Journey through Matthew: The Lord’s Prayer
May 02 in General
Matthew is one of the two Gospels which include the Lord’s Prayer, the other is Luke. In Matthew the Lord’s Prayer is found in the middle of the ‘Sermon on the Mount’.
Matthew’s gospel makes sharp distinctions between the way in which the disciples of Jesus (Christians) and others should behave. In this case it is the ‘Gentiles’ – a kind of all-inclusive term used in the Bible for
Jesus speaks about the worthlessness of prayer which is just ‘empty’ phrases, just a collection of words. What Jesus does is give us a compact group of statements each one of which stands out on its own.
The first thing that the prayer does is make a very strong statement about God which provides the context for the rest of the prayer. Everything that we do should be aligned with God’s will, should be for the furtherance of God’s kingdom.
Then the prayer mentions our daily bread in a simple sentence which is rather brusque – almost more of an expectation than a request. It is not just an expectation though – it is part of the pattern of living that God is expecting of us. This story from Mother Theresa might help us understand…
‘I will never forget the night an old gentleman came to our house and said that there was a family with eight children and they had not eaten, and could we do something for them. So I took some rice and went there. The mother tool the rice from my hands, then she divided it into two and went out. I could see the faces of the children shining with hunger. When she came back I asked her where she had gone. She gave me a very simple answer: “They are hungry also.” And “they” were the family next door and she knew that they were hungry. I was not surprised that she gave but I was surprised that she knew … I hadn’t the courage to ask her how long her family hadn’t eaten, but I’m sure that it must have been a long time, and yet she knew – in her suffering … in her terrible bodily suffering she knew that next door they were hungry also.’ (Mother Theresa ‘The joy of Living’, pp337-338: quoted by Kenneth E Bailey in ‘Jesus through Middle Eastern Eyes’, p 122: 2008, London, SPCK)
‘Pray then in this way’, says Jesus; not ‘pray in these words’…
Matthew is showing us a Jesus who gives us careful guidance. In this case about prayer, but also a Jesus who gives us guidance about many other things as the gospel progresses.
In what way do we pray? Some of us appreciate set prayers, others are more spontaneous. Jesus is, perhaps giving us a nod in both directions. The Lord’s Prayer has become (in a slightly adapted form) the most famous formal Christian prayer and yet Jesus’ words as recorded by Matthew seem to encourage us to develop our own prayers. ‘Pray … in this way.’
But within this freedom there are some uncompromising words about forgiveness.
In this prayer forgiving and being forgiven are intertwined. This is not some kind of deal or bargain, it is a relationship. Our forgiveness of others is an essential part of it, in exactly the same way as the expectation that bread will be shared.
Matthew is sharing Jesus’ words with us and prompting us to think, to reflect on what prayer is. How it is both part of, and shaped by, our relationships both with each other and with God.
A bit extra
Luke’s and Matthew’s Lord’s Prayers are not quite the same. Follow this link to read it in Luke 11.1-13
Whose version gives you the most encouragement to pray? Why?