Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment

 

 Now about the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and taught.  And the Jews marveled, saying, "How does this Man know letters, having never studied?"  Jesus answered them and said, "My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me.  If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority.  He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him.  Did not Moses give you the law, yet none of you keeps the law?  Why do you seek to kill Me?"  

 

The people answered and said, "You have a demon.  Who is seeking to kill You?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "I did one work, and you all marvel.  Moses therefore gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath.  If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath?  Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment."

 

Now some of them from Jerusalem said, "Is this not He whom they seek to kill?  But look!  He speaks boldly, and they say nothing to Him.  Do the rulers know indeed that this is truly the Christ?  However, we know where this Man is from; but when the Christ comes, no one knows where He is from."  Then Jesus cried out, as He taught in the temple, saying, "You both know Me, and you know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know.  But I know Him, for I am from Him, and He sent Me."  Therefore they sought to take Him; but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.   And many of the people believed in Him, and said, "When the Christ comes, will He do more signs than these which this Man has done?"

 

The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things concerning Him, and the Pharisees  and the chief priests sent officers to take Him.  Then Jesus said to them, "I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I go to Him who sent Me.  You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come."  Then the Jews said among themselves, "Where does He intend to go that we shall not find Him?  Does He intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks?  What is this thing that He said, 'You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come?"

 

- John 7:14-36 

 

Yesterday we read that, after the controversy regarding His teachings on His Body and Blood, Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him.  Now the Jews' Feast of Tabernacles was at hand.  His brothers therefore said to Him, "Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing.  For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly.  If You do these things, show Yourself to the world."  For even His brothers did not believe in Him.  Then Jesus said to them, "My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready.  The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil.  You go up to this feast.  I am not yet going up to this feast, for My time has not yet fully come."  When He had said these things to them, He remained in Galilee.  But when His brothers had gone up, then He also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.  Then the Jews sought Him at the feast, and said, "Where is He?"  And there was much complaining among the people concerning Him.  some said, "He is good"; others said, "No, on the contrary, He deceives the people."  However, no one spoke openly of Him for fear of the Jews.

 

  Now about the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and taught.  And the Jews marveled, saying, "How does this Man know letters, having never studied?"  Jesus answered them and said, "My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me.  If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority.  He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him.  Did not Moses give you the law, yet none of you keeps the law?  Why do you seek to kill Me?"  My study Bible comments here that the simple desire to know and follow God's will is the key to understanding it.  Spiritual blindness comes from unwillingness to know God or to recognize God's authority.  According to St. John Chrysostom, whom my study Bible quotes here, Christ's message to the religious leaders (the Jews, as rulers of the city in Judea) can be paraphrased as follows:  "Rid yourselves of wickedness:  the anger, the envy, and the hatred which have arisen in your hearts, without provocation, against Me.  Then you will have no difficulty in realizing that My words are actually those of God.  As it is, these passions darken your understanding and distort sound judgment.  If you remove these passions, you will no longer be afflicted in this way."

 

 The people answered and said, "You have a demon.  Who is seeking to kill You?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "I did one work, and you all marvel.  Moses therefore gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath.  If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath?  Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment."  Jesus is referring here to the healing that took place during what is understood to be the Feast of Weeks (known as the Old Testament Pentecost), in chapter 5.  This was the healing of the paralytic, which is the third of seven signs performed by Christ in St. John's Gospel.  At that time Jesus was accused of violating the Sabbath by performing this healing.  In Matthew 12:3-5, Jesus provided various examples of "blameless" violations of the Sabbath, demonstrating that the law is not absolute over human need or service to God.  

