of the truth as acceptable sin. We often say things that are misleading or even intended to create a false impression. We use words to enhance our reputation or even claim accomplishments that are fortuitous rather than reflective of skill and ability.
Jesus is reminding us here that the battle for honesty is not fought in large epic conquests where we boldly and bravely tell the truth even at great cost. It is fought in the mundane and ordinary everyday matters of “yes” and “no.” A person of integrity does not say one thing and do another. He does not say one thing and think another. He does not say one thing here and something else there. “Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No.’”
How can you and I become people of integrity? We must confront the hard truth that we cannot change ourselves. As Jesus says in this passage, “You cannot make one hair white or black” (v. 36). Christ is the model of integrity. In the unseen world of eternity, He made a promise to come into this world, to live without sin for us, and to die as a sacrifice for the sins of His people. In fulfillment of His Word, He came as the Lamb slain from before the foundation of the world. At Gethsemane, as the weight of bearing our sins settled in on Him, He let His “yes” be “yes.” Jesus kept His word for us. If we see Him dying in the dark and know that it was for us, it will melt our hearts and enable us to live in the dark for Him.
Being a Christian does not mean that we have it all together and will never fail to live in perfect honesty. Being a Christian means that we admit that we need Him and His perfect righteousness. It means admitting that we often fail to live with integrity. It means coming to Him for forgiveness and empowerment to let our “yes” be “yes” and our “no” be “no.”