Luke 11:1-13
Lord’s Prayer: Doxology & Amen
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Before we say “Amen” to all we have asked, we typically praise our Father who art in heaven with the doxology: “For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever” (Matt. 6:13). These words are in Matthew’s version of the Lord’s Prayer. They are not in Luke’s version. Luther doesn’t include the doxology in his Small Catechism because it wasn’t in the Latin translation used at the time. The modern textual critics don’t think it was original to Matthew. Versions of the Lord’s prayer from the early church have different doxologies. The Didache [8:2], a church order from the late first/early second century, concludes the Lord’s prayer with the doxology, “For Thine is the power and the glory for ever” (ANF 7:379). The Apostolic Constitutions [7.2], church legislation that dates from 4th century Syria, concludes the Lord’s prayer with the doxology, “For Thine is the kingdom for ever. Amen” (ANF 7:470).
Even if the critics are correct and these words aren’t given to us by Christ, it is still appropriate that we close our prayer with this word of praise. In this we follow the example of David who blessed the Lord in 1 Chronicles 29:11, saying, “Yours, O LORD, is the greatness, The power and the glory, The victory and the majesty; For all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, And You are exalted as head over all.”
But the doxology is more than praise—it is encouragement to our faith. John Chrysostom, a fourth century church father, said Christ gave this doxology immediately after reminding us of temptation and the evil one, to raise our spirits and encourage us. He said to his fourth century congregation:
Doth it not then follow, that if His be the kingdom, we should fear no one, since there can be none to withstand, and divide the empire with him. For when He saith, “Thine is the kingdom,” He sets before us even [the evil one], who is warring against us, brought into subjection, though he seem to oppose, God for a while permitting it. For in truth he too is among God’s servants, though of the degraded class, and those guilty of offense; and he would not dare set upon any of his fellow servants, had he not first received license from above. And why say I, “his fellow servants?” Not even against swine did he venture any outrage, until He Himself allowed him; nor against flocks, nor herds, until he had received permission from above.
“And the power,” saith He. Therefore, manifold as thy weakness may be, thou mayest of right be confident, having such a one to reign over thee, who is able fully to accomplish all, and that with ease, even by thee.
“And the glory, for ever. Amen.” Thus He not only frees thee from the dangers that are approaching thee, but can make thee also glorious and illustrious. For as His power is great, so also is His glory unspeakable, and they are all boundless, and no end of them. Seest thou how He hath by every means anointed His Champion, and hath framed Him to be full of confidence? (Homily XIX on Matthew, NPNF1 10:137)
Confidence. Not in oneself. Not in one’s own strength. Not in one’s own powers. Confidence in the in the One to whom we pray. His is the kingdom, and everything, even the devil, still operates only to the extent the Lord allows, therefore He cannot harm us if the Lord reigns in our hearts. His is the power, so that we trust His power will be made perfect in our every weakness. His is the glory, so that we trust His promise to give us everything we need and that He will bring us into heavenly glory. The One to whom we pray, the One to whom belong the kingdom, the power, and glory, is our Father, and we are His dear children.
And we all know how fathers are with their children. Jesus says, “If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” I love the picture. Bread, fish, and eggs satisfy hunger so that a child can grow and become strong. A stone is indigestible and will harm a child if eaten. A serpent and scorpion are dangerous, and while they could perhaps be eaten, both are symbols of the devil and his angels in Scripture. Jesus’ point is that your Father in heaven does not give you anything that harms you. Loving earthly fathers give good things—and only good things— to their children so that their children grow and become strong to live safely in the world.
Your heavenly Father is no different. And what do you need most of all to grow, to become strong, so that you remain safe from temptation, safe from the evil one, and endure in the faith unto the end? The Holy Spirit. Every petition Christ has given us to pray in the Lord’s Prayer is a petition for the Holy Spirit so that we may hallow His name, live under His reign, in His will, receive our daily bread with thanksgiving, confess our sins, forgive others, be victorious in temptation and finally, when our last our comes, die in the faith. For all this we need the Holy Spirit. He is precisely what God your Father wants to give you. “How much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
Why are we confident that our Father in heaven hears these petitions and that they’re acceptable to Him? Because He has told us to pray for the and promised to pray for them. This is why we say, “Amen.” It’s a Hebrew word which means “verily, truly,” or as Luther renders it, “Yes, yes, it shall be so.” It is the word of confidence. It’s the word Jesus often uses when wants to confidently believe something which we cannot see with our eyes. He said it twice in Sunday’s gospel, although our translation renders it, “Most assuredly.” He promised, “Amen, Amen, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death;” and He testified to His divinity, “Amen, Amen, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM” (Jn 8:51, 58). As Christ uses it to draw out attention to the truth and verity of His word, we use it to confess our confidence that God hears our prayer and will grant it. Luther says in the Large Catechism that “Amen” is “nothing else than the word of undoubting faith, which does not pray at a venture, but knows that God does not lie to him, since He has promised to grant it (LC III.119). All our prayers should be prayed with and end in such confidence.
The word is also a reminder that we should not pray frivolously or lightly, doubting whether God hears us or will answer our prayer. He will not give you an inedible stone. He will not give you a serpent or scorpion. He wants to give you good things—and only good things. How did Paul say it? “If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (Rom. 8:31-32). He wants to give you good things so that you can grow and become strong to live safely in the world. The chief good thing He wants to give you is His Holy Spirit.
He commands you to pray. He promises to hear you and answer. And His is the kingdom, the power, and glory forever and ever. The kingdom, because there is none who can withstand Him. The power, because He is fully able to accomplish everything for which you pray. The glory, because He does all things well and makes you glorious through His strength. Hearing how all these are His, do you see how He has, by every means, anointed you, His champion, and framed you to be full of confidence? Since He commands us to pray; since He promises to hear our prayers and answer; and since all things are under His reign, power, and glory, what else can we say but “Amen?”
May the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
