But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil. Matthew 5: 34-37

I don’t think the above position taken by Jesus means that all oaths are bad; that none should be uttered by the Christian. After all, God Himself has participated in oaths. He has sworn by Himself (Genesis 22: 16; Hebrews 6: 13, 17); and He has sworn to man (Genesis 26: 3; Psalm 105: 9; 132: 11).

Furthermore, there’s an oath in Exodus 22: 10, 11 to be considered. God established it and required it to be observed among the Israelites.  It is especially because of that verse that I see a principle that allows for the Christian to take an oath, but only in judicial matters. “If a man gives his neighbor a donkey, an ox, a sheep, or any animal to keep for him, and it dies or is hurt or is driven away while no one is looking, an oath before the Lord shall be made by the two of them that he has not laid hands on his neighbor’s property; and its owner shall accept it, and he shall not make restitution.”

Then there is the judicial situation in which Jesus found Himself before the high priest (Matthew 26: 63, 64). Preceding his question to Jesus, the priest declared that Jesus’ answer be given with God being His witness. If Jesus was adamant about not swearing by anything at all, then that would’ve been an excellent time to show His followers, then and now, not to respond under oath. However, He proceeded to answer the priest. It seems that when required by law to call directly upon God as witness to testimony, it is the right and, of course, natural thing for the Christian to do.

I believe that Jesus’ stance against oath taking refers to instances of swearing that we make in everyday, common speech. To pledge by heaven, God’s throne, the earth, our lives or anything else, implies that the fulfillment of our word is guaranteed by our ownership of these things. Of course that’s not true, being that all belongs to the Lord.

My thinking is that Jesus viewed making an oath, based on anything belonging to God, as akin to breaking the third commandment— which is not to use the name of the Lord in vain. Jesus doesn’t want us to speak from behind shielded phrases that are misleading and sacrilegious in nature.

It comes across to me from the context of the Bible as a whole, that it is in the case of ordinary speech throughout the day that Jesus makes the point that oath taking is unnecessary. The truth should always be present in the Christian’s common speech. It is simply enough that it be conveyed in our “yes” and “no.”