THE OWNER’S (LORD’S)
PRAYER JA033019
Kurios – Greek: Master, Owner, Possessor, Lord (of the estate),
Potentate, Sovereign
Matthew 6: 9-13
Our Father in the
heavenlies (Greek – epouranios - the sphere of spiritual
activities), completely Unique and set apart is Your
nature/character/identity/essence.
Your Kingdom IS
come [eternally & now present], Your will/desire IS done, on earth
[Gr. – kosmos –
earth/universe/creation]as it is in the heavenlies.
You give us our bread
[all that we need and that sustains us] for this [and every] day.
Release us from all
that we owe you and have not paid [since we are incapable by our ordained
“Adam’s Race” nature].
Since we also have
released all that others have owed us and have not paid [due also to their
ordained “Adam’s Race” nature].
Do not drag/carry us
into the process of purification [of the consuming fire of Your Agape Love],
but save/rescue/deliver us from the one
who became of poor quality/worthless.
COMMENTARY
“Our Father in the
heavenlies,”
Jesus begins with emphasizing [revealing, as He has done
previously] God’s primary relationship to us as “Father”, with all the
implications of His nature of perfect Fatherhood, and none of the
limitations of earthly fatherhood.
This means it is His Responsibility and Nature to
provide for us out of the aspect of His Nature of Agape [Gr. – perfectly caring for and about all that He has created]. So in His perfect Wisdom, Power and
Omniscience, He must and does provide everything that we receive: the
perfect amount of insight/light/willingness, darkness/ignorance/opposition/rebellion,
the perfect amount of benefit, the perfect amount of adversity, the perfect
amount of success, and the perfect amount of failure. It is important to remember that HIS agenda
for us is always, ultimately, for our spiritual growth/molding, and NOT for our
earthly comfort, happiness, or even sustaining our physical health or life. Pain, suffering, illness, disability and
death (the Valley of the Shadow of Death – this earthly existence) are just
some of His primary tools for making us each into His own unique expression of
His Own Image. Thus forming us for our
REAL lives with Him in us and us in Him.
So we receive everything
that we truly need for this agenda from Him.
He is the ONLY ultimate source of ALL that exists. [Isaiah 45:6&7,
Psalm 139:16]
Because He is ALL Powerful, All Wise, All intimate affectionate,
full of pride in His Handiwork
Caring for us, and a Perfectly Responsible Father, He is Absolutely Sovereign
over His Plan and Ordains ALL according to His purposes. NO “free will” exists in creation [and never
has or will]. His Pre-Ordained Outcome
is certain – as it has been from the beginning of eternity. And from the beginning, it has always been
“Good” as He “spoke” it (Jesus, His WORD).
His tools and methods, perceived
with our limited earth-bound eyes/senses/minds (equally ordained by Him)
appear, most frequently, other than “Good” to we humans.
But when we are given (by Him) a hope/practice/trust in His
nature/identity/character and Father’s “Agape” for us, we can (as He ordains)
walk in a committed vision that it must ALL be ultimately for our best good,
given His Perfect Fatherhood of ALL of us (humans) II Corinthians 4:18 “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since
what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
“…completely
Unique and set apart IS Your nature/character/identity/essence.” Translated
into modern translations as “Hallowed be Thy name”
The word translated into the Latin and then into most
traditional English translations is the Greek, “hagios” as “holy” or “hallowed” which more accurately means “set
apart for special use” [ by God]. Or in
the case of Himself, since He is unlike and unique and singular from any of his
creation, and infers absolute “uniqueness” and being completely “set apart”
from all He has created within His own nature/essence/identity/character.
The word, “name” has its original meaning in the Old
Testament Hebrew as referring to the nature/character/essence of a being or
creation/creature. Thus, when Adam was
given the task, by God, to “name” the animals, he was actually being given a
much more amazing task than only assigning a verbal label to differentiate one
animal from another. He was given the
startling responsibility/honor of giving each animal/creature their unique
natures!
If we reflect on Milton’s poetic question, “Tiger, Tiger,
Burning Bright, what amazing hand or eye has framed thy fearful symmetry?” We
can imagine God creating the physical form of the tiger, but giving Adam the
task of assigning the tiger his nature/character/essence. God seems to have honored the “pre-fall” Adam
with the co-creative task of assigning the tiger’s nature to him [Remember,
this would also have been the “pre-fall” tiger, whose “fearful symmetry” would
have been in joyful companionship/harmony with all of the entities in the
“pre-fall” Eden.]
Thus, when the “Prayer given to the disciples” by Jesus
[Hebrew: I AM Saves – Yah-Sua] in Matthew 6: 9-13 states “Hallowed be Thy
name”, It is stating the [now] obvious: that the nature/ character/ identity/ essence
of the I AM Always AM, the “All Mighty” is absolutely unique and separate from
His creation. He is eternal, He has
absolute power, He is in absolute sovereign control [there is NO “will” other
than His will – “Free will” does not exist in His creation. All desires/wills are in absolute subjection
to His Own, at all times in eternity: past, present and future.
