Matthew 6:14,15 “A Challenge”

Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

¹⁴For, if you forgive the men their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you yours, ¹⁵but, if you do not forgive men their sins, neither will your Father forgive your sins.

Hmmmm. What I want to say is different than anything I find in myriads of commentaries. That is scary to me, remembering John Eadie’s words, “Interpretations are generally false in proportion to their ingenuity.” When no one else seems to see what I think I see, it is certainly cause to hesitate and pray. However, having done so, I still can only build my life and my faith on what it seems to me the Lord has clearly shown me.

Here's where I must begin. The Bible is very clear that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Prov. 9:10). Certainly, if us humans obey God for no other reason than fear, we’re better off than not obeying Him at all. I fear that for most of the human race, that is the best they’ll ever do, the best we can hope for. It’s what Napoleon called every man’s “personal sheriff” – I do right simply because I fear to do wrong.

However, while the fear of the Lord may be the beginning of wisdom, it is not the end. And what is the end? “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God will all thine heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind and with all thy strength and thy neighbor as thyself.” The end of wisdom is love – love to God and love to our fellow humans. Such a person will also do right, but not just out of fear, rather out of love. How can I sit warmly in my Father’s lap and sin in His face? As Paul often says, “Mai genoito! – May it never be!”

The person who obeys only out of fear sees the Lord as their Judge. For them, the whole Lord’s prayer should be addressed to “Our Judge who is in heaven…” or begin their prayers with “Your Honor…” As I said above, if we obey God for no other reason, it’s certainly infinitely better than not obeying Him at all, and, for us believers, there will always be times when that is true – especially when confronted with our most vulnerable temptations.

However, it is far better to keep the fear “in our back pocket,” so to speak, and move on to a real love relationship with this God whom Jesus teaches us to call “Our Father.” For us believers, I suppose part of our lives is this process of moving from that legal relationship with God deeper and deeper into the love relationship He truly desires. As I’ve related before, I have the wonderful privilege to have had very loving parents and have always felt I had no problem understanding this love relationship with my heavenly Father. Yet, just in this study of mine through the Lord’s prayer, and listening to my pastor (actually He’s doing a sermon series on the Prayer and I’m just following along), I feel like I’ve made a quantum leap forward in my understanding.

It really makes sense to me, even way more than ever before, why the Lord’s prayer is addressed from the very beginning to “Our Father, which art in heaven…” You see, even in this simple prayer, Jesus is calling us into that love relationship.

Now, read Matthew 6:14,15 again. I hope you already see what I see. While this passage appears very threatening, the forgiveness in view is not coming from your Judge, but rather from “your Father.” What is the difference? Relationship. Love. It is one thing to break the law and be arrested. It is entirely something different to disappoint my Father! If you want to read the passage standing before your Judge, go ahead. It’s better than sinning. If you read it that way, His withholding of forgiveness is a punishment. And it is certainly true, “Our God is a consuming fire.”

However, how much better to read it sitting in our Father’s lap, looking into His loving eyes? His withholding of forgiveness is not a punishment, it is a correction. Punishment is only about justice. Correction is what truly loving parents give their children. Lost people see no difference between a beating and a Biblical spanking. They apparently can’t see that a loving parent would rather sting a child’s bottom temporarily than let them grow up with bad habits that will wreck their lives. I wonder how many people there are in this country’s prisons who would not be there if only their parents had loved them enough to give them a good spanking when they needed it. The sting from the spanking would have been gone in a few minutes. How much better that than spending years rotting in a prison or overcoming addictions?

No. You don’t have to read this passage sitting in a docket. You can read it sitting in your Father’s lap. This doesn’t have to be about punishment. It’s about correction. We would all agree it is a very bad thing to be a believer and refuse to forgive those who wrong us. What does Eph. 4:32 admonish us? “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God, for Christ’s sake, has forgiven you.” “Just as God has forgiven you.” How can we lounge in sunshine of grace, then refuse to extend it to others?

So there it is. If you’ve stumbled across my feeble scratchings, you can decide for yourself whether what I’m writing is a correct understanding of this passage. However, I am convinced it is true and would urge you to seriously consider your own relationship with God. Is He really just your Judge and you the guilty criminal, or have you moved on into a love relationship with your heavenly Father, to sit in His lap, to see that He only means to help you grow and to become the godly person you were meant to be – a Jesus-people – a person who deeply values their relationship with their Father and so, in turn, values relationships with people – someone who accepts your Father’s grace and so, in turn, can’t help but want to extend that grace to everyone around you?

