Matthew 6:9–13//Luke 11:2–4: An Eschatological Prayer?

Abstract

This article argues that in the eyes of Matthew and Luke the so-called Lord's Prayer reflects a perception of Jesus that his disciples are in grave danger of becoming members of “this generation, ” that is, those among Jesus' co-religionists who reject what Jesus shows is God's will for Israel. Its focus and concern is that the disciples invoke God's protection against engaging in this apostasy. Three considerations support this contention: (1) that teaching on the nature of true discipleship is the context in which the Lord's Prayer appears in both Matthew and Luke; (2) that a concern to secure divine aid to be obedient to God's will is the center of the prayers which the Matthean and Lukan Jesus himself prays; and (3) that when read against the Old Testament background which the language of the Lord's prayer evokes, each of the prayer's constituent petitions makes more sense as a plea for protection against disobedience and unfaithfulness than as a call for end time blessings.