Matthew 5:3-16 – The Father’s Kingdom on Earth

Of the many courses I took in seminary, one of the more important ones was the course on Hermeneutics. Hermeneutics is not, as I used to think, the study of all people named “Herman,” but it is the study of how to properly read and interpret the Bible. One of the basic tenants of Hermeneutics is that we must pull the meaning out of scripture (exegesis) while avoiding adding our own meaning to it (eisegesis). This is not an easy task. We all carry our own biases and presuppositions with us when we read the Bible. These are often the things we heard and saw as a child, and they persistently haunt our worldview throughout our lifetime. These specters of our own biases are not easy to banish; it is not easy for us to allow the scripture, under the guidance of the Spirit, to speak for itself; but this is what we must do if we wish to avoid heresy or becoming the next Waco, Texas.

I realize it is unlikely that most people to have the time to enroll in a Hermeneutics class. So I will give you a brief summary of a main principle of Hermeneutics by way of three words I learned from Howard Hendricks, the author of Living by the Book, a wonderful introductory book on how to study the Bible;
“Context, Context, Context.”
Get it? Isn’t that simple?
Well, not so quick. “Context” is not merely the same word repeated three times for the purpose of emphasis; each word means a different thing.
First, “Context” means we must read a passage in the context of the surrounding verses, typically a paragraph or a chapter.
Secondly, “Context” means we must read that section, paragraph, or chapter in the context of the book in which it is found.
Thirdly, “Context” means we must read that section and book in the context of the Bible as a whole; both the Old and the New Testament.

To do this well, of course, means we must know the Bible well enough so as to be able to see how the pieces fit together. If we don’t know the entire Bible well enough, studying a small section is much like putting a puzzle together without the box-top picture; you might eventually get it, but it’s not going to be easy. But, if you have the box-top picture you can quickly gather similar pieces and start assembling them together and in their proper place.

Thus far in our study of the Lord’s Prayer, we have looked at the little pieces (each line), and then we looked at the prayer as a whole; but we haven’t yet begun to look at the surrounding context. That is the focus of these next few entries. I say, “next few entries” because to look at the surrounding context in one entry would either create a very long entry or an entry short on real content. I hope you will forgive me if I take a number of weeks to work through the larger context surrounding the Lord’s Prayer—the Sermon on the Mount.

At first glance, the Lord’s Prayer might seem to be a small piece of the Sermon on the Mount; and I must admit the possibility that that may be the case. This is the approach taken by many authors and preachers who have dedicated years of their lives to the study of the Bible; their explanations of the Sermon on the Mount should not be discounted, as long as they are not in contradiction with the text of scripture.

The existence of multiple teachings on this one text illustrates what I find to be of the many interesting things about reading the Bible. It is highly likely, even expected, that many layers and nuances will be found in the words of this book inspired by the infinite God. Add to that the fact that the Sermon on the Mount was not only recorded through inspiration by the Spirit but it was also spoken by God incarnate. This should, at the very least, tell us that a brief reading of the text will most likely not plumb the depths of God’s word.

It is with these things in mind that I suggest that the Sermon on the Mount can be read as an explication of the Lord’s Prayer. What this means is that the Lord’s Prayer is a condensed version of the Sermon on the Mount or, in other words, the Sermon on the Mount is an expanded view of the Lord’s Prayer. To see what I mean, let’s look at the first portion of the Lord’s Prayer and compare it to the first portion of the Sermon on the Mount.

To begin, let’s look at the first portion of the Lord’s Prayer,
Our Father in Heaven hallowed be your name,
Your kingdom come [on earth as it is in heaven]

Before I go any further, you should notice I have made one slight emendation to the text; I have added the phrase “on earth as it is in heaven” to the ending of this first portion. This is because I believe the phrase “on earth as it is in heaven” modifies both “your kingdom come” and “your will be done.” In essence, Jesus tells us to pray for the coming of the Father’s kingdom on earth AND the doing of the Father’s will on earth.

Breaking it down even further, the first phrase, “Our Father in Heaven hallowed be your name,” does not merely refer to speaking reverentially about the Father’s actual name, but it is about reverence for all that the Father has done, is doing, and will do. To revere the Father’s name is to revere the works of the Father. And of all the works of the Father, the one discussed the most in Matthew is the coming of the Father’s kingdom. By my count, there are about fifty references to the kingdom of Heaven in Matthew. It should then be no surprise that the first portion of the Sermon on the Mount begins with a discussion of those who will receive the Kingdom of Heaven. If my reasoning is correct here, then these two phrases, Our Father in Heaven hallowed be your name, your kingdom come [on earth as it is in heaven], can be read together because the work of the Father is the only thing that brings about his Kingdom on earth.

With this in mind, let’s now look at the first portion of the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5:3-16, and read Jesus’s words:

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”
5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”
7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.”
14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

If we think, just even for a moment, about the kingdom of heaven, we will realize it won’t be filled with arrogant, strong-armed, despots. Rather, it will be filled with the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, and the peacemakers. These citizens of the kingdom of heaven will be comforted, will inherit the earth, will be satisfied, will receive mercy, will see God, and will be called the sons of God; great will be their reward.

But we must also keep in mind that while the kingdom expands here on earth, the citizens of the heavenly kingdom will be persecuted and reviled. Yet, even so, those citizens will be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. It is in them that the kingdom of Heaven will be found, and through them that it will be seen.

Thus it is when praying these words, “Our Father in Heaven hallowed be your name, your kingdom come [on earth as it is in heaven]?” we pray for the words of Matthew 5:3-16 come to pass. We pray for the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, and the peacemakers. We pray that they will be comforted, will inherit the earth, will be satisfied, will receive mercy, will see God, and will be called the sons of God. We pray that they continue to be salt and light in this world, but we also pray that we become citizens of the heavenly kingdom. For when we pray for the Father’s kingdom to come, we pray that the Father’s Kingdom comes in us and is seen through us.

Of all the works of the Father—those works for which we praise his name—there may be no greater work than his bringing of the Kingdom of Heaven into the lives of his children here on earth. This is what I believe it means when we pray,
Our Father in Heaven hallowed be your name, your kingdom come [on earth as it is in heaven].

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