Transcript for: Understanding the Sermon on the Mount
The Sermon on the
Mount is one of the most important collections of
the teachings of Jesus. And it has three parts: an introduction, a main
body, and a conclusion. - Now, the main body is the
central part of the sermon. And in it, Jesus calls
his followers to live by a higher standard
of right relationships with God and with other people. - And the main body itself has
three parts, looking at this righteousness from
three perspectives. - Now, this central part here is about how righteousness should be
expressed in the religious practices of Jesus' day. - And this section also has three parts. In the middle, Jesus addresses
three religious practices. - And the central practice
that he highlights is prayer. - Ah, this is where Jesus teaches his disciples the Lord's Prayer. - You got it. So the Lord's
Prayer is at the center of the center of the center of the entire Sermon on the Mount. And it's here because
Jesus wants this prayer to have a central place in
the lives of his followers. The prayer begins: "Our Father who is in the skies." Notice the prayer does not
begin with "my Father." Jesus wants us to remember that we belong to a worldwide family,
appealing to God together as our Father. - Father's a really
intimate way to address God. - Yes, this was Jesus'
favorite term for God, which portrays God as the source of life and provider for his children. And notice that Jesus
balances that intimate term with a more cosmic
description, "in the skies." - So did Jesus think God is in the sky? - It's a metaphor. Just as
the skies are high above us, so God is above and beyond every category in our imagination. Yet he's also close like a good father. Now that we've addressed God, the prayer continues in
three requests. The first is: - "May your name be recognized as holy." So what's the significance
of God's name being holy? - Well, in the Bible,
holiness is the unique one-of-a-kind status God has as the creator of all things. And in the story of the Bible,
God attaches his holy name and reputation to the
people of ancient Israel, by partnering with them to
bring blessing to the nations. - But Israel breaks that partnership, and that led them to be
conquered by other nations. - Exactly. And God's holy reputation was discredited among the nations. But Israel's prophet said
that one day God would act to restore the holiness of his reputation. Jesus is inviting his followers
to pray for that to happen. - But how?
Well that's what the prayer turns to next. - "May your kingdom come,
and may your will be done, as it is in the skies
so also on the land." - God's heavenly kingdom is a holy realm where God's will is always done. - So Jesus wants us to ask for
that realm to come down here, so his heavenly will is done on the land. - Right. And that word
"will" could also be translated as "desire." This prayer is meant to align
our desires with God's desire to bring Heaven to Earth. And notice the repetition: "your name," "your kingdom," "your will." This first half of the Lord's
Prayer has three requests that God act in our
world to renew creation. And the second half of the
prayer shifts the focus to asking God for help, so we
can be a part of that renewal. - "Our daily provision of
bread, give to us today." - Most humans are full of worry
and fear about our survival, and so we hoard resources. But Jesus invites us to trust God to meet our needs one day at a time. This kind of prayer cultivates
a habit of daily gratefulness to see every meal and
every moment as a gift. - Why focus on bread? - Jesus is recalling the story of Israel wandering in the
wilderness when God sent bread from heaven, but just enough
for one day at a time so that Israel had to stay in a posture of gratefulness and trust. - "And forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven
those indebted to us." So what are our debts? - Well, debt is a metaphor
for when you wrong someone and then owe them to make it right. It's a relational debt. And
notice the symmetry here. The prayer asks God to forgive our debts just as we forgive those who owe us. Our ability to receive God's forgiveness is bound up with our ability
to give out forgiveness. Jesus is creating a culture
where the forgiven become agents of forgiveness to others. - "And don't lead us into the test, but deliver us from the evil one." Now, I learned this prayer as "don't lead us into temptation." - The Greek word is
peirasmos, which means a test that is designed to reveal the truth. In the Bible, God's tests
have a positive purpose, to reveal someone's character and invite them into a
relationship of trust. - Okay, then why ask God
to spare us from tests? - Jesus is being really honest here. Tests can be difficult or painful, and often there's a
little voice nudging me to take the easy way out because the right choice
is just too costly. Jesus says that's the
voice of the evil one. - So when tests come, and we hear that voice, we
should ask for deliverance. - Exactly. Now, notice this second half of the prayer has four requests
that focus on our needs. Give us bread, forgive our debts, don't lead us, and deliver us. Combine that with the three requests from the prayer's first half. - And you get seven requests. That's a common number for
completeness in the Bible. - Yes, the prayer of Jesus
shapes us into people who long for God's heavenly kingdom and desire to come about here on the land. And we can participate
as we learn to trust God, forgive others, and remain
faithful to God's promise to bring Heaven down to Earth. - Our mission at BibleProject is to help people experience
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