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9 "In
this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be
Your name. Introduction The scripture that I want us to consider 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 in Matthew, chapter 6, as well as the reality of Christ's work making actual, and ultimately fulfilling this prayer on behalf of his people. [We should keep in mind our approach of interpretation or understanding the meaning of the Scriptures. The main intent of the Scriptures is to reveal Christ as Luke 24:44ff 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."] Our Lord's teaching on the "Kingdom prayer" is given in Matthew's record of the Sermon on the Mount. When we consider the Lord's prayer in the context of the Sermon on the Mount 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 also 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). Today, we will focus on three important aspects of this model prayer: (a) form or structure of the prayer; as well as 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. Since we pray this prayer every Lord's day, it is easy to overlook the meaning behind the words. Oftentimes, we memorize Scripture and become over familiar with Scripture and it can lose its meaning- -we want to avoid this. Thus today, I want you to reconsider Christ's "Kingdom Prayer" anew and see the great benefits it has for each of us, as part of Christ's Kingdom-people. Now before we begin, 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 it's structure? Simply put: this prayer has the three main characteristics that Jewish prayers had at this time in Israel, as well as the three main ingredients to keep in mind for any prayer. What are these three components? (1) Adoration (of God); (2) Petition (to God); (3) Confession (of sin). It begins with a petition to God in verses 9-10; some Bible translations end with a doxology of God's glory, authority and power ("Thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever". Now, this verse is not in most of the ancient Greek texts available. It does not mean this verse is not biblical, it does teach biblical truth, but it may not belong here. It seems that it may have been a verse added from 1 Chronicles 29:10, 11). 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 all 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. This means that Christians live out their lives in complete dependence upon their God and Father. Remember as Paul says in Philippians 3, that your commonwealth is in heaven (this is your true residence and home), but we await a Savior to come for us - -here. We look to the Father of our heavenly home to provide us with our needs while we are here, awaiting the Savior who has promised to come back for us! 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. In the context of Matthew 6, our Lord 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. Here our Lord is teaching them the right way to pray, in contrast to the ways that his disciples had been taught (Incidentally, much of the Sermon on the Mount is our Lord teaching the right way of the Kingdom, contrasted to the former ways that his disciples had been taught). 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? From the context, 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 (this does not mean you cannot pray this in your "little church" or "little covenant community" at home in your family). 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. This address to God as Father would have amazed some of Jesus' disciples. In the OT, we are taught that God called himself Father to his people in the church under age. Remember 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. God as Father was revealed in a progressive manner throughout redemptive-history, it was not always clear to God's people in the OT. 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 who bears 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. In other words, our God is KING of Creation. 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!" But Our Great 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 falleness in His marvelous grace! Our Heavenly Father sent Christ, the Great Son of the King to redeem us while were yet sinners, so that we might be reconciled to God. God's Son the King can be traced by to Adam, because he has been made in every way like us, yet without sin. This is our hope in the Kingdom that has come in Christ! 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.
This is where our doctrine and life come together. We have true
confidence in our life for God because we know who he is, and what
he can do and will do in Christ. Again, it is helpful to consider
this section particularly in light of Christ's commentary following
the prayer in Matthew, chapter 6. He teaches his disciples then,
and us now that it is not in the quantity of words to God, it is
in the quality of the words. We will not be heard because of our
"vain repetitions", but our approaching our God and Father
reverently and in submission in Christ. This does not mean that
we do not persevere in prayer, we are clearly taught to do this,
but that our prayers ought to consist of proper adoration, petition,
and confession. 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! Additionally, Christ also provides for us knowledge of God and fellowship in the Spirit through His Word and He 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'. Let us read this parable. You see that 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). Forgiveness of others can be truly a challenge as Christians. We want to be vindicated when wronged, sometimes immediately, but we do not want to be over eager in the timing of God's Kingdom. We must wait in Christ's return for our vindication, now we are commanded to forgive those who sin against us. Has anyone disappointed you…made you angry…sinned against you? Have you forgiven them? God has forgiven you completely in Christ, even though you sins were great, God was in Christ reconciling you to himself. You must "go and do likewise", "be perfect in your forgiveness of others as your heavenly father is perfect". Christ's Kingdom prayer teaches us that is most important to forgive others, notice how he reiterates this truth in verse 14 and 15 following the prayer in Matthew 6: 14 "For
if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also
forgive you. Forgiveness and mercy are at the heart of God's reconciling relationship to us in Christ, and therefore it should be at the heart of our service of loving our God and King and our neighbor as ourselves. Finally, we pray to God "lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one." This Biblical term for temptation is elsewhere translated and defined as a period or process of testing or a trial (Jesus uses it to describe temptation or testing that would cause his disciples to fall away; Peter calls it trials or temptations; James calls it trials to test you faith- 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" in Matthew 26. 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 with temptations and trials.
But our hope is in the truth that nothing can separate from the
love of God in Christ (Rom. 8:31ff). As well as what the Apostle
Paul teaches in 1 Cor. 10:13- 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 Because of the Person and Work of Christ, 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. In Revelation
5:8-14 it reads: 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 as we learned earlier; 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." |
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