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Matthew 6:9-13
9
"In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be
Your name.
10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done On
earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, As we forgive
our debtors.
13 And do not lead us into temptation, But
deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the
kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Introduction
The scripture that we
are going to study has traditionally been called “The Lord’s
Prayer.” However, in light of
the context and the central focus of Jesus’ ministry, I would suggest
that we could call this prayer “The Prayer of the Kingdom” or
the “Kingdom prayer”.
This title reflects the context of where our Lord teaches this
prayer and Christ’s work making actual, and ultimately fulfilling
this prayer for his people. We
should keep in mind our approach of interpretation or understanding the
meaning of the Scriptures.
We should remember that
the main intent of the Scriptures is to reveal Christ as Luke 24:44-49
teaches us:
“Then He said to them, "These are
the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all
things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me." And He opened their understanding, that
they might comprehend the Scriptures.
Then He said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it was
necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day,
and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to
all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
And you are witnesses of these things.”
We should consider the Lord’s prayer in the
context of the Sermon on the Mount and we understand that it is found
within the portion of Scripture called the Gospels. The Gospels have been called
“Passion narratives with lengthy introductions.” The aim of the Gospels is not primarily
biographical as much as they are theological in nature. This is one way of saying that the
Gospels are not merely about
Jesus Christ; they reveal
Jesus Christ and point us to our Mediator and his great and saving work. That is to say, they are Christ-centered
or Christocentric
in character.
The Kingdom prayer that Jesus teaches us begins with the
clause: “In this manner,” which suggests it is a model prayer
to teach us not only how to pray, but to whom we are praying. This is prayer ultimately about God and
his sovereign and gracious character to his people; it is for those God has
rescued from the dominion or kingdom of darkness and transferred into the
kingdom of his beloved Son, in which we have redemption and the forgiveness
of sins (Col. 1:13, 14). In our
study we will focus on three important aspects of this model prayer: (a)
form or structure of the prayer, and the content or theological teaching of
the prayer; (b) then we will consider Christ’s work as our Mediator
in light of this prayer; (c) finally, we will try to get a glimpse at the
ultimate fulfillment of this prayer.
The question may be asked: “Is this prayer fulfilled daily in
believer’s lives, or do we wait for the fulfillment of this prayer in
the future?” Or is it
both? Let us begin our study and we
will consider this question.
Form/ Content of the Kingdom Prayer
Our
Prayer of the Kingdom is located in the context of Matthew 5-7, a section
commonly known as “The Sermon on the Mount.” This is the section where Jesus
focus’ on his fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets, the reality that
the Kingdom of God has come in him, and the life that is to be lived in
light of Christ’s Kingdom. As
Dr. S. Ferguson puts it, “this section is to help us understand
Kingdom life in a fallen world.”
Let
us look at the way the prayer is formed; what is its structure? It begins with a petition to God; it ends
with a doxology of God’s glory, authority and power. In the middle of the prayer, in verses
11-13, there is a concern of man’s needs in light of God’s
fatherly goodness. This might remind
us of the importance of considering both our life and our doctrine. Christianity is not merely a life; that
is, a way of living. Christianity is
a life founded upon doctrine.
In other words, from Jesus’ structuring of this prayer, we
understand our lives founded upon the Source of our theology. Or we could say, we understand our
spiritual and physical needs are met by our Great God and Father, our
Provider revealed here in this prayer.
Our lives should fundamentally be lived out by faith, according to
the way God has revealed himself in Scripture. These are considerations to think about
as we look at the form of this Kingdom prayer.
John
Calvin wrote in his Institutes of the
Christian Religion, Book III, concerning this Kingdom prayer:
“[God]
prescribed a form for us in which he set forth as in a table all that he
allows us to seek of him, all that is of benefit to us, all that we need to
ask. From this kindness of his we
receive great fruit of consolation: that we know we are requesting nothing
absurd, nothing strange or unseemly—in short, nothing unacceptable to
him—since we are asking almost in his own words…This privilege
deserves to be more highly esteemed among us, since the only-begotten Son
of God supplies words to our lips that free our minds from all
wavering.”
