When You Pray, Say: "Thy Kingdom Come"
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The text for today is John 18:28-40:
Then they led Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the governor’s headquarters. It
was early morning. They themselves did not enter the governor’s headquarters,
so that they would not be defiled, but could eat the Passover. So Pilate went
outside to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this man?”
They answered him, “If this man were
not doing evil, we would not have delivered Him over to you.”
Pilate said to them, “Take Him
yourselves and judge Him by your own law.”
The Jews said to him, “It is not
lawful for us to put anyone to death.” This was to fulfill the word that Jesus
had spoken to show by what kind of death He was going to die.
So Pilate entered his headquarters
again and called Jesus and said to Him, “Are you the King of the Jews?”
Jesus answered, “Do you say this of
your own accord, or did others say it to you about Me?”
Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your
own nation and the chief priests have delivered You over to me. What have You
done?”
Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not
of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would have been
fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But My kingdom is not
from the world.”
Then Pilate said to Him, “So you are
a king?”
Jesus answered, “You say that I am a
king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the
world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to My
voice.”
Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?”
After he had said this, he went back
outside to the Jews and told them, “I find no guilt in Him. But you have a
custom that I should release one man for you at the Passover. So do you want me
to release to you the King of the Jews?”
They cried out again, “Not this man,
but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a robber. Here ends the text.
Grace and peace to you from God our
Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!
Thy kingdom come.
What does this mean? The kingdom of God certainly comes by itself without
our prayer, but we pray in this petition that it may come to us also.
How does God’s kingdom come? God’s
kingdom comes when our heavenly Father gives us His Holy Spirit, so that by His
grace we believe His holy Word and lead godly lives here in time and there in
eternity.
God’s kingdom. Do you see God’s
glorious reign here on the earth? Do you see His mighty kingdom? Is it on
display with all the pomp and circumstance that is the Roman Empire in Judea with Governor Pilate? Now that’s a kingly court! Look at the attendants! The magnificence! The
wealth! The power!
Look carefully. God’s reign and
God’s kingdom stands right before this official representative of his majesty
and his eminence, Caesar of Rome. It’s Jesus. God in the flesh Jesus! King of kings and Lord of lords Jesus! “Who
for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate by the
Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary and was made man” Jesus. Jesus of Nazareth, King of the
Jews.
But how pathetic King Jesus looks. Betrayed.
Arrested. Denied. On trial in Pilate’s court. And once Pilate’s soldiers get a
hold of Him, He’ll look even less kingly. Beaten to a pulp. The back of His
flesh will be mercilessly flogged, ripped by the scourge. He’ll be mocked,
dressed with a purple robe and a crown of thorns. And they will taunt Him:
“Hail, king of the Jews!” He’ll be treated like nothing more than a fraudulent
king with a fake kingdom!
The governor seeks to investigate
this Jesus. Is He the king of the Jews? Does He have a kingdom? Jesus confesses
that He is a king. But He’s not a worldly kind of king, and His is not a
worldly kind of kingdom. “My kingdom is not of this world,” Jesus says. And yet
He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. The “who for us men and for our
salvation came down from heaven” kind of King. The Suffering Servant kind of King!
You see… the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His
life as a ransom for many. He came down from heaven not for Himself… but for
you and me and for the world! This is the kingdom for which we pray in the “Our
Father.”
God’s kingdom is nothing other than
what we confess in the Creed: God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, into
the world to redeem and deliver us from the devil’s power. He sent Him to bring
us to Himself and govern us as a King of righteousness, life, and salvation,
against sin, death, and an evil conscience. For this reason He has also given
His Holy Spirit, who is to bring these things home to us by His holy Word and
to illumine and strengthen us in the faith by His power.
Our King Jesus has come down from
heaven to do the work of salvation. Not just for the Jews; but for all. For the
entire world! For you! For me! Jesus comes down from heaven to annex the entire
world in His Kingdom. To draw all men to Himself as He is lifted high upon His
throne—the cursed tree! He dies a notorious sinner’s shameful death. But don’t
let appearances fool you: This crucified Christ is a world conqueror who has
defeated our mightiest foes—sin, death, and the prince of this world—the devil!
What a King! What a kingdom! Behold
His reign! He is delivered into the hands of sinners. He suffers. He dies. He bears
the entire lot of the world’s sin in His body. He atones for every last bit of
it. “It is finished,” the King declares!
And the head of the ancient, wicked serpent named Satan is crushed. Death’s
deep dark chill loses its crushing grip. Your reservation in hell is cancelled.
And all this done without your
praying. Without your help. Without your advice and consent. Jesus just goes
and does it! Willingly. Lovingly. While
you were still ungodly sinners. While you were His enemies. While you were dead
in your sins and trespasses.
So then, what’s the point of praying
“Thy kingdom come?” Well, that’s how Jesus teaches faith to pray—with all
boldness and confidence that your heavenly Father gives good gifts to you His
children. When you pray “Thy kingdom come,” you’re begging the Father to bring
and reveal Christ’s gracious reign to you! Smack dab in the midst of your life
and your living in this world. A confusing life and world in which it does not
always seem that the Lord is reigning. A world in which His reign is for now
hidden, but will one day be revealed to all.
