The Lord's Prayer

Chapter 4. Understanding God’s Will

Thy Will Be Done | Meaning

 
In the Book of Luke, there is a curious statement about God. Luke quotes the prophet Isaiah as saying that through Christ (the Lord) all mankind shall see the “salvation of God”.1 Considering the ham-fisted way that Jesus’s twelve apostles (not to mention the Pharisees and Sadducees) often handled Old Testament scripture, we might be tempted just to pass over this comment from Isaiah. But that would be a mistake.

Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit, has been inspiring prophets since the beginning of the world. 2 Jewish scripture, like all holy scripture, is capable of profound revelation, and this quote by Isaiah is a jewel of an example — albeit one that is rarely talked about. Our silence surrounds the disturbing question: From what exactly does an all-powerful God need to be saved? For humankind, “salvation” means being rescued from “the wages of sin,” but is God a sinner too?

Some would argue that Jehovah certainly is no saint, considering the peevish, jealous, and wrathful behavior he exhibits in the Old Testament. But when Isaiah refers to God’s salvation, he isn’t talking about liberating Jehovah from his penchant for tormenting servants like Job just to win bets with Satan. He is talking about the justification of God’s will, and the choices he’s made. To illustrate God’s situation, Jesus tells the story of the prodigal son. 3

In this parable, a father has two sons. The youngest, anxious to experience the world, asks for his inheritance right away. The father abides by this request and grants him his share, which the boy then dutifully squanders on wine, women, and song in a far off land. The young man eventually crawls back home utterly destitute. Rather than chastise his fallen boy, the father welcomes him back with open arms, kills the fatted calf, and throws a big party.

All the merry-making upsets the older son, who stews over the fact that his father never gave him even a young foal to butcher and barbecue for his friends. The father gently rebukes his eldest, stating that everything he owns has always been available to him.

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The Prodigal Son Meaning

When this parable is taught today, the emphasis is usually on the prodigal son’s welcome home party. The celebration is used to demonstrate that we shouldn’t be afraid of God’s punishment, if we want to return to his fold after years of dissolute living. The beginning of the parable though is just as important, for it reveals the position in which God has placed himself.

The father in Jesus’s story did not have to advance his son his inheritance. He could have just as easily said: “No way, get out there and work the fields with your brother.” He chose to give the money to his son. And we expect he handed it over knowing full well that his boy wasn’t going to invest it in sheep futures.

Not many fathers today would let their child blow such a fortune. Why does this one? Because this father’s ultimate concern is not for his estate but for respecting his son’s independence. By granting his son the means to live on his own, the father hopes he will make the mistakes he needs to make; learn the lessons he needs to learn; and, when all is said and done, return home realizing that a boundless treasure lay within the bosom of family.

God, in granting us free will, also has given us our inheritance in advance. Like the prodigal son, we have been granted the freedom to live our lives as we please. God didn’t have to give us that freedom. No one forced him to plant that fruit in the garden, or create the serpent to tempt Eve. He chose to do so. Now he’s waiting patiently to see if that was the right decision, if his will to have us return to him shall be fulfilled4 so that we might rejoice together again in the kingdom of heaven.5

When Jesus says many are called but few are chosen,6 it isn’t just God doing the choosing — it is us too. In this life, we are equal partners with the Father, and our salvation is indelibly tied to his. If we fail, he fails. But if we accept our divinity in Christ and fulfill our potential as sons and daughters of the Lord, we not only redeem ourselves but the God who created us.7

To realize our potential as God’s children, we need to look at our “will” in the same light as we’ve described God’s: as a matter of choice. All too often we look at human will as some ephemeral power which we all have in varying degrees. When we fail to do things like exercise more, eat better, or learn the piano, we blame it on a lack of such power — as if it is something beyond our control. This makes it much easier for us to justify our shortcomings. But in reality “will” is nothing more than a collection of choices: what we decide to do and not do each day. If we break our will apart and see it as just a series of small individual decisions, we begin to recognize that “will power” is within everyone’s grasp — which means that God’s kingdom is within reach too.

