We have been in Mark’s gospel, and we will continue in Mark. Today, however, let me share a few thoughts that come out of the small group I am apart of on Sunday’s at Church. We are studying The Lord’s Prayer from Matthew, and this phrase was our focus this past Sunday:
“May Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” Matthew 6:10.
Two things struck me:
We must remember that The Lord’s Prayer is located in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6:9–13, which is the general context of this prayer. The main message of the Sermon on the Mount addresses kingdom living. In the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5–7, Matthew gives a comprehensive summary of Jesus’ teaching on how His disciples should live and who they are. Jesus’ teaching focuses on the hearts of people. Jesus instructs His disciples about attitudes and practices that distinguish them from other people and exhorts them to persevere faithfully. It sketches a society of justice in contrast to the values, commitments and practices of the majority who do not form part of the kingdom of heaven.
The Lord’s Prayer is also both an invitation and instruction from Jesus. “Your Will Be Done on Earth as it is in Heaven” is also a transition to consider who Jesus is, and what Jesus came to do as well. In other words, The Lord’s prayer is not just a prayer, but it is also a Christological study of Jesus! You see, Jesus came to do the will of the Father, and He prayed such a prayer as this in the Garden of Gethsemane and when He gave Himself up on the cross. His prayer was: “39 And going a little farther, Jesus threw himself on the ground and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me, yet not what I want but what you want.’” Matthew 26:39. The defeat of the cross is a victory won through Jesus’ surrender to the Father’s will. This invites Christians to also surrender to the will of God. Christians must live their heavenly life on earth to demonstrate the blessing of the obedient life to the will of God. The church exists on earth to exhibit heavenliness to show the glory of God and attract people to the heavenly living on earth. The earth itself is meant to be a stage on which God’s will is enacted not just in the lives and community of believers. The Lord’s Prayer seeks to make people one, one with God and each other. Christians are invited to imagine an earth in which the benevolent rule of God holds sway and dominates what happens. This has social implications that the remaining prayer expands.
So take time today in prayer, begging God that you will bend to His will today and every day.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.
From the Bible:
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” Matthew 7:21.
“It is by testing you may discern what is the will of God” Romans 12:2.
“For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people” 1 Peter 2:15.
“But be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” James 1:22.
“And if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth” Deuteronomy 28:1.
“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few” Matthew 7:13-14.
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