This passage not only calls us to consider our forgiveness of others – it would even challenge us to seriously consider our relationship with God. How we read the passage my tell us a lot!

Matthew 6:13b “Doxology 2”

Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

^13bbecause Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory into the ages. Amen.

As I said in my last post, this final line of the Lord’s prayer is of interest to study for two reasons. The first is the question of its authenticity, of which I am convinced is the case.  The second reason for study, as I stated there, is simply our insatiable desire to mine the treasures of God’s Word. That is the drive behind today’s post.

“For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever and ever. Amen.” At first pass, this may seem all very obvious and straightforward, but, with the Bible, it is always of great value to just stop and let ourselves nurse on its truth.

"Thine is the kingdom." It helps a LOT to stop every once in a while and remind ourselves this is God’s kingdom. Ever since the Garden, Satan has been “the prince of the power of the air,” however, let us never forget he is an usurper. He has no right to the throne of this world, and, as powerful as he may be, yet he cannot do anything unless the Lord allows. Our God is the King. And when He is ready, Daniel tells us exactly what will go on: “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into His presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and His kingdom is one that will never be destroyed” (7:13,14).

Jesus is the rightful King of this earth, and as we all love to remember, the day will come when “every knee will bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:10,11). As Peter reminds us, “In your hearts, always set apart Jesus as Lord…” (I Peter 3:14). That comes right after he told us not to “fear what they fear.” And as Daniel told us again and again, “The Most High rules in the nations of men.”

Even as we finish our prayers, you and I have the wonderful blessing of knowing we are subjects of the true Kingdom, that our God is the true King, and that no matter how things may look today, He absolutely rules over it all. We can say it and mean it, “For Thine is the kingdom.”

“And the power.” Daniel said, “Wisdom and power are His” (2:20). Power. The ability to get things done and make things happen. That is precisely my problem – “I ain’t got it!” When we were young, we thought we had the world by the tail. We were quite sure we had what it takes “to succeed.” If we were honest, it shouldn’t have taken long before we began to realize that was a pipe-dream. I have virtually no control over anything that happens. I can’t keep people from dying. I can’t even keep them from getting sick. I may be quite sure I know how to solve a problem at work, but I cannot make the bosses agree to it. I can’t make the other people involved do their part. And, fact is, even if it all lines up, my idea may simply not work.

Our Lord doesn’t have that problem. “The Most High rules.” “Wisdom and power are His.” When we come to Him in prayer, may we all be reminded, we are speaking to the only One who actually has power. Pilate asked Jesus, “Don’t you know I have the power to give you life or death?” Jesus replied, “You would have no power over Me at all, if it were not granted to you from above.” You and I are surrounded by people and forces which seem to bear great power over us. We seem to have no power at all. But our God reigns!

The problem for us is, as Daniel said, “Wisdom and power are His.” He not only has power, He also has wisdom. Once again, “I ain’t got it.” The real truth is, I don’t know what needs to happen. I don’t know what is the best plan or the best solution. If I had the power, I’d make a mess of everything in a hurry! However, our God doesn’t have that problem either. His wisdom is infinite! He knows everything. “Father knows best.” That is the wonderful freedom of prayer for true believers – we come to the Throne of Grace “to find mercy and grace to help in time of need,” and can spill our foolish, hurting, fearful hearts into His big, loving ears, then have the comfort of knowing He will answer in perfect wisdom. And in that perfect wisdom, He knows what really needs to happen and He has absolute power to grant it. What a blessing to end our prayers acknowledging to Him, “Thine is the power!

“…and the glory.” Here it is worth pausing to remember that our God is God! He is not a man. Yes, Jesus took upon Himself “the form of a servant and was found in fashion as a man,” but let us remind ourselves even in that He is God. What does that mean? It means He is not a created thing. He is the Creator. He exists in what we can only call infinity – something utterly beyond our understanding. He had no beginning and will have no end. He does not exist in time or space. He created time and space for us (and the angels) to live in. As far as time, He exists in an eternal “now.” When He even speaks of past, present, and future, He is stooping to speak to us in our language. It means nothing to Him. And as far as space, we all acknowledge that He is Omnipresent – He fills all the universe with all of His being, and yet is totally present everywhere. He’s just as present at the far end of the galaxy as He is right here beside me as I type. He is just as infinitely present beside you as He is me, right at this minute. You have all of His attention, all of His concern. As parents, if we have two children, we can only focus on one at a time. Not so our God – because He is infinite.

