Thursday, May 9, 2013

The Essence of the Kingdom

I have believed for some time that the Lord's Prayer (more correctly, the Disciples Prayer--but I will use the more familiar term) is priestly in nature.
Matthew 6:9-13
(9)  After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
(10)  Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in 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 lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
Jesus was deliberate when instructing his followers to pray Our Father in heaven;..give us this day our daily bread;...lead us not into temptation;... The one who prays the Lord's prayer is praying on behalf of the larger Christian community and not only for his own sake. He is like a priest who is seeking the blessing of God over the community of those in covenant with the Creator.

The Lord's prayer has three petitions on behalf of the Church. They are for provision, peace and protection. (See how I cleverly started all three with the letter "P"?)  The request for daily bread is obviously for provision. The prayer for forgiveness is more than simply asking for our sins to be forgiven--it also regards the conscious release of those who have sinned against us from judgment. Thus, the prayer for forgiveness ultimately becomes a petition for peace in our personal relationships. The final petition to lead us not into temptation is clearly related to divine protection.

I don't believe the Lord intended for this prayer to be quoted. The power of the prayer is in the spirit of intercession that is implicit. When we pray in the spirit the Lord intended, we may use a good variety of terms and sentences to invoke the Divine blessing of provision, peace and protection on the family of God.

I have more recently come to see that there is a parallel between the three petitions in the Lord's Prayer and the priestly benediction given in Numbers 6:23-27. This blessing was to be pronounced by the priesthood over Israel at regular times (although scripture does not specify how often.)
Numbers 6:23-27
(23)  Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them,
(24)  The LORD bless thee, and keep thee:
(25)  The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
(26)  The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
(27)  And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them.
 Inasmuch as the priestly benediction has three invocations, it is easy to see the parallels to the Lord's prayer. Verse 24 puts the blessing of protection first. Verse 25 speaks of the provision of God in terms of graciousness. And finally, verse 26 invokes the blessing of peace, which was especially meaningful to Israel in their wilderness wanderings when surrounded by potentially hostile nations. The three blessings are not in the same order as they are found in the Lord's Prayer, but they are all present.

Get it now---the Lord's Prayer is the New Testament version of the priestly blessing on the Covenant Community.

This brings us to the closing line of the Lord's Prayer. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever... In light of what I've previously said, we can see that the Lord was indicating that the essence of the Kingdom of God involves the provision, protection and peace of those in covenant with God. Jesus was telling us that the three priestly blessings are the substance of the Kingdom.

This is similar to when Jesus said, Suffer the little children to come unto me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven (Mar. 10:14.) I could paraphrase Matthew 6:13 like this: And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil; for this is the kingdom you have prepared for us. 

This also sheds light on Matthew 6:33, where we are told to seek first the kingdom of God. We are truly seeking the kingdom of God when we are praying for the provision, protection and peace of the family of God.