The translation from the Latin into the varied English
translations of the verb in the sentence, “be” [“Thy Name”] also seems
incongruous and therefore, incorrect.
“Hallowed be Thy name” may have been a
statement of fact in 1617 King James English, indicating that God’s name/nature
IS “Holy” [unique and set apart].
But in current English, the verb would appear to refer that, rather than
expressing fact, the phrase being expressed is a wish, hope, or request that
God’s name [ nature, character/identity/essence] ,might become unique/set apart from humans and all of His creation.
Not at all the case and not supported by scripture.
“Your kingdom IS
come; Your will IS done on earth [Gr: Kosmos – earth/universe/creation] as in
the heavenlies. (Spiritual realm)”
Although my knowledge of Greek tenses is very
limited, I have noted that the verb ending for “hallowed BE” “kingdom come” and
“will BE done” are the same and appear to be both grammatically and logically all a direct statement of fact
in the present [and as it relates to God’s nature & will, eternally and at
all times present fact]. So the
statement would infer no wavering that:
1.
God’s name[nature] IS eternally and continuously “holy” [unique, separated in
essence from all that is other than Himself
2.
God is sovereign King, Owner, Potentate, “Lord”,
absolute “possessor” of His “kingdom”; therefore His kingdom IS always “come”: IS eternally
and continuously present and pervasive and absolute through eternity [eternal
past, present and future]
3.
Subsequent to the previous firm assertions,
God’s will/desire also IS continuously
and consistently DONE. As ordained by God, our human understanding
and view of this truth, has been and is consistently clouded by our limited,
fleshly perspective [always, again ordained by Him for His perfect plan and
purposes] and limited fleshly desires, needs, fears – limited by the constant
presence and fear of death, pain and scarcity – God’s will always in all
circumstances being done for the accomplishment of Hit Ultimate Eternal
Plan. Our ordained fleshly
greed/avarice/hedonism, licentiousness and all circumstances. Our view also driven by the ordained hunger that
he placed in our hearts/bodies/minds for the pleasure and joy for which we were
created and for which we have been [by Him and Him alone] predestined.
“[You] Give us
everything that we need for each “day”.” [as stated in Psalm 23:1 “The I AM
Always Am is my Shepherd, I have no lack.” – at any moment or length of time
and for all of my days.
So, this phrase is also most congruous with God’s revealed/stated
nature, not as a request, but as a statement.
In a perfect
parent/child relationship, the child could have no doubt that the parent would
always provide perfectly. But it is also
part of a perfect and loving relationship to joyfully communicate needs and
thanks for needs being met to each other.
So, even as/if this were a request, it is with absolute trust and
assurance that all we truly need at every moment of our lives IS/WILL be
perfectly, lovingly provided – although
always as God sees our TRUE needs and not as we may see them with our
[ordained] fleshly and limited nature/wisdom.
“You release us
from all that we owe you and were/are [ordained] unable to repay, since in the
same way we also have released those who owe us anything and were/are
[ordained] unable to repay it.”
Again, is this best translated a statement/confirmation or
as a request? It seems that verse 14 is
specific in saying that if you release others from the ways they have acted
toward you that missed God’s perfection (Latin –sin - without; Greek – hamartia
- missing the mark), your heavenly Father will also forgive/release you
from repaying the debt owed to Him in your missing the mark of His perfection.
To me, this seems like and amazing and excitingly broad
assurance. AND ripples from the
wonderful logic of God’s absolute control of His creation, including each of
US.
The primary place that one might start to come through the
progression of this statement being wonderfully logical is with the
starting point of ALL theological foundations: If God exists, Is God in absolute control of
ALL aspects of His creation – or is He NOT?
The progression from each starting point of these two
questions leads to an entirely different theological concept of the operation
of the universe.
1)
I begin where I am- that God ordains
ALL for His own glory and joy and for our ultimate union with Him and
resultant joy, and with our planned union with Him, the additional reunion with
us of ALL that He has and may (in the future) create.
a.
AN important reiteration of this principle,
specifically related to mankind is found in Isaiah 64:8 “…we are the clay, He
is the Former (Potter) and we ALL are the work of His Hand.”
b.
Romans 11:32 “He has shut up all in lack of
persuasion so that He may have mercy on ALL.”
c.
Isaiah 64:7 “No one calls on your name
(nature/essence/character/identity) or strives to lay hold of You; for You have hidden your face from
us and made us waste away
because of our “missing the mark of Your perfection” (sin) [as HE ordained]
d.
