We have often pondered over the petition, “Give us this day our daily bread,” occurring in what is commonly called, The Lord’s Prayer, recorded in the Sermon on the Mount. This prayer was given by our Lord to His disciples as a model prayer. The introductory remark in giving it, “After this manner therefore pray ye,” clearly proves this. Moreover, it was given in view of bitter persecution that would arise, when once our Lord was rejected, crucified and slain. Reading down the Beatitudes, Matthew 5:4-12 shows this clearly. We read, “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for My sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”
The Sermon on the Mount is universally admired for its ethical teachings. It is almost as universally misinterpreted. Such, as do so, admire the ethical teachings, and ignore the Person, who gave utterance to them, and how they were spoken in anticipation of His rejection by the Jewish nation, the instructions being given to His disciples as to their behaviour in His absence. To keep this in mind is essential to a right understanding of the prayer.
Many see no inconsistency in putting this ethical teaching into the mouths of heathen idolaters, as if it fitted in with their religious beliefs. The writer experienced a vivid example of this. On board ship in tropical waters, a service was arranged to be held on the upper deck in the evening under powerful lights to discuss Christianity. A very mixed audience was present, including Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, Mohammedans, Parsees, etc. The leader of the discussion was a professed Christian. He based the whole defence of Christianity on the Sermon on the Mount. In doing so, he made not the slightest allusion to the Lord Jesus Christ, His Person, or His atoning work on the cross of Calvary. He avoided stressing the fundamentals of the Christian faith. Of course nothing he said was calculated to offend the religious susceptibilities of the various shades of heathen beliefs, that were present. If he had proclaimed the true meaning of the Sermon on the Mount, the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Author of it, had he stressed the vital necessity for His atoning sacrifice on the cross of Calvary, things would have been far different. What was praised as the breadth of the views of the leader of the discussion was in reality the very betrayal of Christianity. Thank God, there were present vital Christians, who upheld the truth in all its purity.
Our Lord in view of His absence spoke of His disciples as “the salt of the earth” (Matt. 5:13) in a corrupt world; as “the light of the world” (Matt. 5:14), truly in the midst of dense moral darkness. The true meaning of the Sermon on the Mount can only raise the bitterest opposition in a corrupt and benighted world.
In such circumstances how the tender care of our Lord for His own shines out most clearly in the petition, “Give us this day our daily bread.” It is easy to have a well-filled purse, and enter a well-stocked shop, and purchase what we need. It is quite another thing to be like the persecuted saints, described in Hebrews 11:32-40, where we read of persecutions, scourgings, imprisonments, afflictions, wanderings in deserts, in mountains, in dens and caves of the earth, when every single meal would be a matter of anxious wonderment, whence it was to come. How unspeakably comforting to have the ear of One, who loves, who knows, who cares, who is omnipotent, and who has the hearts of all men in His power.
We would call attention to another somewhat similar instance in Scripture. We read the inspired words of the Apostle Paul, “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions and giving of thanks, be made for all men; for kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; who will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus; who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time” (1 Tim. 2:1-6).
Note the extreme urgency of this exhortation. To the words, “first of all” are added supplications, that is intense prayer, intercessions for others, and giving of thanks. The answer earnestly desired is that Christians might be able to lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. This exhortation was framed in view of Christians living in a godless world. An unconverted master might instruct his Christian employee to do something dishonest in pursuance of his business. Hence we can understand the petition, that we might carry out our earthly calling in all godliness and honesty. And further we lose the proper understanding of Scripture, if our prayers are circumscribed to our own little corner, where things in a way may be going on fairly smoothly.
No, our earnest prayers are to go out to all men the world over. How many places there are in the world, even at this very time, where God’s people are being persecuted. This prayer should be made for ALL men, that they may be restrained from making it difficult for Christians to find suitable employment, where they may earn that which is necessary for their support in the things of this life.
Then as masses of men put rulers at the heads of states, be they kings, princes, presidents or the like, we are exhorted to pray for those in high places of government to a similar end. How many parts of the world there are, where it is humanly impossible for a heathen man publicly embracing Christianity, to be able to earn his living. On the other hand, to show how God can influence those, whom He will, He could say of a heathen king, Cyrus, king of Persia, “He is My shepherd, and shall perform all My pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built: and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid” (Isa. 44:28). We know how it bore fruit in the days of Zerubbabel and Ezra, in that nearly 50,000 Jews returned to Jerusalem from the land of their captivity, thus laying the foundation of a nation, in which our Lord was born at Bethlehem.
We read also that God will have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. Christians are the only people in this dark and sinful world who are qualified to proclaim the Gospel of the grace of God worldwide. This earnest exhortation should make every Christian wish to spread the Gospel, the opportunities for which are boundless. Christians are left in this world for a purpose. Do we fulfil it?
This Scripture not only shows that God cares for His own, but that He also cares for the souls of men, and would use His people in the furtherance of His gracious designs for their eternal blessing.