As
we will notice as we look at each of the verses, this prayer is further
explained in the context of Matt. 5-7, but particularly in the verses of
chapter 6 that follow the prayer. A
summary of this prayer in a nutshell might be: “Seeking God’s
Kingdom and His Fatherly goodness first
for all our needs, both spiritual and physical.” This will help us to further understand
the “chief end of man” as the Westminster Divine’s
taught: “To glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.”
Let
us now turn our attention to the content, the theological meaning, or
Christ’s message to us in the prayer.
Christ says to us not to be falsely religious by making outward
claims and putting on shows of righteousness as a play put on before an
audience. He teaches us in Mt.
6:1-8, that those who practice their piety before men, with prayer and alms
and various religious observances are doing so to be seen by men. Jesus ends by saying: “Do not be
like them.” He says the truly
righteous, those who belong to Christ’s Kingdom, seek God in the
secret place because by faith, they truly walk by faith and not by
sight. Their love and desire is to
be in the presence of their Father and the Spirit within them yearns to be
in communication with God. Then he
says, “In this way,” or “In this
manner,” PRAY…
Our Father in Heaven: Now we notice right away
that Jesus tells us to pray “our Father.” Why do you think he says our
Father? Does he mean Christ and his
people as “our”? Or,
perhaps the Church, the community of believers in Christ? I think that Christ is focusing on the
assembly of his people, those who he has redeemed by his own blood, and
those who make up the Church, those who witness to Christ’s Kingdom. Christ says in v. 9 therefore
“you” pray and so he wants to communicate to the people their
community identity as the people of the Kingdom. That is to say that the salvation of
Christ is for his people: individuals, but individuals who make up a
people, an elect group which God chose from the foundation of the world
(Eph. 1:4ff; cf. John 17: 9ff).
Christ has redeemed a people from every tribe and tongue, people and
nation (Rev. 5:9). We truly have a
communion of saints!
Why
do you think Christ teaches us to pray our Father? God is indeed our LORD and King, but he
is also our heavenly Father. In the
OT, we are taught that God called himself Father to his people (the early
church). Consider the way God led
Israel out of Egypt as a “father to a son” (Deut.); God is
called “Everlasting Father” in Is. 9:6; In Jeremiah 31:9, the
LORD says, “for I am a Father to Israel.” We see that God’s fatherly goodness
is not unique to the New Testament, but that God has always been a Father
to the people set apart and called by his name to walk in the ways of His
Kingdom.
However,
now the reality of Christ our Mediator, in the fullness of time has come
(Gal. 4:4)! Now we have God’s
Spirit and have received the spirit of sonship
whereby we cry out “Abba! Father!” and it is the Spirit himself
bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if
children heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ…” (Rom. 8:15-17). We rejoice that we can pray to our God
and our Father because as children who hold out their hands for all their
provision, so our good and heavenly Father provides for all our needs
according to his riches in glory (Phil. 4).
1 John 3 tells us: “See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and so we
are.” This is our great hope
taught by Jesus in this prayer.
Next
we may focus on our Father who is in Heaven. This word simply means heaven; heavens in
the plural; even sky. Sometimes it
is used to avoid the use of the sacred name of God, in “Kingdom of Heaven” rather than of God,
for example. This points us to the
fact that our Heavenly Father is Sovereign, transcendent, or above all the
earth, but at the same time as Father, he is near to us, or immanent. Isaiah 57:15 teaches us: “For thus
says the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
‘I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a
contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to
revive the heart of the contrite.’”
God
is Holy and transcendent; eternal because even the highest of the heavens
cannot contain him. This part of the
prayer may remind you of Solomon’ prayer in 2 Kings 8, when Solomon
prays concerning God’s presence in the Temple: “But will God
indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain
you!”
