Our Father (9 of 12)
Series: Sermon on the Mount
Will McGee
Matthew 6:9-10
Today, we going to focus only on vv9-10. Jesus says, ''Pray like this...
OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN
Jesus begins ''Our Father in Heaven''
First, thing to note... He doesn't say, ''my.'' He says ''our.'' This is how he tells his followers to pray. ''Our'' - To follow Jesus means you are a part of a community.
Yes, of course, prayer is an act of personal/private devotion... But when you pray to God as your Father... You are joining with those around the world (from every tribe, tongue, nation, and language), and you are joining the saints of history.... Prayer is a personal act... But it is also part of something much bigger. Something historic that spans every nation and every generation.
Illus. Mount of Olives - Lord's Prayer plaques.
We all want to be a part of something bigger than our selves... This is what prayer is... We are joining our voices with millions around the world and throughout history to declare that God is good and his kingdom will not be shaken.
But he says... Our ''Father.''
This doesn't seem out-of-ordinary for us... But to refer to God as Father would have been radical for this audience... Remember, this crowd that Jesus is speaking to is almost exclusively Jewish. They would not have called God Father. That's too personal of a description. God is sovereign. Transcendent. Father is too personal... Too presumptuous.
In fact, the Jewish people were so focused on the sovereignty and transcendence of God, that they actually would not speak/repeat his name.
Even today, you will see Jewish people write ''G-d'' when in their writing... There was reverence toward God. He was transcendent. Holy.
But here comes Jesus... Pray like this... ''Our Father.''
To the best of my knowledge, Jesus is the first individual to refer to God as Father. Not only that, he used the word abba. This is the informal name for a father... Just like there is ...
Series: Sermon on the Mount
Will McGee
Matthew 6:9-10
Today, we going to focus only on vv9-10. Jesus says, ''Pray like this...
OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN
Jesus begins ''Our Father in Heaven''
First, thing to note... He doesn't say, ''my.'' He says ''our.'' This is how he tells his followers to pray. ''Our'' - To follow Jesus means you are a part of a community.
Yes, of course, prayer is an act of personal/private devotion... But when you pray to God as your Father... You are joining with those around the world (from every tribe, tongue, nation, and language), and you are joining the saints of history.... Prayer is a personal act... But it is also part of something much bigger. Something historic that spans every nation and every generation.
Illus. Mount of Olives - Lord's Prayer plaques.
We all want to be a part of something bigger than our selves... This is what prayer is... We are joining our voices with millions around the world and throughout history to declare that God is good and his kingdom will not be shaken.
But he says... Our ''Father.''
This doesn't seem out-of-ordinary for us... But to refer to God as Father would have been radical for this audience... Remember, this crowd that Jesus is speaking to is almost exclusively Jewish. They would not have called God Father. That's too personal of a description. God is sovereign. Transcendent. Father is too personal... Too presumptuous.
In fact, the Jewish people were so focused on the sovereignty and transcendence of God, that they actually would not speak/repeat his name.
Even today, you will see Jewish people write ''G-d'' when in their writing... There was reverence toward God. He was transcendent. Holy.
But here comes Jesus... Pray like this... ''Our Father.''
To the best of my knowledge, Jesus is the first individual to refer to God as Father. Not only that, he used the word abba. This is the informal name for a father... Just like there is ...
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