C, Maundy Thursday - The Lord's Prayer #7 - Matthew 6:11 "Give us today our Daily Bread"
From the outset,
theological language scholars struggle to know what the Greek adjective “daily” actually is. There are several possibilities such as: give
us this day the bread of existence; give us this day the bread for today; give
us this day the bread for tomorrow; or give us this day the bread for the
future.
Within the context
of the Sermon on the mount, Jesus talks about the things we need for survival,
saying…
“Do not
lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where
thieves break in and steal, but lay up
for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and
where thieves do not break in and steal.
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
(Matthew 6:19–21 ESV)
And, “…if
God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is
thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little
faith? Therefore do not be anxious,
saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we
wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all
these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his
righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow,
for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own
trouble.” (Matthew 6:30–34 ESV)
Every day has
enough of its own trouble, so we pray to our Father, “give us what we need
every day.” So, what do we need every
day from our Father who is in heaven? Or
put better, “What does God require of us every day?” What does God require of you if every day has
enough of its own troubles and deceptive treasures?
Jesus highlights
the troubles of the day, as working for treasures that leads your heart away
from the true treasures of heaven, as well as being anxious and distracted in
one’s desire to have what one decides to be enough of these treasures.
It’s here you’re
called out of trusting yourself, back to trusting OUR father in heaven. You are called to know that Jesus not only
teaches God’s children to pray this prayer, but has been praying these
petitions for you, and on your behalf before the Father. He has proven himself 100% faithful to the
Father, even unto death, and is now raised in victory over death, and
intercedes on your behalf, before the Father, for your victory over death.
Our Father in
heaven, Jesus the Son of God, and the Holy Spirit want God’s kingdom, power,
and glory, to be your eternal reality in community with them.
For this to
happen, God gives us access to him through his holy name, to call on him, to
deliver us from every evil within and from without. Having begun the work of moving us from evil
to holiness, he continually seeks to lead us away from all kingdoms, which lead
to evil and death, to his kingdom. This
is a kingdom of holiness and peace, set apart for you to be with him in all his
power and glory.
While we are here
on earth, he forgives us our sin. It is
his responsibility and pleasure to do so!
Because he is a steadfast loving God, we have a right to receive his
forgiveness and a right to be able to forgive others. He gives us the freedom and the will to
accept that responsibility of passing his forgiveness onto others.
As Christians, or,
children of a loving God, we give the right to others to receive our
forgiveness. When we struggle to
forgive, God gives us the responsibility to ask him to help us forgive as he
has forgiven us.
If these are not
enough troubles for each day, then we can add on what we need to eat, wear, and
sleep. But as we have heard he wants us
to seek first his kingdom and the treasure of his holy righteousness and will.
Each day it
pleases God that we ask him for the bread to sustain us now, tomorrow, and
forever!
In fact, when we
pray for our daily bread, the Lord’s Prayer names the treasure or bread of
eternal life in our praying for deliverance from evil into the holiness of
God’s name. The Lord’s Prayer names the
treasure or bread of eternal life which leads us from the temptation of
building our own kingdoms into his kingdom of peace and sabbath. The Lord’s Prayer names the treasure or bread
of eternal life which restores in us the will of God, so, in prayer we can
confess our sin, praise him for our forgiveness, forgive others, and confess
our unity as his children through our common forgiveness of sins. These are our daily bread.
Therefore, our
daily bread and true treasure of the heart is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ gives us himself in this prayer
when he gives us the words to pray it.
Jesus’ prayer, our Lord’s Prayer to his Father and our Father, is the
word of God given to us from he who is the Word made flesh. The Lord’s Prayer is taught by Jesus, the
source of grace, who fulfils grace, at the cross! The Lord’s prayer is both treasure from the
mouth of God, and treasure in the ear of God, for all who receive it from
Jesus, believe it in the heart, and pray it to the Father with the mouth.
If it’s our Father
in heaven’s good pleasure to give us eternal rest in his kingdom of power and
glory, how much more will he give us our daily bread each day of our troubled
life on earth? Therefore, Jesus tells us
to seek first the Kingdom of Heaven and his righteousness, his treasures, and
everything we need for this life, like, food, clothing, and shelter will be
supplied by our Father who loves us.
If God would go to
such lengths to provide for your salvation, by having his Son die for you, and
raise him, why would he then not provide the lesser things for you?
Furthermore, why
would Jesus, who faithfully died for you, mandate for humanity on Maundy
Thursday, a new covenant to receive his body and blood for the forgiveness of
sin, life, and salvation? As well as
command us to do this eating and drinking of his body and blood in remembrance
of his birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension, if he would then go on
to not give us the things we need for this life?
Also, why would
Jesus tell his disciples and then after his resurrection and ascension, send
the Holy Spirit to guide us in all truth, give us understanding in his word,
engage faith within us, creating the will in us to do the greater work of
confessing our sins, now that he has gone to the Father and prays ceaselessly
for us, if he wasn’t sustaining us in this life?
And why would the
Holy Spirit move us to baptise in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Spirit, and believe in our baptism into God’s kingdom, if he weren’t going to
lead us through this kingdom of life, and away from all its troubles that end
in death? Only then not to raise us from
death into his kingdom of eternal life, peace, and holy community!
Every time you
pray the Lord’s Prayer you are in community with the Triune God, glorifying him
in his presence and fulfilling your function in creation with all others who
believe and pray.
Every time you
pray the Lord’s Prayer you pray a Holy Spirited lifegiving prayer, because you
are allowing God the Holy Spirit, to turn you from your helplessness, and place
you in Jesus Christ the Son of God, and he in you.
Every time you
pray the Lord’s Prayer you are forgiven and fed on God’s holy eternal living
bread.
Jesus Christ is
our most treasured and holy daily bread.
Amen.
Come Lord Jesus,
be our guest, let all your gifts to us be blessed, blessed are you our daily
bread, may the world be clothed and fed.
Amen.