Back to our previous praises, He is infinitely powerful. He is infinitely wise, infinitely holy, infinitely just, infinitely loving, infinitely kind…everything He is, He is infinite. He is God and there is no other. There can be no other. Just as the Greek and Roman “gods,” when people make up their “gods,” they are just super-powerful people. Their gods are really just Marvel’s “super-heroes” – very powerful men and women, but still really just people, subject to creation, death, passions, etc. Not so our God. He is God. Although we are made in His image, still, we are not like Him and He is not like us. He is the Creator and we the created.

Because of that, we can understand that He is perfect. He is infinitely everything He should be. That is why He is absolutely faithful to His promises. As the infinite God, He has the wisdom to make perfect promises, the power to keep them, the presence to know exactly what is happening in every second of each of our lives, and the love to guarantee that “All things work together for good to them that love God…”

In prayer, we come to worship this God of glory. Our lives we live to bring Him glory – and so we say, “Thine is the glory, forever and ever!”

We conclude with an “Amen.” That “Amen” is an ancient word. In fact, it is even spoken in heaven! (Rev. 7:11,12). “So, let it be.” “Such it is.” It’s like digging a post hole and dropping in a fence post, then pouring in concrete. As long as the concrete is still wet, the post can be moved all around, but come back tomorrow and what will you find? It's been “Amen-ed!” If you forget it’s there and walk right into it, you’ll understand what an “Amen” is. “So, let it be.”

 “Such it is,” and it is. “Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.”

 

“All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying,

‘Amen!

Praise and glory

and wisdom and thanks and honor

and power and strength

be to our God forever and ever.

Amen!’” (Rev. 7:11,12).

Matthew 6:13b “Doxology 1”

Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

^13bbecause Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory into the ages. Amen.

This final line of the Lord’s prayer is of interest to study for two reasons. The first is the question of its authenticity, as any observant Bible student will notice it is left out of many modern Bible translations or at least questioned in their footnotes. The second reason for study is simply our insatiable desire to mine the treasures of God’s Word.

As far as the authenticity, I have my own resolved opinion on the matter. I’ve read the reasons “for and against” as recorded by many different authors. The main focus of debate is usually a matter of what is called “textual criticism.” There are literally thousands of copies of the Bible recorded in a myriad of languages and all down through the ages. Like any other document, when people copy things by hand, they invariably make mistakes and even sometimes deliberately alter the text for one reason or another. This was true not only of the Bible, but every other copied manuscript throughout history. Textual criticism has to be practiced even on Shakespeare’s writings!

Textual criticism is a science of gathering the evidence, analyzing it, then drawing conclusions based on those considerations. I am a graduate Civil Engineer and started working in the field fifty years ago next August (1976-2026). I love science. It is the foundation of everything we do as engineers – to take science, apply it to the issues people face, and, based on that knowledge, to try to do good to our fellow human beings.

All that said, as I turn to my Bible studies, I have, over the years paid very close attention to any issues of textual criticism which I encountered in the passages I’ve translated and studied. One of my conclusions from all of that is to observe that scientists make lousy theologians and theologians make lousy scientists. I would guess that most theologians would cheer my assertion that scientists make lousy theologians. The whole business of evolution is a prime example. Scientists created the theory specifically for the purpose of undermining theology, while in so doing they’ve created a “scientific” theory that is blatantly unscientific. Science can try as it might, but it cannot exclude the God who created and overrules it all.

Again, theologians may, at this point, be cheering all I’m saying. However, they won’t like it when I turn the tables and tell them that they make lousy scientists. Once again, textual criticism is, in itself, purely a science. It is a business of gathering facts, analyzing facts, and drawing conclusions based on those facts. One of the most obvious evidences that theologians make lousy scientists is their use of textual criticism itself. As you read through a study Bible, you’ll see many footnotes calling attention to places where there are, in fact, different wordings found in the ancient manuscripts. Those notes often say something like “the best and most reliable manuscripts do not include…”

“Best and most reliable.” I could lay out two dusty old manuscripts of any writing and ask you, “Which of these is ‘best’ and ‘most reliable’?” I hope you would look at them and say to me, “That is a ridiculous question. They are two old pieces of paper with ink on them. ‘Best’ and ‘most reliable’ are completely subjective terms. That is not science.” And you would be correct. This is just one of the many places where theologians have resorted to practicing science and in so doing, ended up making statements which are blatantly unscientific. Theologians make lousy scientists. Any good scientist will tell you that subjective evidence is no evidence at all.