So
our God is also our Father because of the grace and mercy of God in the
LORD Jesus Christ who has reconciled us to him although we are greatly
fallen and sinful (2 Cor. 5:17-21). We learn that our Father in Heaven is
gracious and ready to meet all our needs; that he is eternal and holy, both
immanent (near) to, and transcendent (far), from us. We also recognize that our sonship, our adoption, is not earthly. Meaning, you cannot trace our Heavenly
Father’s lineage to Adam; he is from eternity and has chosen us
despite our fallenness in His marvelous grace!
Hallowed be Your Name: This word
“hallowed” means to “sanctify,”
“consecrate,” “set apart,” or “make
holy.” Jesus uses this same
verb when he prays in John 17: “I sanctify or consecrate
myself.” God’s name is
representative of his character, his attributes, the
way God has revealed his character throughout Scripture. Jesus is teaching us to pray that
God’s name would always be set apart.
We might understand this in light of the 3rd commandment
found in Exodus 20:7, “you shall not take the name of the LORD your
God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in
vain.” This teaches what high
regard we should have for God’s name and to never make it common in our
usage.
A
name in the ancient Near East in the times of the Bible meant a great
deal. A name characterized a person,
or sometimes was given at birth in hopes of what an infant would
become. God’s name was to be
considered holy because it describes God’s character, as the
Westminster Divines teach us in the Larger Catechism: “God is a
Spirit, in and of himself infinite in being, glory, blessedness, and
perfection; all-sufficient, eternal, unchangeable, incomprehensible, every
where present, almighty, knowing all things, most wise, most holy, most
just, most merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness
and truth.” Anyone with
attributes like that must have a name that is set apart! God’s attributes and
character—God himself—is revealed in his name and therefore his
name should be set apart as holy.
Your Kingdom Come, Your
Will Be Done: This part of the prayer Jesus is teaching for the people of the
Kingdom to pray for God’s Kingdom to be continually set up on the
earth and ultimately established upon the earth in the future. The Kingdom we pray to come has a
spiritual and earthly aspect; it is both present and future.
We
pray this prayer as a community in hopes that God’s Spirit will
continue to save the lost; to bring those into the fold—those for
whom Christ died. We pray that
God’s spirit would come by subduing hearts to himself and
establishing his Kingship and Lordship over all those who are his. As well, we pray that as God fulfills his
law through his people, we are praying for the order of God’s wisdom
to be established foundationally on the earth in place of the chaos that
exists. When the Spirit raises us
from spiritual death, we truly do recognize God as our King and we love his
Law and are able to live it out in our lives. Christ truly does make a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17). These are our present hopes.
This
Kingdom which we pray to come was the central message of our Lord Jesus
Christ’s earthly ministry.
Prior to his ministry, John the Baptist had declared: “Repent,
for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” Christ declared that the Kingdom had come
in himself (Mt. 12:28ff), and he taught about the Kingdom of God in parables (Mt.
13:1-14:51) which are truly descriptive of Christ’s Kingdom and a
very profitable and rich study.
As
the people of God, the people of the Kingdom, we pray this prayer with
understanding that the Kingdom of God has come in Christ and is progressing
as described in the parable of the mustard seed (Read Mt. 13:31ff). The Kingdom of God has come already, yet it
is future as well—when Christ will ultimate destroy all of the evil,
sin, and the devil and set up his Kingdom, and dwell with his people. Christ will restore all things!!
When
we pray that our Father’s will to be done, we are asking that he
continually change our wills, renew our minds, so
that our desires will be God’s desires. In Romans 12:1, 2, the Apostle Paul
teaches us: “To present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and
acceptable to God, which is our spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world but be
transformed by the renewal of our minds; that we may prove what is the will
of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Christ rules the universe, the whole
world, but he progressively rules creation now through his people as he
rules their hearts and wills by his Holy Word. This is what is meant when we continue
the prayer: “as it is in heaven, so also may it be upon the
earth.”
