Hallowed Be Thy Name
Hallowed Be Thy Name
Matthew 6:9; Mark 14:30-31
Good Guys Do Bad Things. What happens when bad guys do good things and good guys do bad things? Wasn’t that the case when the high priest and the Sanhedrin placed Jesus under oath and judged him guilty of blasphemy? After all, a person who claims to be the Son of God—under oath no less—must be taken seriously. Was it not the duty of the Sanhedrin, the supreme Jewish court, to try cases like this? Of course, some of them were the bad guys whose sole purpose was to get Jesus out of the way. The high priest, Caiaphas, who led the attack, was a Sadducee. Perhaps that makes his behavior understandable.
Surprising, however, is the behavior of the good guy, Simon Peter. His denial of Christ with an oath and his insistence that he doesn’t even know him comes as a shock. It cannot be excused by saying he was an impulsive man whose personality made him a strong leader one minute and a coward the next. What he said was a terrible sin against God. To make matters worse, Jesus had even warned him, “Before the rooster crows twice you yourself will disown me three times” (Mk 14:30).
His weakness was, in one word, pride. He was too sure of himself. The Bible warns us often about pride. It has been said that pride elevates self to the place of God. Solomon reminds us, “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall” (Prov 16:18). Thirty-five years later, the Holy Spirit moves Peter to write, “Clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble’” (1 Pet 5:5), a partial quotation from Proverbs. Peter had learned a few things!
The good news is that Peter did not die in his sin. After the third denial. “The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him. …. And he went outside and wept bitterly” (Lk 22:61-62). The good news is that when we stumble and fall in our weakness God helps us to remember the word he has spoken. He does not give up on us, but leads us, as he did Peter, to repent and be forgiven.
Treat God’s Name in a Holy Way. The point I want to make is that both the Sanhedrin and Peter misused God’s name. Not quite par when we consider again the First Petition of the Lord’s Prayer, “Hallowed by your name.”
The Second Commandment parallels this petition, “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God” (Ex 20:7). On the positive side, we are exhorted to “call upon it in every trouble, pray, praise, and give thanks” (SC). According to Luther, “God’s name is kept holy when the Word of God is taught in its truth and purity, and we, as the children of God, also lead holy lives according to it” (SC).
What else would a person say who wants to teach right doctrine? The Bible speaks: “From infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim 3:15-17). The name of God is hallowed when his people hold to his Word and behave according to that Word.
If Luther were living today, no doubt he also would warn against the careless misuse of God’s name. The increase of profanity in our society is alarming. If we are serious about “family values” and want to help turn the tide of violence, fornication, vulgarity, and dishonesty, a good place to start might very well be with respect and reverence for God’s name.
Jesus Is Lord. That begins with Jesus. God told Moses his name was, “I am who I am” (Ex 3:14). Hebrew translators regarded that name as so sacred it should not be spoken aloud. Therefore, they used the consonants, YHWH, which is pronounced “Yahweh” or “Jehovah” instead. Subsequently, in the Greek translation of the Old Testament, YHWH was rendered as Kyrios, “Lord.” Jesus attaches the name to himself as when he quotes Psalm 110, “The Lord said to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet’” (Mt 22:44).
After our Lord’s death and burial, the chief priests and Pharisees, in their stubborn unbelief, called Jesus “that imposter” or “deceiver,” one who pretends to be something he is not (Mt 27:63). How different is the apostle’s description of the Risen One: “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (2:9-11).
When we pray, “Hallowed be your name,” we also apply this petition to our Lord Jesus Christ. How it saddens our hearts when that holy name is used to emphasize a person’s astonishment, or disgust! But in this petition we pray that those who misuse Jesus’ name will learn its true meaning as announced by the angel to Joseph, “You are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” (Mt 1:21).
What’s in a Name? In Bible times names were given because of their meaning. Judas, for example, means “Praise of God.” But, his life and character hardly reflected that. Better known is the meaning of Peter’s name, Cephas. Both Cephas (Aramaic) and Peter (Greek) mean “rock.” Sometimes Peter was solid and firm, but not always. The point is that we do not necessarily become what our names mean.
Of greater importance than our name is that the name of God was spoken at our Baptism, as Jesus instructed the church, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Mt 28:19). In that Baptism we were identified with our Lord. Paul writes, “All of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ” (Gal 3:27).
Malcolm Forbes, the billionaire owner/publisher of Forbes magazine, was interviewed on 60 Minutes. After a tour of his castles, yachts, and other possessions, he was asked about his extravagant lifestyle. He declared that he was determined to get everything he could and “live it up to the hilt” in this life because, he said, “I’m not sure about the next one.” When compared to Mr. Forbes, none of us have so many material possessions, but knowing the name of God and that in that name we have more than all the riches of the world can buy, gives us something far more valuable. By God’s name our names are written in God’s book of life. Hallowed by His Name. Amen.
