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This chapter does not purport to be anything more than a brief overview of themes that are treated more extensively in the literature of this subject. It is important, however, if we want to isolate the fundamental criteria that tell us Christian prayer ought to be. Here I shall focus on the Synoptic Gospels for the most part, but the reader should realize that each of these Gospels presents the prayer of Jesus in terms of its own literary make- up and specific theological interests. The fundamental datum is clear enough in any case: Jesus did pray, and both the content and context of his prayer is certain enough on historical grounds.
JESUS CRITICISM OF CONTEMPORARY PRAYER Jesus was a Jew who knew and practiced the traditional prayer of his own people. In principle, then, Jesus had a favorable attitude toward prayer and toward the concrete forms it took among his people. But if we want to find out what typified Jesus own prayer, we must probe more deeply into Jesus attitude toward the concrete prayer life of his people. We must consider his demystification of prayer as well as the dangers historically inherent in prayer which he noted and denounced. We shall begin, therefore, with a dialectical approach, considering what Jesus condemned or criticized in the concrete prayer life of his contemporaries. This will make it clear that Jesus did not have a nave attitude toward prayer. He did not pray simply as a matter of routine or tradition. He did not think that the prayer life of his people was a completely isolated and autonomous aspect of their faith that could not be manipulated. Indeed at times we get the impression that the term prayer was useless to Jesus in trying to understand and explain the deeper reality involved as it is to many people today. I shall proceed in systematic fashion here, offering sample texts of Jesus attitude toward prayer. They will point up the dangers that Jesus saw in a particular conception of prayer and also the ways in which prayer had been vitiated by some of his contemporaries. The Pharisee with head unbowed prayed in this fashion: I give you thanks, O God, that I am not like the rest of men--grasping, crooked, adulterous---or even like this tax collector ( Lk 18:11).
Here we find what might be called the basic anthropology of Christian prayer expressed in terms of its opposite. Jesus condemns the prayer of the Pharisees because it is the self-assertion of an egotistical I and hence vitiated at its very core. Missing in that kind of prayer is the necessary other-directedness required to initiate the process of prayer. The pole of reference in the Pharisees prayer is not God but the man who thinks he is praying. The Pharisee is even less oriented toward other human beings. He holds them in contempt (see v. 9), and he thanks God that he is not like them (v. 11). Here prayer is merely a mechanism for narcissism and self-gratification. It is an exercise in self-deception. Jesus unmasks this stratagem, addressing a parable to those who believed in their own self-righteousness while holding everyone else contempt (v. 9). In short, the basic attitude of other-directedness is missing. The Pharisee does not realize that we can pray only insofar as we focus on someone or something other that ourselves. He does not focus on God and He positively despises his fellows.
When you are praying, do not behave like the hypocrites who love to stand and pray in synagogues or on street corners in order to be noticed. (Mt 6:5)
Jesus condemns this kind of prayer because real prayer presupposes an attitude of theological poverty before God. People who pray in order to be noticed by others are trying to vaunt their own grandeur. They are displaying hypocrisy precisely in that are where they should be willing to be completely humble. The whole context of the Synoptic Gospels points up the basic mistake of all hypocrites. They assume that they will get the reputation of being just through public religious acts of this sort. However, such is not the case, according to the Synoptic Gospels. Religion can give people a good
reputation only when it embodies and finds expression in works of justice and charity.
In your prayer do not rattle on like pagans. They think they will win a hearing by the sheer multiplication of words. Do not imitate them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him (Mt 6:7-8).
In the first part of this remark Jesus criticizes the mechanical, magical form of prayer used by people who think that they can reach God by multiplying words or simply repeating certain formulas. Matthews periscope seemed to be directed against the pagan idea of wearing God down under a barrage of words. The error of such an approach to God is that it seeks to substitute wordiness for selfcommitment and self-revelation in ones approach to God. It also attributes some sort of isolated autonomy to prayer itself, enshrining it in fixed formulas. It seems to suggest a lack of confidence in God, but such confidence is an indispensable prerequisite for all authentic prayer. In the second part of this passage Jesus alludes to the prayer of petition. Now there is no doubt that Jesus often refers to this type of prayer in laudatory terms (see Lk 5:8f.; 11:9f.). We cannot tell for sure, however, what Jesus actually thinks about asking for concrete things from God in prayer or receiving them from him. The positive feature in the prayer of petition and the way one engages in it seems to lie in the fact that it embodies or expresses out theological poverty before God. Above we noted that otherdirectedness was a basic prerequisite for true prayer. Here we see that in prayer we must adopt an attitude of poverty before God.
