Day 16

When we swear by the Name of God, and 1 Ephes. iv. 24, 2 Ibid . 25.

call upon Him as witness, it is in order that our own word — weak in itself — should be made strong and inviolable by the intervention of the Sacred Name. But if we are filled with God, and clothed with Jesus Christ, the truth itself is in us ; and our utterances, being strengthened by the merits of the very source whence they spring, need not to be supported by the sacredness of an oath.

There used to be people who thought that they were not swearing solemnly so long as they did not bring in the name of God : — that if they only asseverated by heaven, or earth, or the Holy City — and so forth — they were not taking a profane oath. But Jesus Christ here decides that in all this there is something which, as relating to God, should be held as more or less sacred, and should not be profaned by man’s using it to swear by.

There is yet another remarkable saying on this point. ‘Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black .’ 1 Of all the things we call our own, there is not one that we can really control — not even the colour of our hair. Never say, then, ‘ I swear by my head,’

1 Matt. v. 36.

meaning 4 1 devote myself,’ or, as we commonly have it, * I offer my head to such and such a penalty ’ \ because, far from having any power over your own head, you have none over even your hairs, to produce them, make them grow, or change their colour. Be therefore subject to God, and never speak as though you were able yourself to dispose of the smallest thing.

Seventeenth 2>av Brotherly love : Extent of Christian Perfection . — Matt. v. 38-43.

R Lord here returns to that obligation of loving one another of which He has already said that, far from being at liberty to kill, or even to strike, we must not go so far as to get angry with our brother, nor show bitterness against him by insulting words ; that if there had been any dispute we must be ready to make it up easily; and that, if possible, we should not employ a judge to settle quarrels, nor even a mediator to bring together hearts that were estranged. This is because we have a natural mediator who will work reconciliation between us: — Jesus Christ, and His grace and spirit of charity within our souls. We must, then, cultivate a conciliatory spirit, and each one be ready to come to an agreement with his brother of his own accord. Our Saviour said that if we suspected any irritation against us