“Thy kingdom come,” we pray. And
Christ manifests His reign over you in time. As we were reminded last week in
our review of the First Petition: in your Baptism the Lord God put His holy
name on you. And with His name He gives Himself to you—totally and completely. The
Father gave you His Holy Spirit! The Lord and Giver of life, in that washing of
water with the Word of Christ, gave you new birth from above. You are new
creations in Christ! You’ve been buried with Christ into His all atoning death
to be raised up with Him for a new life. The life of faith in King Jesus, who for
us men and for our salvation came down from heaven.
“Thy kingdom come,” we pray. God is
not miserly with His mercy. Jesus lavishes His Good Friday forgiveness over you.
Over all of your life. Over all of your sin. Over your death. Over everything!
He reveals and gives it in the Supper. “My body . . . My blood,” He says,
“given for you for the forgiveness of your sin.” You are forgiven. The King
says so. He’s there in the Sacrament giving and doing exactly what He says. St.
Paul describes it this way: “God has rescued us from the dominion of darkness
and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves in whom we have redemption,
the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1).
“Thy kingdom come,” we pray. And
that changes everything! Christ’s reign of forgiveness changes everything for
you. You have life. You have salvation. You have an unshakeable kingdom! You
have an eternal inheritance kept in heaven for you! For the fruit of such royal
forgiveness is magnificent. It leads to the end game: the resurrection of the
body and life everlasting.
Luther comments in the Large
Catechism: “For the coming of God’s kingdom to us happens in two ways: (1) here
in time through the Word and faith [Matthew 13]; and (2) in eternity forever
through revelation [Luke 19:11; 1 Peter 1:4-5]. Now we pray for both these
things. We pray that the kingdom may come to those not in it, and, by daily
growth it may come to us who have received it, both now and hereafter in
eternal life.
“All of this is nothing other than
saying, ‘Dear Father, we pray, give us first Your Word, so that the Gospel may
be preached properly throughout the world. Second, may the Gospel be received
in faith and work and live in us, so that through the Word and the Holy
Spirit’s power [Romans 15:18-19], Your kingdom may triumph among us. And we
pray that the devil’s kingdom may be put down [Luke 11:17-20], so that he may
have no right or power over us [Luke 10:17-19]; Colossians 1], until at last his
power may be utterly destroyed. So sin, death, and hell shall be exterminated
[Romans 20:13-14]. Then we may live forever in perfect righteousness and
blessedness [Ephesians 4:12-13].
“From this you see that we are not
praying for a simple crust of bread or a temporal, perishable good. Instead, we
pray for an inestimable treasure and everything God Himself possesses. This is
far too great for any human heart to think about desiring, if God Himself had
not commanded us to pray for the same. But because He is God, He also claims
the honor of giving much more and more abundantly than anyone can understand
[Ephesians 3:20]. He is like an eternal, unfailing fountain. The more it pours,
the more it continues to give. God desires nothing more seriously from us than
that we ask Him for much and great things. In fact, He is angry if we do not
ask and pray confidently [Hebrews 4:16].
“It’s like a time when the richest
and most mighty emperor would tell a poor beggar to ask whatever he might
desire. The emperor is ready to give great royal presents. But the fool would
only beg for a dish of gruel. That man would be rightly considered a rogue and
a scoundrel, who treated the command of his Imperial Majesty like a joke and a
game and was not worthy of coming into his presence. In the same way, it is a
great shame and dishonor to God if we—to whom He offers and pledges so many
inexpressible treasures—despise the treasures or do not have the confidence to
receive them, but hardly dare to pray for a piece of bread.
“All this is the fault of shameful
unbelief that does not even look to God for enough food to satisfy the stomach.
How much less does such unbelief expect to receive eternal treasures from God
without doubt? Therefore, we must strengthen ourselves against such doubt and
let this be our first prayer [Thy kingdom come.] Then, indeed, we shall have
everything else in abundance, as Christ teaches, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these
things will be added to you” [Matthew 6:33]. For how could He allow us to
suffer lack and to be desperate for temporal things when He promises to give us
what is eternal and never perishes [1 Peter 1:4]?” [1]
“Thy kingdom come,” we pray. God’s
kingdom certainly comes of itself. But in this petition, we are praying to God
that the kingdom
of Christ will come and
remain among us, both in this life and finally on the Last Day. We ask God that
we will remain faithful and daily grow in His grace, so that more will come to
Christ’s kingdom.
“Thy kingdom come.” We pray this
petition, trusting that our heavenly Father wants to give us not only for the small
cares and needs of life, but also for greater spiritual blessings. God longs to
give you all the riches of His eternal kingdom. Indeed, for the sake of His
Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, those riches are yours even now. You have salvation
and eternal life. You are forgiven for all of your sins.
In the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Adapted from a sermon
series presented by Brent Kuhlman at a pre-Lenten Preaching Seminar on Luther’s
Small Catechism the 3rd chief part—The Our Father.
[1] Concordia
: The Lutheran Confessions. Edited by Paul Timothy McCain. St. Louis, MO
: Concordia Publishing House, 2005, S. 414
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