The positive feature of the prayer of petition is the fact that it reveals our discernment of Gods will, and of God himself as someone who ever remains greater for us. It is not a matter of looking for something that we want, of an egocentric search for some satisfaction. Our Father knows what you need before you ask him. In our prayer of petition we try to discover something that our Father knows already. That is what we ask him to reveal and grant. Human psychology being what it is, it is obvious that this basic petition will find expression in the concrete petitions and desires of the person who is praying. But there can be only one basic petition: Your will be done (Mt 6:10). The wordy prayer of pagans condemned, not because their words express legitimate desires but because they do not contain the basic petition.
None of those who cry out, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of God but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven (Mt 7:21).
Following the footsteps of the great Hebrew prophets, Jesus here criticizes an alienating type of prayer. Here anthropology is not simply a matter of the correct attitude; it also has to do with praxis. Mere appeals to God are useless; they must embody and go hand in hand with reallife practice. In this particular passage we find that praxis is given primacy, for it is directly associated with entrance into the Kingdom of God---i.e., with salvation. Matthews text stresses the ultimate importance of praxis; without it, prayer cannot express anything that is of ultimate importance. In systematic terms, we can say that this passage tells us clearly that ultimate meaningfulness is to be found in actually doing the will of God. Prayer without action is useless, indeed literally impossible. Without praxis there is no concrete materials around which a Christian experience
of meaningfulness could be structured; and hence there is no concrete material around which prayer might be structured.
Be on guard against the scribesthese men devour the savings of widows and recite long prayers for appearance sake (Mk. 12:38, 40)
Here Jesus is attacking prayer insofar as it is turned into an item of commerce and used to exploit others. Widows serve as biblical symbol for the defenseless and the oppressed, and here Jesus says that they are being oppressed by the scribes. Such oppression takes on an extreme cast when it uses prayer as its tool, for prayer is meant to provide us with access to God. Whereas the previous passage attacked the dissociation of prayer and praxis, this passage attacks prayer insofar as it is used as a concrete way to oppress people. Both the oppression itself and prayer as a tool of oppression are condemned by Jesus. Jesus vehemently attacked the commercialization of prayer when he expelled the merchants from the temple. They had turned the house of prayer into a den of thieves. We reminded of Hoseas savage anger against the priest of his day. They, too, had perverted the temple, turning it into a place for profit-making (Hos 4:6). Enjoying the benefit of the victims offered be people for their sins, the priests feed on the sin of my people and are greedy for their guilt (Hos 4:8). It is the same perversion of worship that Jesus condemned in this gospel passage. Under the pretext of reciting long prayers, the scribes eat up the life savings of widows.
When all the people were baptized and Jesus was at prayer after likewise being baptized, the skies opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in visible form like a dove
(Lk 3:21-22).
While he was praying, his face changed in appearance and his clothes became dazzling white (Lk
9:29). These passages do not quote the words of Jesus. They clearly reflect the work of Luke. I cite them here because they show Lukes concern to demythologize the figure of Jesus precisely in terms of prayer. Consider the various narratives of Jesus baptism (Mt 3:1317; Mk 1:9-11; Lk 3:21-22) and his transfiguration (Mt 17:19; Mk 9:2-10; Lk 9:28-36). In them, we find miraculous phenomena adorning the essential elements of the given scene: i.e., Jesus being anointed by the Spirit, his consciousness of his mission, and his unique son ship with God. Only Luke adds the remark that these miraculous phenomena took place while Jesus was at prayer. He wants people to disregard the miraculous elements and to concentrate on the essential features of a scene. And he does this by mentioning something as commonplace and normal as prayer. All the passages cited above lead us to clear conclusion. Jesus himself, and even more surely the earliest Christian communities who pondered the example of Jesus had a clear awareness of the typical ways in which prayer could be counterfeited of Jesus vitiated: e.g., by spiritual narcissism, hypocrisy, wordiness, alienating and oppressive misuse of prayer. He did not think that prayer was some autonomous mechanism that automatically guaranteed salvation. Indeed he felt quit the contrary. It is on the basis of his denial on one level that we now move on to consider the positive aspects of Jesus own prayer.
