Thoughts for the Day

Father, Hallowed be your name …                             Luke 11:2

Searching through the words of Jesus, I find he did not say very much explicitly about God’s character.  No surprise, perhaps!  He did say that he and his Father were ‘one’ and tell people that those who had seen him had seen the Father also.  So, what was the need to describe the Father when he was demonstrating Him all the time?   Added to which his audiences were well aware of the Old Testament, which is packed with revelation of God’s character, so Jesus could focus less on that and more on how then we should live.

Nevertheless, this line from the beginning of the prayer that Jesus taught is like an anchor.  As I reflect on the phrase, ‘Hallowed be your name’, I’m struck by how archaic it is.  We hardly use the word ‘hallowed’, the use of the word ‘name’ is completely different from our normal understanding, and ‘hallowed be’ is not the most common English usage.  We may not question whether Jesus said this, but do we understand what he meant?  ‘Hallowed’ is from the same Greek root as ‘Holy’ and means sanctified or set apart, and ‘your name’ was essentially a contemporary shorthand for the whole character of God.  So, we might express it, ‘May your character be revered’.    The Message version of this passage reads almost shockingly different, but does capture the essence in more contemporary language, ‘Father, reveal who you are’.

God revealed Himself to Moses by a new name, ‘I am’, adding ‘this is my name forever’.  It signifies both his everlasting presence and His uniqueness; He cannot be defined with reference to anyone or anything except Himself.  So, what can we say?  Jesus demonstrated the love of God, but I find his explicit references to God describe Him as holy, perfect, good and righteous.