Jesus Remembered: Christianity in the Making, vol. 1

§14.1 The Character of Discipleship
proper reverence which is his due. 22 Here it is worth observing that the holiness
of God is correlative to the fear of God, for it is the sense of the wholly/holy otherness
of God which is at the root of the fear of God. But still it needs to be emphasized
that the prayer is for God to take the necessary initiative. As in the Kaddish,
the first two petitions of the Lord's Prayer correlate with each other: may
God so manifest his holiness that his name may be fully honoured; may his kingdom
come in order that his will may be done.
We should also note the further implication of Israel's Scriptures that
God's name, God's reputation, is in substantial measure bound up with his people.
It is generally recognized that 'to sanctify the name' is a traditional formula.
23 But it needs to be noticed also that what was envisaged is the honouring
of God which will result from seeing God's work, particularly in his people. Just
as, in contrast, it is Israel's transgression which profanes God's holy name, 24 and
the catastrophes which ensue are what cause others to profane the name of Israel's
God. 25 The point is classically underscored in the demand of the Holiness
Code that Israel should be holy because Israel's God is holy (Lev. 19.2). 26
So the first petition taught by Jesus was in no sense for God in himself, as it
were, but precisely that God should demonstrate his authority and power and
consequently should be properly feared. It is a prayer that God should bring
about the hoped-for age to come when his name would no longer be desecrated
by the way in which his people conduct themselves. And the implication is clear
that those who so pray should themselves so live (in accordance with his will) as
to document the reputation/name of the one they pray to. It is no accident that as
this is the first petition in the disciples' prayer, so the first commandment for disciples
is that they should love God with all their heart and soul and mind and
strength (Mark 12.30 pars.). If fear of God is the correlate of the first petition,
obedience is the correlate of the first commandment. No one can pray this prayer
wholeheartedly who does not give God first place in all speaking and doing, and
not as an exercise in heroic individualism but as a member of the people called to
reflect the holy otherness of God in their daily living. 27
22. Hence the emphasis also in Matthew that there is no place in discipleship for a frivolous
attitude to God (Matt. 5.33-37; 23.16-22).
23. Lev. 22.32; Isa. 29.22-23; Ezek. 36.23; 1 En. 9.4; 61.12; the Kaddish prayer (cited
above, §12.4b).
24. Lev. 18.21; 19.12; 20.3; 21.6; 22.2, 32; Jer. 34.16; Ezek. 20.39; Amos 2.7; Mai. 1.12
(W. Dommershausen, Ml, TDOT 4.410-12).
25. Isa. 48.11; 52.5 (cited by Paul in Rom. 2.24); Ezek. 20.9, 14, 22; 36.20-23; 39.7.
26. Similarly the implication of Deut. 7.6; 26.19.
27. McKnight concludes: 'Jesus' commands, then, are to be explained in an oldfashioned
covenantal framework: the God of the Covenant, the Holy One of Israel, is calling
his people for the final time to radical covenantal obedience. . . . the ethical demands of Jesus,
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