It is highly probable that a day did not go by that Jesus did not observe these three times for prayer; that he never ate a meal without saying grace before and after. While this assertion might be regarded as an exaggeration, there can be no doubt about what the Synoptics tell us: Jesus not only denounced all forms of false prayer but also participated in the prayer life of his people. But important as this first level is, it does not show what is most typical of Jesus own prayer. Further light is shed on this matter when we examine the second level mentioned above: i.e., the times when Jesus prayed in connection with some important historical event or decision. This is the level of personal prayer as opposed to prayer that was prescribed by the Jewish religion. According to the Synoptics, Jesus whole life unfolded in an atmosphere of prayer. His public life began with prayer at his baptism (Lk 3:21; Mt 3:13-17; Mk 1: 9-11). This is interpreted as Jesus taking cognizance of his mission, of that which would serve as the focus for his whole life. Jesus life also ends with prayer (Mt 27:46; Mk 15:34; Lk 23:46). Whether it is described as a prayer of anguish or as one of hope, it clearly implies an explicit relationship between Jesus and the Father. The Synoptics allude to prayer in the life of Jesus from beginning to end. In moments of important historical decisions he is seen praying: e.g., when choosing the Twelve (Lk 6:12f.), when teaching the Our Father (Lk 11:1), and before curing the epileptic boy (Mk 9:29). Jesus prays for concrete individuals such as Peter (Lk 22:32) and his executioners (Lk 23:34). He alludes to prayer on important occasions, linking it up with faith (Mk 11:23f.) or asserting
that it is indispensable for casting out certain kinds of demons (Mk 9:29). Even when it is associated with historical happening, Jesus prayer sometimes seems to mark a withdrawal from public activity. As the whole context of the Gospels make clear, this does not imply the sacralization of particular places, much less the separation of prayer from real-life praxis and action and its transformation into an autonomous entity. At different times Jesus withdraws to a mountainside, a garden, or a desert area (Mk 1:35; 6:46; 14:32; Lk 6:12; etc.). Thus prayer was a habitual activity of Jesus. Luke brings this out clearly in a passage that seems to sum up much of Jesus activity: His reputation spread more and more, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be cured of their maladies. He often retired to deserted places and prayed (Lk 5:15-16). It is obviously difficult to determine what exactly was the prayer of Jesus on the basis of these Synoptic passages. From the standpoint of his own theology, for example, Luke was mainly interested in showing Jesus at prayer. But the overall picture of Jesus that emerges from these passages is clear enough. Prayer was something that he habitually engaged in. He not only participated in the cultic prayer if his people but also prayed in concrete situations of major importance. The third level mentioned above is not noted too frequently in the Gospels, but there are a few important passages that discuss the content of Jesus prayer. They are of singular importance because they have to do with critical moments in his life when Jesus attempts to grasp the ultimate sense and meaning of his person, activity, and destiny in the Fathers eyes. The two fundamental passages
are the one in which he gives praise and thanks to the Father in the Garden of Olives. We shall consider these two passages in detail. On one occasion Jesus spoke thus: Father, Lord
of heaven and earth, to you I offer praise; for what you have hidden from the learned and the clever you have revealed to the merest children (Mt 11:25; Lk 10:21).
This is a prayer of praise and thanksgiving. We can better appreciate the way it is formulated if we view it against the apocalyptic backdrop presented in the Book of Daniel. There it has to do with the communication of a revelation (Dan 2:20-23), the content of which pertains to the reign of God (Dan 2:44). We cannot determine when exactly Jesus uttered this prayer; but it is clear that he had already engaged in a fair amount of public activity and that this prayer was uttered at some critical juncture in that activity. Thus it is set in a historical context: Behind this prayer lies the fact that Jesus has experienced: Broad segments of the Jewish people, and especially those who were influential leaders, had proved unwilling to accept his message on faith. Indeed they contradicted it and maliciously opposed him. In this historical context Jesus thanks the Father because it is the unlettered who have understood his message while the wise and the learned remain blind. Jesus exultation goes hand in hand with his public activity in history, and he makes no reference to the synergistic aspect of the problem. He simply rejoices that the reign of God is being realized among the lowly.