Hebrews 12:2 “Jesus (I AM Saves) the author/originator/creator
and finisher/perfecter/completer of our persuasion.”
e.
John 19:30 “It is
finished/repaid/completed/accomplished.”
f.
Romans 5:18 “Consequently,
just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one
righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people.”
It is only a brief step of logic to the reason that none
of us have the right (or light) to withhold “forgiveness” (let go off) from
anyone and it would be illogical, since the responsibility for what each of us
IS, is God’s doing. If we were to judge
Him who has the responsibility for what each of us IS, we would not ultimately
be judging each other, but judging God…
And ultimately judging anyone else would not be logical.
-
We ALL are the
“handiwork” of God (Is 64:8)
-
All of our lives and
actions have been/are ordained by Him for the purpose(s) of accomplishing His ultimate will/desire
-
If we fail to release
another from ultimate responsibility for their actions, we conceptually are
putting their control over their lives above the sovereign control of God
over their lives.
-
We are, therefore,
setting/regarding their will above the will of God – a form of
“worshiping” them as more powerful than YHWH (I AM Always AM), a startling but
real form of “blasphemy” against YHWH. [definition of blasphemy: the act of insulting or
showing contempt or lack of reverence for God; attributing the aspects of deity
to other than God]
So, if you
begin with the premise that God is sovereign/in control of all aspects of his
creation, it is absolutely illogical to hold the actions of “fallen” men ultimately
against them. It is only logical to ultimately hold “fallen” men’s
actions against God! But then when you realize who you are judging God
for “missing the mark” of His Own perfection, and see that you are judging God
as culpable for HIS Own Plan and actions, hopefully you will see the glaring
illogic and at least have sufficient new awareness to be embarrassed for who it is that you are ultimately judging!!
2)
If you take the position
and ripples of the logic that God is NOT in sovereign control of ALL of His
creation, you will see an entirely different chain of thought. I don’t think I will give that line of
thought any time, although it would also be very possible to do so.
But then, if we trust that “we ALL are
His Handiwork”, then the amount and timing of our complete forgiveness for
others (possibly not until after death) are also HIS perfect timing.
Ecclesiastes 3:1 “There is an appointed time for everything and a
season for every activity under heaven (by God’s ordination).”
“Do
not drag/carry us into your purifying fire” – your purifying agape that forms
us into your image (“our God is a consuming fire”; “God is Agape” (love –
perfect care about and for ALL that He has created; brimstone, in Revelation-
Greek: theion – god-stone - pertaining
to God’s nature)
The word in Greek routinely translated as
“temptation” is actually “testing” which was a well-known process in biblical
times for placing gold or silver ore (that had impurities) repeatedly into the fire
in a crucible of clay (that would
not be burned up by the fire). The heat
caused the “dross” (impurities) to rise to the surface of the pure metal and be
burned away by the heat. This did
require repeated exposures to the “fiery furnace”. Between each exposure, the “smith” (gold-smith;
silver-smith; metal-smith) examined the surface of the metal to check for
remaining “dross”. In a beautiful
parallel analogy, the “smith” only knew that all of the dross had finally been
burned away, once he could see his own
image reflected as he looked at the surface of the gold/silver!!
In this portion of the “Owner’s Prayer”,
the supplicant is asking that the Father spare him from the repeated painful
exposures to “the refiner’s (God’s agape love) fire” to achieve God’s
purification and perfect reflection of God’s image [Genesis 1:26 “Let US
make/form (again, “we are the clay, you are the Former”) man in Our
Image.” – obviously NOT referring to a physical “image”, but a spiritual one.]
This sounds to me to have the strong echo
of Jesus own Gethsemane prayer: “If it is possible, take this cup away from Me
– nevertheless, not My will but Thine.”
“But
rescue/save/deliver us from the one who became of poor quality/worthlessness
(Greek – kakos -poorly translated
into English as “evil”)
The final phrase of the Matthew 6 prayer,
rather than echoing Christ’s prayer in Gethsemane of acceptance of the price
the Father was to exact (for Jesus to “become
missing the mark/sin for us”) and to take all that was NOT light (darkness)
into Himself where it was obliterated in His Perfect Light - John 1:9), the
supplicant asks to be spared the pain of the “fiery furnace” of God’s formative
process and asks that the Father would rescue/save/deliver from the process.
I observe that, in this life and in His
wisdom and love and perfect plan, God has ordained most of us for lengthy,
repeated exposures to the painful “fiery furnace” process/experiences – in this
“Valley of the Shadow of Death”.
For some humans, He delivers/rescues
sooner from this life, following a briefer stay, more immediately completing
His process in them being formed into a unique expression of His Image, and
bringing them more quickly to His joyful embrace. (the unborn, infants,
children and those He ordains for a shorter stay/process).
June