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus says: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”.8 This does not mean that we are to wring our hands over yesterday’s sins, so as to prepare ourselves for tomorrow’s final day of judgment. Jesus is calling us to make a choice today: to turn away from lives where we squander our divine inheritance, and turn towards a life in Christ — a life where our will is reunited with God’s,9 and the gifts provided by the Father at our birth begin multiplying in abundance.10

Now is the time to realize that there is no singular last day.11 Our day of judgment is here with us always,12 and in a million different ways. It demands only that we make a decision, and make it on our own. 13

Read Chapter 5: On Earth As It is In Heaven Meaning (Understanding God’s Divide)

  1. Every chasm shall be filled, every mountain and hill shall be leveled; the winding ways shall be straightened; the rough roads made smooth, 6 And all mankind shall see the salvation of God. — Luke 3:5-6 []
  2. “You are not fifty years old yet,” the Jews exclaimed, “and have you seen Abraham?” 58 “In truth I tell you,” replied Jesus, “before Abraham was, I am.” John 8:57-58 []
  3. A man had two sons; 12 And the younger of them said to his father: “Father, give me my share of the inheritance.’ So the father divided the property between them. 13 A few days later the younger son got together all that he had, and went away into a distant land; and there he squandered his inheritance by leading a dissolute life. 14 After he has spent all that he had, there was a severe famine through all that country, and he began to be in actual want.” 15 “So he went and hired himself out to one of the people of that country, who sent him into his fields to tend pigs. 16 He longed to satisfy his hunger with even the bean-pods on which the pigs were feeding; and no one gave him anything.” 17 “But, when he came to himself, he said: “How many of my father’s hired servants have more bread than they can eat, while here am I starving to death! 18 I will get up and go to my father, and say to him: “Father, I sinned against heaven and against you; 19 I am no longer fit to be called your son; make me one of your hired servants.'” 20 “And he got up and went to his father. But, while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was deeply moved; he ran and threw his arms round his neck and kissed him. 21 “Father,’ the son said, “I sinned against heaven and against you; I am no longer fit to be called your son; make me one of your hired servants.'” 22 “But the father turned to his servants and said: “Be quick and fetch a robe—the very best—and put it on him; give him a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet; 23 And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and make merry; 24 For here is my son who was dead, and is alive again, was lost, and is found.’ So they began making merry.” 25 “Meanwhile the elder son was out in the fields; but, on coming home, when he got near the house, he heard music and dancing, 26 And he called one of the servants and asked what it all meant. 27 “Your brother has come back,’ the servant told him, “and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has him back safe and sound.’ 28 This made him angry, and he would not go in. But his father came out and begged him to do so.” 29 “No,’ he said to his father, “look at all the years I have been serving you, without ever once disobeying you, and yet you have never given me even a kid, so that I might have a party with my friends. 30 But, no sooner has this son of yours come, who has eaten up your property in the company of prostitutes, than you have killed the fattened calf for him.'” 31 “Child,’ the father answered, “you are always with me, and everything that I have is yours. 32 How could we do anything else but make merry and rejoice, for here is your brother who was dead, and is alive; who was lost, and is found.” – Luke 15:11—32 []
  4. For I have come down from heaven, to do, not my own will, but the will of him who sent me; 39 And his will is this: that I should not lose one of all those whom he has given me, but should raise them up at the last day. — John 6:38-39 []
  5. Then indeed you may be glad and dance for joy: for behold your great reward in heaven, as did your ancestors who beheld the prophets. — Luke 6:23 []
  6. Then the king said to the attendants: “Tie him hand and foot, and “put him out into the darkness’ outside, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.’14 For many are called, but few chosen. — Matthew 22:13-14 []
  7. “My food,” replied Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me, and to complete his work.” John 4:34 []
  8. Matthew 4:17 []
  9. If I am doing it, even though you do not believe me, believe what that work shows; so that you may understand, and understand more and more clearly, that the Father is in union with me, and I with the Father.”John 10:38 []
  10. By the seed which was sown on the good ground is meant the receivers who hear the message and understand it, yielding a return, sometimes one hundred, sometimes sixty, sometimes thirty fold.” Matthew 13:23 []
  11. His will is this: that I should not lose one of all those whom he has given me, but should raise them up at the last day. 40 For it is the will of my Father that everyone who sees the Son, and believes in him, should have eternal life; and I myself will raise them up at the last day. John 6:39-40 []
  12. “My time,” answered Jesus, “is not come yet, but your time is always here.” — John 7:6 []
  13. Why do not you decide for yourselves what is right? — Luke 12:57 []


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