This act of thanksgiving appears in a dialectical and polemical context. The impossible seems to have happened. Those seemingly incapable of understanding his message have in fact understood it while those seemingly capable of understanding have not. Injected into Jesus prayer here is the element of scandal that is constantly brought up in the Gospels. This element of scandal cannot be neglected or avoided if one wants to gain access to the Father of Jesus specifically rather than to some deity in the abstract. Finally, in this prayer it is evident that the Father is the ultimate horizon of Jesus person and activity. However, this transcendental horizon (the Father) is described in a very definite way rather than in abstract terms. This God is partial to the little people. He is certainly not deity equally near to, or far away from, all human beings. He is also a God with a definite will that is to be searched out and fulfilled: Father, it is true. You have graciously willed it so (Mt 11:26). It is in this overall and specific context that Jesus formulates a prayer that sums up his experience and its meaningfulness. Conscious of the divisiveness that his mission has caused, Jesus gives thanks to the Father because something marvelous and unexpected has happened. Giving thanks is one fundamental experience of meaningfulness, for it means that we know we are somehow related to someone to whom we can give thanks. It is not the mechanical repetition of some formula of thanksgiving; instead it embodies a profound experience of meaningfulness. It is the Father who is at work in history, and he works through human beings. He discloses his will in unexpected ways, carrying out in ways that are a source of
scandal to the world. With this realization, Jesus turns out to the Father and offers him thanks. He advanced a little and fell to the ground, praying that if it were possible this hour might pass him by. He kept saying, Abba, O Father, you have the power to do all things. Take this cup away from me. But let it be as you would have it, not as I (Mk 14:3536; Mt 26:39; Lk 22:43f.). This passage, as presented to us by Mark, is clearly a work of composition. However, it seems that we can fairly be sure that the core of this scene and of Jesus prayer is historical: The Christological scandal raised by this periscope makes it difficult for us to assume that it was made up on the whim of the author alone. The content of prayer shows Jesus facing a sever crisis. The whole meaning of his life seems to be in jeopardy. When that threat confronts him, Jesus goes off to pray. The same point was presented in the account of his temptations in the desert, though in a much more stylized form. It will show up again in Jesus prayer on the cross, where he recites Psalm 22 according to Matthew and Mark, or Psalm 31 according to Luke. The important thing to note is that Jesus puts himself before the Father and prays when the meaningfulness of his life is placed in jeopardy. This prayer, too, is historically situated. It is preceded by a long history and it leads to a historical decision. The cup that Jesus would like to see taken away is nothing else but his own imminent death. It is not simply death as such that Jesus wants to elude, however. It is the death that will be a direct historical consequence of his life. This is not the place to detail Jesus prophetic activity in unmasking the self-
interested and unjust actions of those in power. What is clear is that his activity provoked a hostile reaction in the latter, and that they wanted to put him to death. Early in Marks Gospel we read that when the Pharisees went outside, they immediately began to plot wit the Herodians how they might destroy him (Mk 3:6). When Johns gospel describes the work of Jesus, it constantly alludes to the fact that his life is in danger (Jn 2:24; 5:16-18; 7:1; 7:19; 7:25; 7:30; 7:32-35; 8:20; 59; 10:30; 39; 11:8,53,57). In all these passages it seems clear that Jesus is aware of the fact that his unmasking activity is bound to end an his own death, and that this realization gradually dawns on his disciples. Thus this prayer in the garden crystallizes a crisis faced by Jesus throughout his life. It is a prayer that sums up and recapitulates his own life. By the same token it also leads to a historical action: i.e., Jesus decision to be faithful to his fathers will to the very end. Though he does ask the Father to usher in the kingdom without prior suffering, he also submits in the end to the Fathers will. Even knowing that fact, we still cannot help but be surprised by Jesus submission when we consider it in the light of his whole life.
End
Jon Sobrino, Christology at the Crossroads (Orbis Books, N.Y. : 1978) 146-178