Hallowed Be Thy Name

A very positive, potent statement. What does it mean? What is implied in this affirmation? It is not just a petition. Nor is it just a pious hope, as if to say in passing, “May Your name be honored.”

The concepts in Christ’s mind, when He inserted this declaration into His prayer, were tremendously important to Him. It was not a casual bit of religiosity for Him to insist that God’s name be hallowed. Rather, there was inherent in this four-word phrase a whole world of respect, reverence, awe, and appreciation for the person of God His Father.

The word name, as used here by Christ, is not restricted to being a title. It means much more than just a surname, or given name, such as George MacDonald, might be used as a means of identifying a single human being. In Scripture, the name of God implies a very much greater concept.

“Thy name”—God’s name—implies the title, person, power, authority, character, and the very reputation of God.

So enormous was the respect of the ancient Hebrew people for the name of God that they dared not even formulate it with their lips nor attempt to put it into human language. It was represented in writing by the letters y h w h. Later these were expanded to y a h w e h, which became the name Jehovah, and in our English translations, it is represented by the expression “the Lord” (e.g., KJV and NASB).

Obviously the eternal God, the One who is from everlasting to everlasting, could scarcely be identified by any simple human title.

Again and again when asked who He was, the simple reply that came back was, “I am that I am.” Even Jesus, when pressed on this point replied, “Before Abraham was, I am”

God our Father is the most balanced being.

(John 8:58). By this it was intended to make clear that God is the eternal, enduring, everlasting Lord of all the universe, both heaven and earth. Because He, our Father, is from everlasting to everlasting the same, He deserves our utmost respect and reverence. Yet, as pointed out in the first chapter, the amazing disclosure of His person, given to us by Christ, was not that of some distant, remote, unapproachable deity. Rather the revelation of Jesus regarding God that dispels our fears and warms our hearts is that He is in fact our Father, all compassionate, understanding, and totally approachable.

It is in the light of this revelation that the name of God our Father takes on a whole new dimension of devotion for us. We are not so much concerned here with the mere formality of His title as we are with the quality of His person, character, and reputation.

Putting it into plain language, what Jesus is saying in this prayer is, “Father, may Your person, Your identity, Your character, Your reputation, Your very being always be honored.”

The significance of such a statement may not have any special meaning for us unless we understand something of the caliber of God’s character. I say this because, unless we do, the idea of keeping His name hallowed will have little or no importance.

God our Father is the most balanced being. He cannot in any way be compared to or equated with human beings, who, at best are far from being balanced. In fact we are so twisted and distorted in our characters that we have difficulty trying to comprehend the beautiful character of our Father.

Actually it is our heavenly Father’s character which is His great glory. Or, conversely, we may say that His glory is His character.

To help grasp this, I sometimes think of His character in the form of a perfectly symmetrical six-sided cube. On one side, He is utterly holy, pure, and flawless. But this is counterbalanced on the opposite side by His absolute love, compassion, and concern. Only because of this is it possible for us to approach such a sublime being. On a third side, He is completely righteous, just, impeccable. Yet again this is counterbalanced on the fourth side by His boundless mercy, kindness, and long-suffering. If it were not so, how could we ever stand in His presence? He is also, on the fifth side, utterly honest, true, and reliable, again, counterbalanced on the sixth side by His infinite faithfulness, understanding, and interest in us as His children.

Such a character and such a person, if we even catch the faintest glimpse of His goodness, is bound to elicit our fondest affection and deepest gratitude. No wonder we are bound to exclaim, “We love him, because he first loved us!”(1John 4:19). And it was this thought in Christ’s mind which prompted Him to say, “Hallowed be thy name,” or, “May Your very being be revered.”

It will be recalled that this concept was the very heart and impulse of the early Church. Everything that small band of believers set out to do was always “In the name of Christ” or “In the name of Jesus of Nazareth.” For in that name, there was vested all the power, dynamic, authority, prestige, and import of the character of the living Lord.

To help us get a grip on this idea, let us compare it to our modern concept of what can be implied by a name in business. Take, for example, the name Rolls-Royce. When we see that name stamped on an automobile or an aircraft engine, we immediately have a special regard and respect for it. In that name resides the reputation of one of the world’s most renowned engineering firms. That name stands for the finest in mechanical engineering. It represents the most advanced research. It bears the stamp of meticulous care and precision. It symbolizes the ultimate in reliability and dependability. It denotes the highest degree of craftsmanship and design. Now if this be true in the case of a human enterprise that has earned an enviable reputation, how much more so must the same principle apply to our Father in heaven, Creator of the whole, wondrous universe.