I guess here is my rub on the whole matter: The Bible isn’t just another collection of old manuscripts to stretch out on a table and dissect like some formaldehyde-soaked frog. The Bible is God’s Word. It says itself it is “alive and powerful.” It says itself it is “God-breathed.” Peter observed that “prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit,” and that too many “ignorant and unstable” people handle the Scriptures and “distort” them “as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction” (II Peter 1:21 & 3:16).

Unbelievers will never understand this, and in fact they cannot. “The natural man cannot understand the things of God, for they are spiritually discerned” (I Cor. 2:14). When a person comes to God they must come first of all by faith. “And without faith, it is impossible to please God, for he that comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him” (Heb. 11:6).

Part of all this is that, again, us believers understand that the Bible is not just another book. It is the Word of God. Jesus Himself said, “Not one jot or tittle will pass away, until all be fulfilled.” The great God who gave us His Word is quite capable of preserving it for His people. When we read the Bible, we are (or should be) in our minds meeting with the Lord Himself. As someone once said, “To read your Bible is to look into the eyes of God.” Where all this leads is that we believers come to the Bible first of all in faith. Faith is not science. Faith is an intensely personal interaction with our Father. Real faith is a relationship. Relationships aren’t necessarily based on facts. You could show me all the evidence you wanted to prove that my wife is being unfaithful to me and I will tell you, “I’m sorry, but I know her and that isn’t even remotely possible.”

By now, it is probably obvious where I’m headed. Frankly, I don’t care what the evidence of textual criticism seems to say. I’ve been reading my Bible and knowing my Lord for all these years and my heart tells me our traditional reading is correct. My heart tells me the Lord’s Prayer does, in fact, end with exactly these words, “for Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.” And frankly that goes for all the other major passages which modern Bibles leave out or tell us, “The best and most reliable manuscripts do not include…”

As I try to study my Bible word for word and even Greek, Hebrew, or Aramaic letter for letter, I do take notice of points where there are “variants,” places where all of the thousands of old Bible copies don’t necessarily agree. I do consider the “evidence” of textual criticism. Sometimes I agree with the popular conclusions, and sometimes I don’t. Sometimes their conclusions are blatantly unscientific (remember, theologians make lousy scientists), but I do try to seriously consider what they present. However, I want to always be first and foremost a man of faith, not science. I want to be a man who studies his Bible looking into the eyes of God. We may be able to dissect Shakespeare’s writings like the formaldehyde- soaked frog, but the Bible is not dead. It is a living book, the words of the living God, spoken to His believing children. People who don’t belong to the family can take out their scalpels and slice the Bible all they want, but they’ll never really understand. They’re reading “someone else’s mail.” They’re more than welcome to join the family, but until they do, they’ll never “get it.”

So, there you go. These are the thoughts of a man who spends all day every day in a career based on science, yet who does it all enjoying the face of the God I cannot see – but know.

If you’re a believer, I hope my thoughts are encouraging to you. Your Bible is absolutely trustworthy and please be assured, those major passages that are supposedly “doubtful” are quite genuine and there for you to enjoy, sitting in your Father’s lap, wrapped in His loving arms. And what can we say but,

“For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.”

Matthew 6:13 “An Honorable Prayer”

Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

¹³and do not bring us into testing, but rescue us from the evil [one].

It is quite appropriate, after a serious consideration of our own need of forgiveness and our forgiving others, to turn immediately and plead for rescue! Truly born-again people inwardly mourn over their own sinfulness. We are all too aware of the pain we find struggling against our selfishness, against our horridly deceptive pride, and against our seemingly constant ignorance of even what is right. Sin is a horrible master. Our salvation freed us from it, yet sometimes it feels those old chains are still there, waiting for the smallest opportunity to wrap their icy links around us.

Then there is this whole issue of forgiving others. People may regularly hurt us, disappoint us, betray us, and just generally make our lives miserable. As if that were not bad enough, we then have to confront this whole business of our own sinfulness and our unwillingness to forgive them.

It is all a very painful process in our hearts and lives. No wonder the next line is “Rescue us!” The Apostle Paul came to this exact same place and exclaimed, “Who shall deliver me from this body of death? (Rom. 7:24). And what was his answer? “Thanks be to God, through our Lord Jesus Christ!” Just as we learn here in the Lord’s prayer, the answer to it all is to take it to that Throne of Grace, “that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb.4:16).