 

 Now some of them from Jerusalem said, "Is this not He whom they seek to kill?  But look!  He speaks boldly, and they say nothing to Him.  Do the rulers know indeed that this is truly the Christ?  However, we know where this Man is from; but when the Christ comes, no one knows where He is from."  Then Jesus cried out, as He taught in the temple, saying, "You both know Me, and you know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know.  But I know Him, for I am from Him, and He sent Me."  When the people from Jerusalem say we know where this Man is from, they are mistaken -- both in an earthly sense as well as a divine sense.  Humanly speaking, my study Bible points out, they think of Jesus as being from Nazareth of Galilee.  But Jesus was actually born in Bethlehem of Judea (John 7:42; see Luke 2:1-7).  Moreover, they can't understand that Christ has come from the Father in heaven -- eternally begotten before all ages -- and so, therefore, His heavenly origin also remains unknown to them.  

 

 Therefore they sought to take Him; but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.   And many of the people believed in Him, and said, "When the Christ comes, will He do more signs than these which this Man has done?"  Christ's hour is the time of His Passion, His suffering and death.  He is the Lord over time, my study Bible says, which is an authority possessed only by God.  He comes to His Cross of His own free will and in His time, and not according to the plots of human beings (see John 8:20; 10:39).  

 

 The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things concerning Him, and the Pharisees  and the chief priests sent officers to take Him.  Then Jesus said to them, "I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I go to Him who sent Me.  You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come."  My study Bible explains that this statement refers to Christ's death, Resurrection, and Ascension into heaven.

 

 Then the Jews said among themselves, "Where does He intend to go that we shall not find Him?  Does He intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks?  What is this thing that He said, 'You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come?"  To go among the Greeks means to go among the Gentiles, the Greek-speakers (as Greek was the international language and lingua franca of Christ's time).  My study Bible notes that this unwitting prophecy points to the time after Christ's Ascension, when His name will be preached among the Gentiles by the apostles. 

 

 In today's reading, Jesus says, "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment."   Those of us who have had the unfortunate experience of being falsely judged by appearance can all sympathize and agree with Christ's statement.  In St. Mark's Gospel, Jesus asks, "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?" (Mark 3:4), framing this question in terms of saving life.  Here He asks, ". . . are you angry with Me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath?"  Sometimes good intent isn't always seen that way by others.  In this case, the envy and jealousy of the rulers in the temple, particularly the Pharisees, functions as a way to facilitate criticism and accusation.  They're looking for a way to eliminate Jesus as a figure of authority (in the eyes of the people) that would somehow compete with their own positions as rulers.  Christ's healing of the paralytic was indeed one of the seven signs of St. John's Gospel, a sign of God being near, the presence of the kingdom of heaven.  But these men instead want to condemn and are quick to do so.  But this is judgment by appearance; He appears to have violated the Sabbath rest.  Again, in St. Mark's Gospel, Jesus teaches that the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath (Mark 2:27).  The people who believe in Him ask, "When the Christ comes, will He do more signs than these which this Man has done?"  It's not simply for His miraculous healing on the Sabbath that the religious leaders seek to persecute Him, but they also claim that He commits blasphemy -- an offense worthy of death according to a strict interpretation of the Law.  Indeed, for this He will be convicted at the Sanhedrin, and it will be the excuse they use to drag Him to Pilate and claim a charge of treason against Caesar.  How often is language heard and twisted to attribute false claims to a person?  How often is language misunderstood?  So often throughout John's Gospel, Jesus tells truths that are offensive, things others can't accept and don't want to hear.  He tells the truth; the words He speaks are given by the One who sent Him, the only One He seeks to please; that is God the Father.  And, as Jesus says, the One who sent Him is true.  But they don't know Him, so they can't bear to hear His words.  All of John's Gospel in some sense focuses on the truth, and on our reception or rejection of it.  St. John declares, "For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ" (John 1:17).  So how do we judge with righteous judgment, and not according to appearance?  We have extensive legal systems that aim to give every chance for the fullness of motivation, facts, character, intent, and proof of one who is accused in order to secure good judgment.  But even so, worldly justice fails, despite the best intentions.  It is only God's judgment that is perfect, and so in all things, that's where our first loyalty must come, just as it is Christ's.  He is the one who teaches about true righteousness, and He is the one to whom God the Father has committed all judgment.  Let us seek to find His truth in all things, for He is the heart-knower, the only one who can teach us righteous judgment.  I have heard it said that it's only at the final judgment that true healing from all trauma and injustice can take place; for it is there where the One who has been misjudged (although He is the one true Innocent) will be with us -- and we will know that wherever we have been, whatever scars we carry, He has been there with us, voluntarily, to take on our own griefs.  Let us consider the depth of love that would do so much for our healing and full salvation.  

