The Prayer that Jesus Taught Us

The Lord's Prayer, the prayer that Jesus taught us, is one of the most familiar and beloved of all prayers. But familiarity has dulled its radical edge. In this close reading, Crosby shows how the "Our Father" summarizes the themes in the Gospel of Matthew, especially those of social justice. If we recite this prayer faithfully, we are responding to Jesus' call to reject the worship of idols, to engage in right relationships with our neighbors, and to commit ourselves to the project of the Kingdom of God -- that God's will may truly be done "on earth as it is in heaven."