31 “It was said, ‘Whoever sends his wife away, let him give her a certificate of divorce’; 32 but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. 33 Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not make false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord.’ 34 But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil.”

Today about the only permanent decision, where a person binds his future self to a choice made today, is the one to get a tattoo. Essentially, it’s an oath written in ink on flesh. All other commitments seem short lived. Jesus, however, spoke of a permanent commitment binding a person’s entire future: marriage vows. Scholars of His day enjoyed popular debate over legitimate “loopholes” for getting out of that commitment, with opinions varying from lenient to strict. Jesus dispelled the notion of an easy divorce, giving only one exception, namely unfaithfulness. Today Christians debate this issue as well, some holding to a no-divorce view under any circumstance, while others allow for dissolution of marriage for various reasons of unfaithfulness, abandonment, abuse, unbelieving spouse, etc. Add to that the question of when remarriage is permissible—the issue is just as divisive today as it was in Jesus’ day.

Our Lord held a high view of marriage. He comes back to this subject again in 19:6 where He affirms that, yes, at times humans do in fact “cast asunder” what “God has joined together” (KJV) through sex outside of marriage. His point here is that unfaithfulness in marriage is serious, having a huge potential for destroying what is designed to be a permanent arrangement.

In the case of marriage, Jesus gives the reason for keeping one’s word, but this applies to all of life—Christians should be known for being people of their word. I once had a friend who would try to convince people of the truth of some story he was telling by proclaiming, “I swear on a stack of Bibles!” Implicit in this was admission of questionable veracity in other stories he told. Behavior in the kingdom of heaven means our words should be clear and straightforward, accurately representing reality. Jesus says, “Let your yes be yes and your no be no,” whether in taking marriage vows or in any area of life.

Lord, may my life and my words faithfully reflect an integrity of character, that I might keep my commitments before You.