I have written several posts in the past about the Sermon on the Mount, specifically addressing the fact that it is NOT a set of guidelines for living the Christian life. But I also don’t believe we should just dismiss it as an old covenant message for an old covenant audience. I think much of what Jesus said in the sermon is prophetic regarding what is coming in the new covenant. The beatitudes in particular I think point forward to the promise of the new covenant regarding our pure heart, the fact that we will never hunger and thirst for righteousness after we believe the gospel, we will be peacemakers, etc.
Add to this how many times Jesus spoke in parables and mystery and it leaves me wondering, could the Lord’s prayer portion of the Sermon on the Mount have been a prophetic prayer pointing forward to its fulfillment in the new covenant? Could it be that the Lord’s prayer is not a model for us today, a prayer of longing for us to repeat. What if it is prophetic and has already been fulfilled in Jesus? If you enjoy this kind of study, look over these thoughts on the Lord’s prayer and let me know what you think.
First the familiar prayer,
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. ①Your kingdom come. ②Your will be done ③on earth as it is in heaven. ④Give us this day our daily bread. ⑤And forgive us our debts, ⑥as we forgive our debtors. ⑦And do not lead us into temptation, ⑧but deliver us from the evil one. ⑨For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen” (Matthew 6:9-13).
Let’s compare, line by line, Jesus’ prayer to its fulfillment in the new covenant. The individual phrases from the Lord’s prayer are in bold and the fulfillment text from the New Testament is in italics.
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name …”
①“Your kingdom come.”
“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand’ “ (Mark 1:14-15).
Nobody knew it yet at the time of Matthew chapter 6, but the kingdom of God HAD come. The kingdom of God was “at hand.” The kingdom of God had arrived with Jesus.
②“Your will be done.”
“For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life” (John 6:40).
God’s will is that we believe in Jesus. This has happened all over the earth for the last 2000 years.
③“On earth as it is in heaven.”
God’s kingdom arriving with Jesus, and we on earth believing His gospel mean that now, today, God’s kingdom has come to earth and His will is being “done on earth as it is in heaven.”
④“Give us this day our daily bread.”
“Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst’ “ (John 6:35).
Our “bread” has arrived. Jesus said that by believing in His gospel message, we would never be spiritually hungry or thirsty again.
⑤“And forgive us our debts.”
“When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us ALL our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross” (Colossians 2:13-14).
The entirety of our sin debt was taken care of at the cross. If we believe the gospel message of Jesus Christ, we are completely and forever forgiven. There is no need to keep asking God to forgive us our sins.
⑥”As we forgive our debtors.”
“Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also HAS forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:32).
After the cross, we are to forgive others BECAUSE we have been forgiven, not in order to be forgiven.
⑦”And do not lead us into temptation,”
“Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone” (James 1:13).
God does not lead new covenant believers into temptation. We are led to temptation when, of our own volition, we walk according to the flesh.
⑧”But deliver us from the evil one.”
“We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but He who was born of God [Jesus] protects him, and the evil one does not touch him” (I John 5:18).
We who are born of God have been delivered from the evil one.
⑨“For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.”
Miracle of miracles. The kingdom (the kingdom of God is within you, Luke 17:21) and the power (the power of God is within you, Ephesians 3:20) and the glory (the glory of God is within you, John 17:22) of God now reside in you forever! Amen.
This last line, number ⑨, is my favorite. Just think about it. We always see this crescendo of praise in the last line to be to God alone, and, yes, it is a praise He richly deserves. But now, by our unbreakable union with Him, the kingdom and the power and the glory live in you RIGHT NOW!!!
Jesus instructed His first century disciples to pray this prayer, seeking these things. But under the new covenant, our seeking is over. Jesus did it. Jesus fulfilled it. We are no longer seekers. Do you know what we are? We are finders!!!
Makes sense to me.
Thanks Nancy. I think it is an interesting thought to contemplate.