“Let It Be...”

Matthew 6:9-13

“Our Father who art in heaven…”

Last week we started a series on the Lord’s Prayer. We talked about Abba, which could be translated as Father (Daddy), my Father, or just Father. He is here with us as a Father (intimacy), and He is also in heaven (authority and protection). May His name, which is His character and identity, be revealed; may His holy presence be in us.

Did you realize that we pray our Father? We are united through having one Father. There is unity in this prayer. Together we confess to our Father. Together we talk to Him. There is a balance between personal spirituality and family spirituality. Our Father, give us daily bread… not just me but us… forgive us… lead us from temptation… There is unity fellowship of faith.

We move on to the next section. Two important words: Kingdom, and Will.

Let come thy kingdom. Let be thy will (in Aramaic order).

Tehi Malakoutak, Tehi sibyouk

To talk about Kingdom, we need to understand how Jesus and his followers understood history.

During the time of Jesus, there were at least three ways of viewing history:

- History is meaningless. There were those who believed that God created the world like a watch. He winded it up and left it alone to gradually stop and die. Therefore, there is no meaning in life. It is similar to nihilism. No purpose in life, no direction; the “watch” will eventually just stop, and die.

- Greek philosophy viewed history as being a circle. History repeats itself. Whatever you see now, will occur again. We are like actors in a “big drama” where the show repeats again and again. History is a circle.

- The Jewish, or the Biblical understanding has a different philosophy. History is linear. It has a beginning and an end. History has purpose and moves towards a goal. God is the mover of history. God has a plan in history. Humanity has free will to choose this plan or reject it. Humans have the responsibility in accepting God’s grace through Jesus Christ.

Let Come your Kingdom (Aramaic version) or Let your Kingdom come.

On earth, whenever a king decides to do something, he will execute it without asking anyone’s opinion. A king is a king.

God is the King of the Kingdom. God is sovereign and decides to do things without consulting us.

However, in this prayer we are asking Him, we are urging Him to bring His Kingdom in our lives. What are we actually asking?

We have a paradox. The kingdom of God is here with us. The kingdom of God is coming in the future.

- At many occasions, Jesus declared that the Kingdom of God is here. “After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. "The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!"” (Mark 1:14-15) KJ translation says, “The kingdom of God is at hand.” The Armenian translation is “the kingdom is near” (modetsadz e). Does this mean that the Kingdom has arrived, or just about to arrive, will arrive right now?

The presence of Jesus on this earth is an of indication the arrival of the Kingdom of God. In Matthew 12:28 we read about Jesus casting out demons. He said about this event, “But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”

In Luke 16:16 Jesus draws a clear line between life before John the Baptist and life after the John the Baptist. “The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John (the Baptist). Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached.”

When we look at Jesus’ ministry on this earth we see the Kingdom of God is at work. When Jesus touched the leper and healed him, the kingdom was there. When Jesus gave sight to the blind, gave life to Lazarus, gave hope to Mary Magdalene, healed the paralyzed man, the kingdom was there. When a tax collector like Matthew, a man who was working for the Romans, and Simon, a Zealot who could stand the Roman occupation, could both become disciples of Jesus, the kingdom of God was there. Why? Because Jesus is here and through him all this can be possible. Jesus united people where the world divides people.

Many times also we hear our Lord teaching the disciples that the Kingdom of God will come, in the future.

We will continue in English.