Thought for the week ...

A couple of weeks ago I wrote in the Thought about how God is not far off and uncaring, but is near to us and intimately involved in our lives.  This week, it seems appropriate that we should consider the other perspective of that; and that we should spend some time contemplating the glory and majesty of God.  So let’s look first at words ascribed to Jesus:

"For Yours [God] is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen." Matthew 6¹³

When Jesus taught the disciples how to pray, He used these words to honour the Father.  This was not introducing anything new, because the knowledge that God’s Kingdom, power and glory are forever was already a central thought in Jewish belief.  In the early days of nationhood, similar words had been used by David in public worship:

Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, The power and the glory, The victory and the majesty; For all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, And You are exalted as head over all. 1 Chronicles 29^11-13

Can you see the same thought here as the one expressed by Jesus?  Kingdom, power and glory are all mentioned by David, along with victory, majesty, greatness and exaltation.  It’s clear that Jesus knew this prayer of David, and was possibly even quoting from it!

Jesus would also have been very aware of the words of David in one of the “worship” psalms:

They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom, and talk of Your power, to make known to the sons of men His mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of His kingdom.  Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and Your dominion endures throughout all generations.  Psalm 145¹¹

There they are again:  Kingdom, power and glory throughout all generations!  Jesus would have known this Psalm off by heart, and the wording of His prayer would have been greatly influenced by it.

It’s true to say, though, that the idea of the Kingdom of God coming close had fallen away to a large extent by the time of Jesus, so that very few people were still actively expecting or even hoping for the onset of God’s Kingdom; and even those who were, could only understand it in earthly terms, as if the Roman rule over Israel would be removed and the earthly kingdom of Israel would be re-established in the land.  They didn’t understand how that related to the Messiah.

Daniel the prophet, in a vision, saw the future Messiah, and described Him like this:

And behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven!  He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him.  Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom,  that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him.  His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed.  Daniel 7^13–14

This vision contains dominion [power], glory and a kingdom which shall not pass away, the exact same thing which Jesus taught us to pray.

Who says the teachings of the New Testament are not founded on the wonderful truths of the Jewish faith??  What Jesus taught was firmly grounded in how God had already revealed Himself in the existing Jewish writings, and clearly Jesus was re-introducing this vibrant, dynamic faith to people for whom it had become a dull, lifeless ritual without meaning or power.

I wonder whether our own faith might have become a dull, lifeless ritual without meaning or power?   Perhaps we even make the mistake of thinking of God as a little soft toy we can hug occasionally to make us feel safe, whereas in reality we should be breathless at His glory, majesty, power and might.  Have we neglected His intense power, and have we become casual about His powerful, burning holiness?

Look again at that verse from Daniel:

And behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven!  He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him.  Daniel 7¹³

He says He will come, and still He says He will be near to us.  Remember though, that the closer you get to the fire, the hotter it gets!  The only way to make sure the burning holiness doesn’t burn us up is to allow that burning holiness to make us holy too.  Only Jesus can do that!