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also

 

 "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God; believe also in Me.  In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.  And where I go you know, and the way you know."  

 

Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?"  Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me.  If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him."  Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us."  Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip?"  He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, 'Show us the Father'?  Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me?  The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.  Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves. 

"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.  And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the son.  If you ask anything in My name, I will do it."

 

- John 14:1-14 

 

 On Thursday, we read what is called Christ's High Priestly Prayer, which He prayed at the Last Supper.  Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said:  "Father, the hour has come.  Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him.  And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.  I have glorified You on the earth.  I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.  And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.  I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world.  They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.  Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You.  For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me.  I pray for them.  I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours.  And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them.  Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You.  Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are.  While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name.  Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.  But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves.  I have given them your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.  I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.  They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.  Sanctify them by Your truth.  Your word is truth.  As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.  And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.  I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.  And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:  I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.  Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.  O righteous Father!  The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me.  And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them."

 

  "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God; believe also in Me.  In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.  And where I go you know, and the way you know."   The setting for the readings of this week is the Last Supper.  This is Christ's final discourse to His disciples. My study Bible comments that many mansions is a word-picture (a kind of parable) of an abundance of living accommodations around a central courtyard.  "Mansions" also speaks of the multitude of blessings that await those who enter the Kingdom of God.  

Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?"  Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me.  If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him."  My study Bible comments here that the way we reach the Father is forever established in the Person and work of the Son.  The Son is the truth because He is the unique revelation of the Father.  He is the One who became a human being so that we might have life; as He is our live, not even death can keep us from coming to Him.  My study Bible adds that only in Christ can one come to know the Father, for only in Christ is the way of all truth and all life found.  

Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us."  Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip?"  He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, 'Show us the Father'?  Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me?  The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.  Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves."  Here my study Bible explains Christ's remark ("He who has seen Me has seen the Father") as follows:  Our response to Christ determines our relationship with the Father.  If we reject Christ then we will never find the Father but if we believe in Christ and follow Him, then we ourselves will become "children of God," living eternally in the love of the Father (John 1:12).  While we are human beings are made in God's image (Genesis 1:26), Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Son, is Himself the exact image of the Father (Colossians 1:15).  Christ does not say, "I am the Father" -- He is not.  Instead, what He declares is that He and the Father are one in essence and undivided in nature while being distinct Persons in the Godhead.

 

 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.  And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the son.  If you ask anything in My name, I will do it."  To pray in God's name does not simply mean to attach the phrase "in Jesus' name we pray" to the end of prayers, my study Bible says.  Rather, to pray in God's name means to pray according to God's will.  Just as an emissary of a king can only be said to be speaking in the king's name if he says what the king would want him to say, my study Bible explains, so also we can only be said to be praying in the name of Christ when we pray according to what He wants.  The purpose is not to get God to do our will, but for us to learn to pray properly, according to God's will (Matthew 6:10).  

 

