Theology Made Simple

The Concerns of Jesus, Part 8

Nowhere were the concerns of Jesus more evident than in His prayers. As He said to His mother, at the age of twelve, "I must be about my Father's business". A constant theme of His communication with His disciples was that He was doing the work of His Father. As a consequence, His communication with the Father expressed His deepest concerns, and most urgent desires. To those prayers every follower of Christ should give the most earnest attention.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gave the model for prayer. We would do well to follow it today. Most Christians have memorized the prayer, but few have ever stopped to examine what it really conveys of the things Jesus wanted His disciples to be aware of, when they approached the Father in prayer.

First of all, He refers to the Creator of the universe as Father. Not just His Father, but our Father. And, by adding "in heaven", He emphasized the link, which prayer affords, between this low ground of limited space and time, and the limitless realm of eternity, where God dwells.

Jesus wanted us to realize that God loves us, and wants us to come to Him. However, He never reduced God to man's level. God is not just a super man, who acts and reacts with the same emotions and reasoning that men do. He dwells in the eternal heavens, and His thoughts are not subject to man's judgements or reason. To our loss, much of what passes for worship in our modern churches has lost the sense of awe that we should have when we stand in the presence of a transcendent God.

The next phrase, "hallowed be Thy name", furthers the sense of awe and worship that should be present in every prayer. When a mere man dares to speak to the Creator of heaven and earth, he should recognize the incredible privilege he has been given, and approach with the deepest reverence the wonderful occasion. Many earthly fathers, in an attempt to be friends with their children, sometimes forsake their responsibility to still be the father. We should never forget, as we approach the throne of heaven, that God loves us, but He is still the Creator of all things, and is to be reverenced and obeyed.

"Thy kingdom come" is a phrase often misunderstood. A fact, often forgotten, is that we are creatures of choice. In order to have a love relationship, both parties to the relationship must be free to choose, or the relationship is meaningless. The Kingdom of God is made up of those who choose to make Him the Lord of their life. These are those whose sins have been forgiven, because they have placed their faith in Jesus Christ, the Son. Until the blood of Jesus was shed on the Cross there was no remission of sins. So Jesus is praying that all the events which led up to the Cross, and the sacrifice that He was to make, might come to fruition, so that men might be invited into the Kingdom of God.

"Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Righteousness is the will of God. Unrighteousness is that which is opposed to God's will. Adam and Eve refused the will of God and were banished from His presence in the Garden. Satan was banished from heaven because he refused God's will. He is the Prince of this world and controls all, except those who place their faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus is concerned that His followers here on earth place their trust in God, so that His rule of righteousness might control their lives as it does in heaven.

So far, we have found that the concerns of Jesus, expressed in this prayer, are that men will relate to God as their Father, but that they revere Him as Creator, to be approached with awe and worship. He is deeply concerned that the sacrifice for the sins of mankind be made, so that those who are freed from sin might enjoy the freedom of the Kingdom of Heaven. Then,
He expresses His desire that the righteousness of God might come into the lives of men, and that the heavenly relationship with the Father be restored.

In our next essay we will take up the prayer for daily bread, forgiveness, and temptation. Remember that in this prayer, Jesus is talking to the Father, and therefore that each concern expressed is of the utmost importance. In the church today, I am afraid, we put these things in the background, as we stress organizational structure, names, rituals, rules and regulations. The barrier to the Kingdom is sin, but that doesn't get much attention in an undisciplined society. In the modern pulpit, very often the will of God is for heaven only, not apropos to a liberated generation.

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