This
is to direct us to the reality that God is working in us his good and pleasing
will and that we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good
works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them”
(Eph. 2:10; cf. Phil. 1:6).
God’s working in us gives us the ability to live his law by
the indwelling Spirit and thus to do good works which are pleasing and
glorifying to him. Thus the ultimate
reason why we pray “Your Kingdom come; your will be done, on earth as
it is in heaven.” This is part
of God’s restoration of all things, even now in our daily lives.
Now
that we have considered the petitions to our Father who is in heaven, we
will now turn to our own needs and the provision we ask God to
provide. Again, it is helpful to
consider this section particularly in light of Christ’s commentary
following the prayer in Matthew, chapter 6.
Give Us Today Our Daily Bread; Forgive Us Our Debts As We Forgive
Our Debtors; Lead Us Not into Temptation, but Deliver us from Evil.
We
might sum this portion of the prayer in this way: “O, Father give us what we need today both spiritually and
physically (this is looking to the Great Life-Giver). Although unworthy to ask anything of you,
we need and seek
your grace, your goodness, and your favor. Please provide our food, our clothing,
all of our earthly needs. While we
live daily, may we acknowledge you as the fountain and source of all of our
good. Help
us to overcome our sins, and we look forward to your return as we hope for
permanent deliverance from sin and death- - this is our hope and
prayer.”
This
portion of our Kingdom prayer could be summed up in this way as well:
“Our Father, our hope is in you because we do and will overcome the
world, the flesh, and the devil.”
We recall the Apostle John’s words in 1 John 2:12-14: “I
write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His
Name’s sake. I write to you
fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you
have overcome the wicked one. I
write to you little children, because you have known the Father. I have written to you, fathers, because
you have known Him who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because
you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome
the wicked one.”
Jesus
teaches us in Matthew 6:25ff not to be anxious about our lives, what we
shall eat, drink or wear, but look to God’s provision to his creation
such as the birds and the lilies of the field. Our Heavenly Father feeds and clothes them,
how much more, Jesus says, shall he be kind to his people. He then ends this section by telling us
to “Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these
things shall be yours as well” (Mt. 6:33).
Jesus
is teaching us that seeking the Bread of Life first is the way of wisdom
and the priority over our physical needs.
This is not to say our physical needs are not important, but these
needs should be understood in light of God’s character as he has
revealed himself: God knows our needs before we ask anything of him! Christ also provides for us knowledge of
God and fellowship in the Spirit through His Word and feeds us spiritually
by his body and blood when we commune with Christ in the Lord’s
Supper. We see that this prayer is
concerned with individual needs, but the focus is upon individual needs
that make up his Kingdom- - the people of His Church. This is good news!
In
addition to our daily spiritual and physical needs, we ask God to forgive
us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
The word “debt” is from a Greek term that is also translated
as a wrong, sin, or guilt (see Rom. 4:4). “Our debtors” should be
understood in light of Matthew 18:21-35, where Christ teaches the parable
commonly known as ‘The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant’. Here the same Greek word is used and
translated “debtors”.
Let us read this parable. You
see forgiveness is part of the character of living in Christ’s
Kingdom. Forgiveness and mercy
toward others is practiced because we have received great forgiveness and
mercy from God our Father! In the
same way, we should forgive others and love them for this is the
fulfillment of the Law: to love others as yourselves (Mt. 22:37-40; cf. Rom. 13:8).
Finally,
we pray to God “lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the
evil one.” This Greek word for
temptation is elsewhere translated and defined as a period or process of
testing or a trial (Mk. 14:38; Gal. 4:14; 1 Tim. 6:9;
James 1:12; 1 Pet. 4:12). We pray
daily to be delivered from such trials, but we look by faith again to our
Heavenly Father to accept His will despite our trials. As Christ prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane prior to his crucifixion:
“Not my will; but yours be done.” As Romans 6:14ff teaches us, we have been
delivered from the bondage of our sins, but we daily struggle to overcome
those sins (Rom. 7:13). Someone has said that sin no longer reigns; but nevertheless remains. We know that we are justified and at
peace with God because of Christ (Rom. 5:1), but nevertheless we
struggle. But our hope is in the
truth that nothing can separate from the love of God in Christ (Rom.
