Saturday of Week 10 in Ordinary Time - Matt 5: 33-37

Daily Gospel Exegesis

Logical Bible Study

Christianity, Religion & Spirituality

5 • 629 Ratings

🗓️ 13 June 2025

⏱️ 19 minutes

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Matthew 5: 33-37 - 'Do not swear: say 'Yes' if you mean Yes, 'No' if you mean No.'

Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs:

- 581 (in 'Jesus and the Law') - The Jewish people and their spiritual leaders viewed Jesus as a rabbi. He often argued within the framework of rabbinical interpretation of the Law. Yet Jesus could not help but offend the teachers of the Law, for he was not content to propose his interpretation alongside theirs but taught the people "as one who had authority, and not as their scribes". In Jesus, the same Word of God that had resounded on Mount Sinai to give the written Law to Moses, made itself heard anew on the Mount of the Beatitudes. Jesus did not abolish the Law but fulfilled it by giving its ultimate interpretation in a divine way: "You have heard that it was said to the men of old. . . But I say to you. . ." (abbreviated).

- 2153 (in 'Taking the Name of the Lord in Vain') - In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus explained the second commandment: "You have heard that it was said to the men of old, 'You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.' But I say to you, Do not swear at all.... Let what you say be simply 'Yes' or 'No'; anything more than this comes from the evil one." Jesus teaches that every oath involves a reference to God and that God's presence and his truth must be honored in all speech. Discretion in calling upon God is allied with a respectful awareness of his presence, which all our assertions either witness to or mock.

- 592 (in 'Jesus and Israel's faith in the one God and Saviour') - Jesus did not abolish the Law of Sinai, but rather fulfilled it (cf Mt 5:17-19) with such perfection (cf Jn 8:46) that he revealed its ultimate meaning (cf Mt 5:33) and redeemed the transgressions against it (cf Heb 9:15).

- 2466 (in 'Living in the Truth') - In Jesus Christ, the whole of God's truth has been made manifest. "Full of grace and truth," he came as the "light of the world," he is the Truth. "Whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness." The disciple of Jesus continues in his word so as to know "the truth [that] will make you free" and that sanctifies. To follow Jesus is to live in "the Spirit of truth," whom the Father sends in his name and who leads "into all the truth." To his disciples Jesus teaches the unconditional love of truth: "Let what you say be simply 'Yes or No.'"

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi everyone. Welcome back to daily gospel exegesis. We're having a look at the readings from today's Catholic Mass, and we attempt to provide an exegesis, an analysis
0:22.6	of the literal sense of the text. What was the author trying to communicate to their original
0:28.5	audience? And we should always be starting there as Catholics. Today, if you go to Mass, you'll
0:33.7	hear from Matthew chapter 5 versus 33 to 37. So a short little section here,
0:40.7	which is part of the sermon on the Mount. Jesus said to his disciples, you have learnt how it was said
0:48.5	to our ancestors. You must not break your oath, but must fulfill your oaths to the Lord. But I say this to you. Do not swear at all,
0:59.5	either by heaven, since that is God's throne, or by the earth, since that is his footstool,
1:06.2	or by Jerusalem, since that is the city of the great king. Do not swear by your own head either,
1:14.1	since you cannot turn a single hair white or black. All you need say is yes, if you mean yes,
1:22.2	no, if you mean no. Anything more than this comes from the evil one.
1:29.8	So an interesting passage, and one that seems pretty kind of grounded and very practical.
1:35.8	So let's remind ourselves where we are in this passage.
1:39.2	We're in this sermon on the Mount, and a lot of things happen in the sermon on the Mount,
1:43.5	but primarily it's about
1:45.4	Jesus contrasting the false exterior righteousness of the Pharisees with true internal
1:52.1	righteousness that he wants his followers to have. Now, we're part of the section of the Sermon
1:57.5	on the Mount here, where Jesus is contrasting, you have heard it said with,
2:02.1	but I say to you. So those phrases keep recurring. And he talks about adultery, he talks about
2:07.8	divorce, he talks about murder in this same sort of framework where he's providing the definitive
2:13.4	interpretation of the law over and against the current interpretation which was popular at the
2:18.4	time amongst the Jews. So Jesus says external conformity to the law is not enough. Jesus says
2:25.4	in order for people in the kingdom of God to follow the law of God, it has to be interiorized
	...

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