Verse 13 - The Lord' s Prayer

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¹³ And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.

“and lead us not into temptation “( why will Jesus lead us into temptation? It is preposterous to think of Jesus in this context!) - Of course, He will not lead us into temptation– so the conjunction “and” is very significant.

In the earlier verses – 11 and 12, w e have been instructed to pray:

Give us this day, Jesus and He will forgive our sins as well as those who sin against us and (another conjunction) HE will lead us not into temptation – meaning, He will protect us. The conjunction “and” here, which has been repeated several times in so short a prayer, calls attention to the benefits that man receives, when he calls for Jesus; “and” means there are several gains/blessings/unearned increments .. that are being enumerated:

1. Forgiveness of our sins - "forgive us our debts"

2. The Ability to forgive others - "as we forgive those who have sinned against us"

3. Protection from evil - "lead us not into temptation"

4. Deliverance from the evil One/Satan- " But deliver us from the evil one."

“AMEN “– means it is FINAL. What is there to ask for? God has given us everything when He gave us His SON –undying forgiveness, protection, heaven, HIMSELF- He chose us to be His- I do not know what can beat this kind of Gift – an all-encompassing one -even money/material needs (and wants ? “all these things will be added unto You” – Matt.6:33) are integrated into the daily bread/Jesus/forgiveness, which we need for survival and protection!

The power of a Christian is in Jesus’ work of salvation.

The Lord’s prayer is a declaration of that work!

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Verses 11-12 - The Lord's Prayer

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^{Verses 11-12}

¹¹ Give us today our daily bread.
¹² And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.

“Our daily bread” – figuratively speaking – Jesus is our daily bread! – John 6:35

Give us this day, Jesus

And –why “and”? (“and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us”) because we cannot forgive ourselves nor can we forgive others – Give us this day Jesus and He will forgive our sins as well as /”and” those who sin against us

Give us today (to ask for Jesus, to seek Him is a dynamic request – Jesus saved us once – it is a one time transaction – but seeking Him is not one-time. Jesus Himself prescribed it – to ask for Jesus on a daily basis – “ Give us today” ( it is the same principle with “Knock, seek … and it will be given to You “ – Matt. 7:7-8) our daily bread – Give us today, Jesus/our daily bread (yes, for we cannot do without him – we cannot breathe without him, He is our survival – no, more than that, He is our Life!)

and He will forgive us our sins/debts (past, present and future) as well as those who sin against us /our debtors (those who had sinned, have sinned and will still sin- Yes, it is only Jesus who is capable of genuine and an all-time forgiveness for man is so inconsistent- we forgive an enemy today only to make more enemies tomorrow- or forget that we had forgiven someone a while ago!

WOW- THIS IS WHAT SALVATION MEANS- forgiveness, the core of Christianity, is Jesus’ work – Man will seek Jesus, so that he/man can forgive genuinely and forever!) . FORGIVENESS, is a must for our survival and living abundantly (Jesus said: “I have come so that you/man may have life and have it abundantly! – John 10:10) and God, our Father/Jesus knows that we/man cannot do it by himself – so He sent The Savior! Anyone who tries so hard to forgive an enemy will never succeed – he will be like the classic Sisyphus in Greek mythology – ceaselessly rolling a huge rock up a mountain, only to repeat it again and again because the rock would never reach the top - it would continuously fall …

Verse 10 - The Lord's Prayer

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Verse 10 - ¹⁰ your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.

“your kingdom come” - Your kingdom come- Your Kingdom is still JESUS!*

To paraphrase, Let Your Son, Jesus come!

“Your will be done on earth” -What is your will? It is to save mankind from sin and death – that’s your will on earth,

“as it is in heaven” –“ as it is” – it is the same; “in heaven “– in heaven. It is the same will/perspective in heaven – to save mankind from sin and death. ( Matt 6: 38-40 )**

To paraphrase Verse 10 - Let Your Son, Jesus come! Let Him save mankind from sin and death – as this is your will both in heaven and on earth!

To reword Matthew 6, Verses 9-10 of The Lord’s Prayer:

Our Father in heaven, holy be your name – Jesus Christ, The Savior! Yes, Let your Son Jesus come! Let HIM come to save mankind from sin and death – it is Your will/perspective both in heaven and on earth.

*though “kingdom” in the Bible refers to heaven, yet, in various contexts/parables, it refers to The Father’s Son – that’s what parables of the kingdom of heaven speak – example, “the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, sold everything ha had and bought it.” – Matt 13:45-46. Here, the merchant is God/Jesus and we/man is the fine pearls- not the other way around…

** Matt 6:38-40 “ For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of Him who sent me …For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”

The Lord's Prayer

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The power of a Christian is in Jesus’ work of salvation. The Lord’s prayer is a declaration of that work!

Last May 4, 2011- I asked God for light regarding the true essence of The Lord’s Prayer – I am sharing these musings (May 4 to the present) verse by verse

Matt. 6:9-13 - The Navarre Revised Standard Version of The Holy Bible. Four Courts Press, Dublin, Ireland, 2001-2005.

Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us,
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.

Or

Matt. 6: Matthew 6:9-13 (New International Version)

⁹ “This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
¹⁰ your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.

¹¹ Give us today our daily bread.
¹² And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
¹³ And lead us not into temptation,^[a]
but deliver us from the evil one.http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+6&version=NIV

I will be using the NIV version.

Verse 9 - “‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,”

“hallowed” means holy- “name” what is God’s name? I asked Him. What’s your name Lord God?

The bible tells us that there is no given name except “Jesus Christ” (there is a lot of description about God – Heavenly Father, Creator, Savior, Friend,( Proverbs 18:23-24), bridegroom, Immanuel /Emmanuel,/God with us, Holy Spirit/ Paraclete; The Light (John 8:12, John 11:9, 2 Timothy 1:10…), the Bread, the Lamb of God …BUT, God’s Word/the Bible does not give any name/praenomen/agnomen of God except “Jesus!”

To paraphrase Matt.6:9 then – I may say: Heavenly Father, holy be your name –it is Jesus, isn’t it? Your name is Jesus Christ, The Savior! ( well fine! - after all there are three persons in 1 God – so Jesus is still YOU, You are still Jesus, the same is true with The Holy Spirit!)