How do we know what to pray for?  We know that in this world things are often unjust, and that life isn't fair.  There is a long, long history of theology in which the questions of evil in this world have been addressed, and will go on being addressed.   It is part of what we live with.  But sometimes, perhaps in our modern consumer society much more strongly than in the past, we might be tempted to think that prayer is a kind of practice in which we just ask what we want.  This can, of course, extend from the mundane to the most deeply personal and important matters in our lives.  But it is a deep effort to learn that oftentimes we don't get exactly what we want, what is "right," or "fair," or even what we think we need.  In circumstances we can't control, we know that all things are in God's hands.  And yet, there remains an evil in the world, abuses, hardship, illness, and death.  Some friends right now are deeply struggling with a tragic illness of their son.  So many are praying for them, for him, and such strong faith is always present within the efforts of his parents.  But, just like some of the tragic stories we read in the Gospels, nonetheless his life stands in danger from this illness (like Lazarus or Jairus' daughter), but we don't all have Christ in the flesh to call upon to give us a miracle or miraculous sign.  I have seen and experienced my share of the miraculous connected with prayer, but this hard circumstance of this tragically ill child is far from certain.  What I have seen from prayer in my own life, however, is a promise of Resurrection that is always present, a gift from Christ on the Cross that must be unforgettable for all of us.  And that is that our suffering is transfigured through God's grace.  Even when we might not get the outcome we want, there is always a glimmer, a light, that shines in the darkness, and this much, I am certain is true.  Through my mother's long illness I learned prayer, even when alone and feeling abandoned, and how it gave me strength, and resources, that I didn't know I could have to continue on one more day, to find the right thing to do, to do what I had to do and care for her the best I could.  These are the blessings of the light that shines in the darkness, regardless of the outcome.  The tremendous love and strength, the resources, and shared community created out of this one family's struggle and their hurting child has been extraordinary to see and to watch, their love a tremendous blessing.  But in their sadness and difficulty, and potential devastating loss, that might be impossible to see.  God's love is there, no matter what the outcome, and this is our light we can share with one another at all times, although none of us knows our outcome.  But this love we know is God's will.  It's important to know that just prior to the words we read in today's Gospel passage, Jesus has said to the disciples (minus Judas), "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.  By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:34-35).  Perhaps it is in sharing that love that we do the greatest work of God we can do.  

 

 

 

 

 

Lord, teach us to pray

 

 Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples."  So He said to them, "When you pray, say:

Our Father in heaven,

Hallowed be Your name.

Your kingdom come.

Your will be done

On earth as it is in heaven.

Give us day by day our daily bread.

And forgive us our sins,

For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.

And do not lead us into temptation,

But deliver us from the evil one."

And He said to them, "Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him'; and he will answer from within and say, 'Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you'?  I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs.

"So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.  If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone?  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!" 

- Luke 11:1-13 

 

Yesterday we read that, as they went toward Jerusalem, Jesus entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house.  And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word.  But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone?  Therefore tell her to help me."  And Jesus answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things.  But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her."

 

Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples." My study Bible comments that the request, "teach us to pray," expresses a universal longing to be in communion with God.  

"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."  The Lord's Prayer given in Luke is almost completely identical to the one found in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:9-13).  Here we begin with the understanding of God's kingdom, and this essential Christian mission to manifest that kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.   Here in the prayer we are reminded of Christ's words from chapter 8:  "My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it" (Luke 8:20-21).

"Give us day by day our daily bread."  In both Matthew's and Luke's versions of this prayer, the word "daily" is translated from the same Greek word, unique to the Gospels.  That word is epiousion/ἐπιούσιον.  Its literal meaning is something like "supersubstantial" or "above the essence."  It is clearly an allusion to the Eucharist, but also the spiritual nourishment of this Kingdom which we need for sustenance each day.  My study Bible comments that the expression daily bread indicates not just bread for this day, for earthly nourishment, but it is the bread for the eternal day of the Kingdom of God, for the nourishment of our immortal soul.  This living, supersubstantial bread is Christ Himself.  In the Lord's Prayer, then, we are not asking merely for material bread for physical health, but for the spiritual bread of eternal life.  This understanding is made most explicitly clear in John 6:27-58.

"And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us."  In Matthew's version, we read, "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors."  But the idea of sin and debt here are still conjoined to create the same understanding.  If we look at the law as a means to make restitution, we can see this relatedness between sin and debt.  But forgiveness here means that God is the ultimate broker and judge; our forgiveness becomes a way of giving everything into the hands of God, and seeking God's guidance for our daily lives.  My study Bible makes it clear that this request to be forgiven is plural, directing us to pray always for the forgiveness of others.  The term debts refers to spiritual debts (see Matthew 18:21-35).  

