The Lord’s Prayer – The Gospels in Reverse

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Oct 9, 2014 8638

by Desmond Ford

The Lord’s Prayer is a summary of the four Gospels. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are summed up in this prayer.

But in reverse.

The prayer begins with a summary of John’s Gospel, the last Gospel.

The first part of the Lord’s Prayer, “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done” is a summary of Johns Gospel.

One way to study a book is to find the key words. “Believe” is one of the key words in John’s Gospel. It occurs in

just about every chapter, about 100 times. But “Father” beats that; John’s Gospel mentions God as “Father” 120 times.

It is in John’s Gospel that we read 28 times about the will of God. And in John’s third chapter, we learn about how we enter the kingdom of God.

John’s Gospel

Why does the Lord’s Prayer work from the end backwards? Because John’s Gospel is the most mature and developed of the four Gospels.

The four Gospels point out the transition from Judaism to Christianity. Matthew’s Gospel is the most Jewish. It is like a steel clasp, clasping together both Old and New Testaments. (Matthew has 99 references to the Old Testament. That’s not true of John, luke, or Mark.)

But as you come to John’s Gospel, you come into a full Christian atmosphere in its burgeoning maturity.

The lord’s Prayer begins with the Christian essence of John’s Gospel about God as “Father.” The Jews never prayed to God as “Father.” It was Jesus who came and taught us that when we pray, we should pray, “Abba.” (The Aramaic word for “Daddy,” or “Papa.”)

Luke and Forgiveness of Sins

As we move on in the Lord’s Prayer, we find it deals with the forgiveness of sins.

This reminds us of Luke’s Gospel, which has the most to say about the sympathizing, compassionate nature of God and his generosity in forgiving sins. Luke’s is the Gospel about the outcast, the lost coin, the lost boy, the lost sheep, and the lost Gentile. It’s full of compassion and sympathy and forgiveness. When we read the second section of the lord’s Prayer about “forgive us our sins,” that makes us think about luke.

Mark’s Victory and Matthew’s Kingdom

And “lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil” makes us think of Mark. Mark is more dynamic as a Gospel than any of the others. It contains more of the miracles Christ performed when he was fighting the evil of the devil.

Mark is the great Gospel of victory over the adversary. When the lord’s Prayer says, “Deliver us from evil,” that’s a summary of Mark, when mighty miracles take place and Christs kingdom of grace is conquering the kingdom of darkness.

Matthew contains the word “kingdom” 56 times. The lord’s Prayer ends with the theme of Matthew: “Thine is the kingdom of heaven.”

Our lord’s Prayer is a summary of John, Luke, Mark, and Matthew – in that order.

– Des Ford. Rom 8:28-39

Taken from audio program, “Christ’ Mystery Stories – 2”