8:31ff).
The
Greek word translated “evil,” or “evil one” in some
translations, is used also in Matthew 5:37; Matt. 13:38; 2 Thess. 3:3; John 17:15.
It can be translated both ways, but in this context I think the
emphasis is on the “evil one,” or the devil, the great
archenemy of God who threatens and tempts us daily, but has been overthrown
by Christ and no longer reigns over us (Lk.
10:1-20).
Christ our Mediator
We
rejoice in the wonderful grace that the Father has shown to us in Christ
Jesus! We rejoice that although we
are fallen and unworthy, the Lord Jesus Christ teaches us, and makes it
possible for us to pray this Kingdom prayer. Because of his work of fulfilling the Law
on our behalf; dying a horrible death for our sins on the cross, making
propitiation (a satisfying of God’s wrath against sin), and expiation
(taking away our guilt), he has redeemed his people! He who had no sin became sin for us, so
that we might be the righteousness of God (Rom. 5:6ff)! Because of his work as Mediator, being
made like us, we can pray this prayer, knowing that we can enter into the
throne of heaven and call God our Father (Read Heb. 2:14-18; 4:14-16). We look forward to our great hope and
future when God will be our God and we will be his people, and he will
dwell eternally with us in the new heavens and the new earth (Rev. 20-22)!
In the Book of Revelation we see the Lamb who is worthy
to receive praise. Read Rev.
5:8-14. These verses describe the ultimate
fulfillment of the Lord’s prayer, or our Kingdom prayer. As we see our Heavenly Father’s
name truly hallowed, or set apart because of Christ’s work.
God has raised Christ from the dead, seated him at His
right hand, and we see his kingdom and his will fulfilled permanently upon
the earth! In the passages from the
Book of Revelation, we see Christ as the Lamb, the Mediator both divine and
human, who is worthy and has ultimately fulfilled our Kingdom prayer. We understand this Kingdom prayer as the
prayer we recite as the people of God based upon the work that Christ has
accomplished.
Perhaps now it is clearer that in reality as we pray
this prayer, we know the Lord Jesus Christ is not only ever interceding for
us at the right hand of the throne of God (Rom. 8), but that He has
fulfilled this prayer in his work as Mediator of His people. In other words, this Kingdom prayer is
not merely a model prayer for us;
but even more importantly, it is a prayer to point us to the Person and
Work of Christ on behalf of the people of His Kingdom.
From this perspective, we might look back upon this
Kingdom prayer and say triumphantly:
“Our Father who is in heaven, your name has been
hallowed by our Lord Jesus Christ!
Your Kingdom has come in
Christ, and your will has been accomplished by Christ- - both in heaven and upon the earth. Christ is our ultimate daily bread and
you have forgiven our debts as we have forgiven others. You have led us through trials and testing,
because Christ has overcome the evil one.
Praise and glory and honor be unto
you! Yours is truly the kingdom,
power and the glory forever and ever! Amen.”
Read
Revelation 21:1-8
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first
heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new
Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned
for her husband. 3 And I
heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place
of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people,
and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear
from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be
mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former
things have passed away."
5 And he who was seated on the throne said, "Behold,
I am making all things new." Also he said, "Write this down, for
these words are trustworthy and true."
6 And he said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and
the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the
spring of the water of life without payment. 7 The one who conquers will
have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.
For Further Study
The
Lord’s Prayer- Thomas Watson
Institutes
of the Christian Religion, Book III, chapter 20ff- John Calvin
The Four
Gospels- David Brown
Westminster
Confession and Larger Catechism with Scripture references
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