Daily Devotional For Tuesday, October 22, 2024
Good morning folks! It’s Terrific Tuesday and thank you for taking the time to read this devotional for today and to ponder and answer the questions at the end of it. For some time, we have been making our way through the most famous sermon ever – Jesus’ Sermon On The Mount. You can read this in Matthew chapters 5, 6, & 7. Currently, we are finishing up looking at what has been traditionally called “The Lord’s Prayer.” Some scholars prefer to call it “The Disciples’ Prayer,” since Jesus gave this prayer to His disciples as a model to follow.
Today, we come to the very last line in this prayer found in Matthew 6:13b, “For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen” (NASB). New Testament scholars will tell you that this final line is not found in any of the original manuscripts but was added later as a form of a doxology probably. Many translations will put this final line either in brackets at the end or footnote it. Even though this final line was not in the original Greek New Testament texts, it does serve as a wonderful closure to this prayer.
The word “kingdom, power and glory” mirror an Old Testament passage in 1 Chronicles 29:11, “Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Yours is the dominion (kingdom), O Lord, and You exalt Yourself as head over all” (NASB).
New Testament scholar Robert L. Hahn writes this about this last and final line:
“For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.” These words are missing in the oldest and best manuscripts of Matthew. This does not mean we are in error to pray them. All Jewish prayers concluded with a benediction like that. It would not have been necessary for Jesus to have told the disciples to use such a benediction, nor for Matthew to have written it. From earliest times the benediction would have been part of the Lord’s Prayer. Eventually, when Matthew was being copied in the Gentile world, a scribe added the conclusion that the Church had always used” (Source: Robert L. Hahn, Matthew: A Commentary For Students,” p. 101).
My own personal opinion as to why Jesus ended this prayer originally with evil, “And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (NASB), to contrast it with the beginning, “Our Father.” This reminds us that as our heavenly Father’s children, we live in this world where the “prince of this world” along with his demons rules for now until we are at home in Heaven where Our Father is. So, since we live between our heavenly Father and the devil and evil in this world, we even more need to be dependent upon Him and cry out to Him for help.
The Apostle Paul remind us of this in Ephesians 6:10-17:
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. (11) Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. (12) For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. (13) Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.(14) Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, (15) and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; (16) in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. (17) And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (NASB).
We are impotent to win this battle on our own. We are not superheroes as in the Marvel and DC Comics world. We have no special “spidey” powers as Spiderman or superhuman strength as Superman or Wonder Woman. We are human, frail, vulnerable and weak on our own. We battle an enemy we cannot see. We battle an enemy who is shrewd, unfair, hates us and throws everything he has at us to defeat us. So, Jesus originally ended this prayer with this reminder – God, our heavenly Good Father is all-powerful and the devil is all evil.
New Testament scholar Douglas Sean O’Donnell reminds us of this: “This is why in our prayers we must pray, “Lord, help me to be faithful and obedient to You.” This means we don’t pray, “Bring on the temptations and the tempter.” We don’t go looking for tests of strength” (Source: Douglas Sean O’Donnell, Preach The Word, “ Matthew: All Authority in Heaven and on Earth,” p. 173).
Questions To Consider
- The last line of this prayer is not in any of the original Greek New Testament manuscripts. It was added later. How does this last line serve as an appropriate doxology for this prayer?
- It seems that whoever added this last line had 1 Chronicles 29:11 in mind. Whoever it was, obviously loved and knew their Old Testament. When it comes to reading the Bible, which Testament (Old or New) do you tend to read the most and why?
- This prayer begins with “Our Father,” a reminder that God is Lord, Sovereign, and King over this world. It ends with a note about evil, which reminds us that we are in a constant spiritual battle every day of our life. How do you prepare for this daily spiritual battle? If you don’t, why?
- We shouldn’t go looking for a spiritual battle. It will come looking for us. Which spiritual battles do you fight on a daily basis and how do you fair with them?
- Read Ephesians 6:10-17 above again. How do you suppose you put on this type of armor?
Scripture To Meditate On: 1 Peter 5:8, “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (NASB).
Prayer To Pray: “Dear Jesus, please forgive me when I think I can be victorious on my own strength in this spiritual battle. I need You to help me with this. Please deliver me from evil so that I bring glory to You. Remind me that without You, this battle will be impossible for me to win, but with You, all things are possible. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
I love you Southside!--Pastor Kelly