One of the most beloved portions of the New Testament is the Lord’s Prayer. From the earliest days of the church, this portion of Scripture has been highly cherished by the body of Christ. Throughout the Dark Ages—and even up to the present day—it is clear that the Lord’s Prayer has taken on a kind of idol status within Roman Catholicism. This certainly is not what Jesus intended when He said, ‘When you pray, pray in this manner.’
The church has also made other kinds of errors in the way it has handled the Lord’s Prayer. Some of these failures are due to hermeneutical errors that people commit when they interpret the Lord’s Prayer from their own cultural perspective, and not from the cultural perspective of a first-century Jew. The result is that people sometimes read their own theological thinking into the prayer (and commit eisogesis in the process) rather than interpreting the prayer in its own nature, first-century, historical context (exegesis).
One particular error has been to take the words ‘Thy Kingdom Come’ and to interpret this as though Jesus’ words about the kingdom were meant to refer to a kingdom within the hearts of God’s people in the church age. The fact of the matter is that this would have been a totally foreign idea in that historical context. Jesus was speaking about the promised messianic kingdom, the kingdom that was repeatedly predicted and foretold in the prophets of the Old Testament.
Another error in interpretation comes by not letting the context shape interpretation. For example, when Jesus said, ‘Do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil,’ the question arises, ‘Just what did Jesus mean by these expressions?’ Careful attention to the flow of the entire prayer (Matt. 6:9-15) gives a strong indication of what Jesus intended. The dominant idea in the last portion of the Lord’s Prayer deals with bitterness and the need to have a forgiving spirit. This should come as no surprise, for we all know what a problem this is for sinners.
This paper on the Lord’s Prayer will deal with these kinds of exegetical issues. May the Lord bless you as you seek Him in this study.
Tim Dane
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Tags: Prayer