And so, for us believers, keenly aware of how painful is this whole business of life in a fallen world, we go to our Lord and beg, “If it be possible, let this cup pass from me.” “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”

All that said, I definitely want to take the time to think more deeply what this line of the Lord’s prayer is saying. Right off the bat, I have to admit that first line does give us all some trouble. “Lead us not into temptation…” Several thoughts I want to remember. First of all, as James tells us, “When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed” (1:13,14). That states very clearly what we are all quite sure of – that the Lord has nothing to do with evil or even the temptation to succumb to it.

Interestingly, the Greek verb behind “Lead us” is not actually a strict imperative, as it appears in our English translation. Instead it is what grammarians call a “subjunctive.” We really have no other way to translate it into English, but suffice it to say it is at best a very weak imperative. Also, the word doesn’t really mean “lead.” It might be better translated something like “bring,” but then that doesn’t translate well either. Bottom line is just to note this “lead” is a very weak imperative. Definitely more of a request, like Jesus’ words, “If it be possible…”

Also, the word translated “temptation” is actually a word for testing, with no natural positive or negative connotation. It is the same word for the kind of testing someone might do in a factory’s quality control lab. They bring in one out of so many products and “test” it. If it passes, that batch is assumed good. If not, something needs to be checked or changed.

We are all keenly aware that the Lord allows us to be “tested” in that sense. The problem is, since we are all sinners with wills of our own, every test becomes a temptation. For instance, as we pass through each day, we interact with all kinds of people. The Lord wants us to love each of them. Depending on how they treat us, we may be tempted to respond unkindly. Whether we’ll love each one is a test. It’s our pride and selfishness that tempts us not to.

So, perhaps we could translate this line as “Please don’t bring us into testing.” While that would certainly express the intent of the passage, it leads us to another problem. I’m thinking most of us would probably say to ourselves, “That doesn’t sound like something we should be praying – not to be put through trials or testing.” However, we have a number of very clear instances in the Bible where someone asked to be spared from testing. Above them all, we have those words of Jesus Himself, “If it be possible, let this cup pass from Me” Then we have the Apostle Paul with his “thorn in the flesh,” asking three times for the Lord to take it away (II Cor. 12:7-9). Then we have Jesus telling His disciples, “Watch and pray that you enter not into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matt. 26:41).

The real clincher for me is the prayer of Jabez. In I Chron. 4:9,10, we’re told, “Jabez was more honorable than his brothers…Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, ‘Oh, that You would bless me and enlarge my territory, and that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from trouble, that I might be free from pain.’ And God granted his request.” Here, even deep in the Old Testament, we have a man praying, in essence, these exact words, “Lead me not into temptation, but deliver me from evil,” and the Lord Himself tells us he was an “honorable” man.

So, yes, this is a perfectly good prayer to pray. “Lord, deliver me from evil – spare me from trouble.” The fact is life in this fallen world is very hard and the Lord knows it. He knows our frame that we are but dust, so He allows us this grace of asking to be spared from trouble. Of course, Jesus added, “Nevertheless, not My will, but Thine be done,” and, when God’s answer to Paul was, “No, I won’t take it away,” he responded, “Most gladly will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me…”  

In a sense this circles back to the beginning of the prayer, acknowledging Him as our Father and praying His will be done. We can ask for almost anything, but always, always, always leaving the answer in His wise and good hands. If I could add one more thought to all of this, while I pray to be spared from testing and trouble, I realize I have a responsibility in it. In Psalm 32:8,9, we read, “Let Me instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. Let Me counsel you and watch over you. Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding, but must be controlled by bit and bridle, or they will not come to you.”

I take that to mean we have two options in life – we can just blunder on in our Christian life and make the Lord have to clobber us every time He wants to teach us anything, or we can sincerely strive to be teachable – to be often in the Word, listening intently in church, staying close to the Lord in prayer, and allowing Him to teach us without having to first clobber us. I would much rather have Him show me His will right out of the Word, than to have to resort to painful trials just to get my attention. Because I’m a sinner, there will always be things He can only teach me (burn out of me), by putting me through pain, but what I’m saying is, I believe we can minimize it all, just by very deliberately being teachable.

The last thing I want to record about this passage is in the final line, when we pray, “but deliver us from evil.” Some translations render it “but deliver us from the evil one.” Actually in Greek it can be either. Personally, I don’t think it matters. Evil is evil, whether it is Satan seeking to devour me or just my own evil heart, or the evil of this world we live in. We need to be delivered (lit. “rescued”) from it all!

So then let us pray prayers like this, “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,” knowing full well what we are asking for, and rising assured we’ve done right and that our wonderful Lord will answer according to His perfect wisdom and kindness.

That is an honorable prayer.