Pray then like this:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
matthew 6:9-13 ESV
Jewish Roots
Most Christians are well familiar with the Lord’s prayer. However, the more familiar we have become with it, the less meaning it has come to have. This prayer has gone from being a staple in the early church to one that is now stale. Here, we’ll take a renewed look at the Lord’s prayer, peering through the lens of 1st century Judaism. The Jews had their way of praying and Jesus challenged it in Matthew 6:9-13. By knowing how He challenged their method of praying we can better understand why He challenged it and reclaim the treasure of our Lord’s Prayer.
Few of us outside of Judaism understand the connection between the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:9-13, Ezekiel 38:23 and an ancient Jewish prayer known as the Kaddish composed during the Second temple period, a time when Jews were returning from their Babylonian exile. During this period leading up to the birth of Christ, the Jews formulated a prayer called the Kaddish.1 The prayer begins with an adaptation of Ezekiel 38:23 saying, “May His great name be exalted and sanctified in the world which He created according to His will. May He establish His kingdom and may His salvation blossom and His anointed come soon…”
It is clear Jesus’ prayer wasn’t composed from scratch. When we miss this, we miss part of the brilliance of His prayer. Here Jesus again partners with man. He takes what man has come up with, picks up where man has left off and pivots where necessary to bring it into its fullness. Throughout the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus took what the Jews lived by, the Law, and clarified how the Father truly wants His people to live. Here, in Matthew 6:9-13, Jesus is taking one of their foundational prayers and doing the same.
The Kaddish
The Kaddish essentially starts with hallowing the name of God and the calling in of His kingdom. This is a prayer well known by Jews attending synagogue in the 1st century. The two major contrasts between the Lord’s prayer and the Kaddish are its length and focus. The primary focus of the Kaddish is hallowing, or keeping holy, God’s name. “Magnified and sanctified be His Great Name…” By comparing the Kaddish and the Lord’s prayer side by side, one can easily see how Jesus modified this foundational Jewish prayer to not only set an example on how to pray, but to teach an important lesson.
Jesus’ Correction
As was Jewish custom, Jesus’ followers grew up saying the Kaddish every week in synagogue after rabbinic teaching. In His usual fashion, Jesus challenges the norm to fulfill what God truly desires (Matt 5:17). The Lord’s prayer begins with “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” But from here, Jesus will pivot from the Kaddish to reveal the true heart of God.
The Problem
Like Isaiah’s admonishment of Israel who misunderstood God’s heart for fasting (Isaiah 58:6), Israel still had a misunderstanding of God’s heart for praying. Praying had become a performance (Matt 6:5-6). The religious used it to justify themselves before men (Luke 16:15, Luke 18:11) that all should speak well of them (Luke 6:26). Their prayers were lofty and wordy with heavy focus on the glory of Yahweh. The Pharisees indirectly reveal to us two pitfalls of prayer: using it to bolster one’s sense of righteousness and as we’ll see, using it as an excuse to not act in the name of God.
It is through knowing the Jewish roots of the Lord’s Prayer that we can better understand how God always intended His people to pray.
The Solution to the Problem
As noted previously, the Kaddish focuses on exalting the name of the Father in heaven. However, rather than staying “above the clouds”, Jesus brings the prayer down to the level of His children and he does so in an interesting way. In Matthew 6:5, Jesus cautions against praying in public so others can take notice. To counter this practice, Jesus teaches us to pray in a manner of the other extreme, that is completely in secret. It is interesting then, that Jesus chooses to use first person plural pronouns rather than singular pronouns. “Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” He uses first person plural pronouns to instruct us how to pray immediately after He told us to pray alone. What reason would He have for doing this? There are at least two reasons.
First, Jesus is using hyperbolic language in Matthew 6:6 to give stark contrast to the Pharisees’ practice. Jesus clearly did not expect us to only pray alone (Matt 18:20). Second, this prayer, whether said in synagogue or in a private room, evokes a sense of community in the mind of the believer. The effect of this pivot is twofold.
By bringing the prayer “down to earth”, it helps us avoid superficial religious prayers focused solely on God’s name which can lead to a false sense of righteousness and the neglect of others. Secondly, it pulls us out of our self-focused, individualist mindset. The one who has ears to hear prays, “Give US this day OUR daily bread”, and he begins to think about those in his community who do not have their daily bread. When he prays, “Forgive US our debts, as WE also have forgiven OUR debtors”, he seeks to forgive those who have wronged him and to help others make peace (Matt 5:9). When he prays, “And lead US not into temptation, but deliver US from evil”, he not only depends on God and others for his own trials but yearns to be God’s vessel of deliverance and support for others (Gal 6:2). Praying to God in faith becomes an invitation for good works to accompany our faith.
The Foundation to the Solution
Jesus’ pivot from the Kaddish is rooted in the greatest commandment. In Matthew 22:34-40, Jesus answers the question of which is the greatest commandment in the law. His reply is that the greatest commandment is of two parts, not in succession to one another but of equal greatness. He says they are like each other, that is they are of the same substance. He also states that “on these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets” (Matt 22:40). His teaching creates an image of these two commands holding up the entire Old Testament instruction.
equal in importance and function.
Jesus’ followers, especially the apostle John and Jesus’ brother James, emphasized this theme of inseparability of the love of God and the love of others (e.g., 1 John 4:21, Jam 2:17). This is what Jesus doesn’t want us to miss. He wants us to remember our place in the family of God and to function as God’s representatives on earth, extending His love and provision to those around us.
Praying to God in faith becomes an invitation for good works to accompany our faith.
In Other Words
Communion with God through prayer is one of the great fruits of our salvation. As His adopted children, we can now cry, “Abba! Father” (Gal 4:6), in the quietness of our closet (Matt 6:6) or in the company of our church body (Matt 18:20, Acts 2:42). As with all good things that come from God, we tend to distort prayer. We tend to use it to advance our sense of righteousness. We tend to be self-focused; wanting God to do a work in our lives or perhaps the lives of others without hearing His invitation to be an agent for Him to do His work through. Too often we tend to pray, sit, and wait rather than pray, move, and serve.
When you pray for your friend’s encouragement, find ways to encourage them. When you pray for peace from the chaos of a busy schedule, set aside intentional time to be alone with God. When you pray for financial security, seek to learn from Jesus and His people how to be a generous and wise steward.
Jesus’ instruction helps us pray and live as God intends. His prayer brings together the family of God (“Our Father…”), rightly extols His name, and invites His kingdom (Matt 5:9b-10). But let us not miss His invitation to join Him in His mission as a kingdom of priests who have laid down their lives to be His vessels and agents until Christ’s return (1 Peter 2:9, Rom 12:1). Christ has much to teach us when it comes to knowing how to pray, and next we’ll see how when we follow Him, we will also learn how to listen.
FOOTNOTES
1 Adler, Cyrus. “Jewishencyclopedia.com.” ḲADDISH – JewishEncyclopedia.com, Jewish Encyclopedia, https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/9110-kaddish.
2 Quarterly Reflection Guide by Flip the Script: Download the Reflection Guide for a time of solitude with the Father to reflect on your year or past 3 months and envision the future.
