The fact Jesus saw fit to load the prayer he taught his followers with this dark reminder should not go unnoticed. Not only does it press home to those who truly pray this prayer how much the cross of Jesus really matters, it actually leads us into the breath-taking panoramic knowledge of the God to whom we pray. The title of C.S. Lewis famous essay provides a helpful corollary to this: ‘The weight of Glory’.[2] Only when we weigh ourselves against the weight of the glory of God do we begin to realise our need is infinitely greater than we could ever imagine.

In our last three articles that dealt with the sin-related petitions in the Lord’s Prayer we noted in passing how striking it is that such a large proportion of this prayer is focused on our fallenness and failure. This surely says a great deal about why, in light of Calvin’s famous dictum about truly knowing ourselves as well as God, that genuine self-knowledge plays a huge part in entering more fully into a true knowledge of God.

Sinclair Ferguson brings this out in what he says about the 11^th Century theologian, Anselm of Canterbury, in relation to one of his best-known works, Cur Deus Homo? – ‘Why did God become Man?’ He homes in on the scholar’s response to his conversation partner, Boso, over his struggle to grasp why the death of Christ lies at the heart of the reason for his incarnation. Anselm tells him, ‘You have not yet considered the greatness of the weight of sin’.[1]

The Mediaeval bishop’s comment goes far deeper than we can ever appreciate when it comes to understanding the heart of the human problem – perhaps especially for us as Christians. The fact Jesus saw fit to load the prayer he taught his followers with this dark reminder should not go unnoticed. Not only does it press home to those who truly pray this prayer how much the cross of Jesus really matters, it actually leads us into the breath-taking panoramic knowledge of the God to whom we pray. The title of C.S. Lewis famous essay provides a helpful corollary to this: ‘The weight of Glory’.[2] Only when we weigh ourselves against the weight of the glory of God do we begin to realise our need is infinitely greater than we could ever imagine.

Ferguson says, ‘Of all Anselm’s statements, this may be the one most worthy of committing to memory. It goes to the heart of many theological misunderstandings – of ourselves and of our sin, of divine election, of the wonder of the love of God and of holiness. It is especially important when it comes to understanding the work of Christ for us. For only when we grasp the many-sided character and depth of our sinfulness can we come to understand and appreciate the wonder of the multidimensional work of Jesus Christ for us.’

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