"And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."  My study Bible comments that God tempts no one to sin (James 1:13); temptations are from the evil one, the devil.  It notes that temptations are aimed at the soul's giving in to the sinful passions of the flesh (Romans 7:5).  No one lives without encountering temptations, but we pray that great temptations -- that is, tests which are beyond what we can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13) -- should not come to us.

And He said to them, "Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him'; and he will answer from within and say, 'Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you'?  I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs."  My study Bible comments that this parable demonstrates God's faithfulness to those who are in need and who pray with persistence.  According to patristic commentary, midnight is interpreted as both the time of our death and a time of great temptation.  The friend, my study Bible explains, is Christ, who, as our only source of grace, provides everything we need.  

"So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.  If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone?  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!"    In Greek, the verbs which are translated as ask, seek, and knock imply a continuous action.  My study Bible says they would be better and more accurately translated, "keep asking," "keep seeking," and "keep knocking."  It says that God responds when we persistently ask for things that are good.  Bread, fish, and an egg are all images of life, and they symbolize the gift of the Holy Spirit (see John 14:13-14, James 4:3). 

In the Lord's Prayer, which it seems is meant to be used each day, our first prayer, and the one that follows it, are:  "Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."   These first pleas in the prayer are highly significant for their prominent placement.  They form the basis for the rest of the prayer.  It is as if Jesus first teaches us to pray for this kingdom to be manifest, and then the rest of the prayer in some way expresses the conditions necessary and characteristic of that kingdom.  First we know this is the kingdom of "our Father in heaven," whose name is hallowed, or holy.  Our Father in heaven, then, becomes the understanding for the basis for all the rest that is holy, all the things we may understand as holy or characterize as holy -- for it is whatever is "in His name" that is hallowed or made holy.  But the real manifestation, or coming of the God's kingdom, is characterized in that God's will is done on earth as it is in heaven.  How do we know God's will?  How do we know what God's will is for us to do in our lives specifically, or our lives collectively in the Church?  One gets an intuitive sense that perhaps simply embedded in the prayer is a plea that God makes this will known to us, that God gives us the capacity for the discernment of that will.  Nonetheless, this plea does not specify that it is only about oneself doing God's will, or a group of people or a nation, but rather that God's will be done "on earth as it is in heaven."  This is an ontological plea without reservation and without restriction.  It's not defined by borders or boundaries, or time or space, or by specific people or beings or any worldly thing we can name.  It is a plea for the world, and that in the whole world God's will be done as it  is in heaven.  That is an unquestionably powerful plea to pray, for we consider that we pray as a Church (in the plural), as a communion, if you will, and that we pray for God's kingdom to be made manifest, and God's will to be done for the whole world, on behalf of all and for all.  Everything else is conditioned within these pleas.  We pray for our "daily bread" which is the bread of the kingdom, for this bread is Christ Himself (John 6:51, 1 Corinthians 10:16).  We ask for this bread to be ours day by day.  We pray a mutual prayer for "our" sins to be forgiven; that is, we pray on behalf of all, and at the same time this is conditioned within the forgiveness that we offer by giving up the "debts" we feel we're owed to God, and seeking God's will in how we will live our lives and especially live the righteousness that pleases God.  And the prayer does not leave out the difficulties of this world, and an understanding and awareness of the evil in the world, but takes everything into consideration.  We do not pray in blindness to the problems of this world, but rather the opposite.  We recognize frankly the difficulties, and we present them to our Father, and we plead that we may be kept away from temptations that are too much for us, but deliverance from those times when the evil one seems to have ensnared us in difficulties that are all-too-present in this world.  And we may recall in this prayer that it is Jesus who has come down from heaven and become fully human in order to experience both temptation (Luke 4:1-13) and a time of great evil  (Luke 22:53).   We remember that "a disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher" (Luke 6:40), and that He is our example for times we experience the same in this world, and He has gone before us as Teacher.  Let us consider all the ways that the pleas in this prayer teach us about God's kingdom, about Christ's way, about our lives and our world as well, and consider what it is to live it and to pray it fully, day by day, and for the life of the world (John 6:33).