https://app.dropwave.io/episode/4783b6a5-24de-4d21-8184-84ba34691304/invocavit-lent-1-wednesday-ad-2026-the-first-petition.mp3

++ JESU JUVA ++

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Hallowed be Thy name. What does this mean? God’s name is certainly holy in itself, but we pray in this petition that it may be kept holy among us also.

How is God’s name kept holy? God’s name is kept holy when the Word of God is taught in its truth and purity, and we, as the children of God, also lead holy lives according to it. Help us to do this, dear Father in heaven! But anyone who teaches or lives contrary to God’s Word profanes the name of God among us. Protect us from this, heavenly Father!

You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God. What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not curse, swear, use satanic arts, lie, or deceive by His name, but call upon it in every trouble, pray, praise, and give thanks.

This first petition of the Lord’s prayer is connected to the Second Commandment. It has to do with the right use of God’s name. In Holy Baptism, God has given us His own name. But He has not given us His name so that we can use it for whatever we want. He has given us His name because He desires to give us what is good. By giving us His name, He gives us Himself.

Therefore, as Christians, we want to use God’s name rightly. But in our daily lives, we are surrounded by those who misuse God’s name — who treat His name as common or even useless. It seems like misusing God’s name isn’t a very significant sin. But tonight’s first reading clearly demonstrates that God takes the profaning of His name very seriously. In those days: Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it, put incense on it, and offered profane fire before the LORD, which He had not commanded them (Leviticus 10:1)

This is not just two priests getting “creative” with their worship of God. These men have dared to approach God with what He has expressly forbidden. They have directly and deliberately despised and defied God’s clear Words about worship. So fire went out from the LORD and devoured them, and they died before the LORD (Leviticus 10:2). They approached God with pride and presumption. The wrath of God fell upon them, and they died. Anyone who teaches or lives contrary to God’s Word profanes the name of God among us. Protect us from this, heavenly Father!

Yet it is not merely Nadab and Abihu who have misused God’s name. Do you curse? Do you use God’s name for oaths that are frivolous or false? When you hear false words about God, do you speak the truth? When you are in trouble, do you pray to God? When your life is peaceful, do you neglect to pray? Are you bored with God’s Word and prayer? Is your life characterized by thanksgiving and praise? Do you take time to listen to God’s Word and meditate upon it? Do you neglect the study of the Catechism? Is your worship of God heartfelt? Do you speak the words while your heart is distracted by other things?

The truth is that God’s name has not been hallowed among us. For this, we have earned God’s judgment and wrath. Whether God sends judgment immediately or not, this kind of behavior is like the profane fire offered by Nadab and Abihu. It provokes the Lord and invites His judgment. So we pray “hallowed be Thy name” that God would keep us from profaning and misusing His name.

This brings us to our second reading. At Passover, Jesus enters the House of God. But instead of hearing prayers being offered to God, He sees the church turned into a marketplace. Money is exchanged. Animals are bought and sold. God’s holy house has become a den of robbers. God’s name is blasphemed. God had warned this would happen. Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods whom you do not know, and then come and stand before Me in this house which is called by My name, and say, ‘We are delivered to do all these abominations’? Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of thieves in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it,” says the LORD… And I will cast you out of My sight. (Jeremiah 7:9-11, 15a).

What would Jesus do? When God’s name is profaned and blasphemed, Jesus will not be silent. He is full of righteous anger — zeal for God’s holiness. So He fashions a whip, drives out the merchants, the sheep, the oxen. He pours out the money and flips over the tables. And He said to those who sold doves, “Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!” Then His disciples remembered that it was written [in Psalm 69], “Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up.” (John 2:16-17).

When Jesus sees God’s name blasphemed and profaned, He does not ignore it. But more than simply bringing judgment against the sinner, He hallows God’s name by purifying what had been profaned. He cleanses the Temple so that it can be restored to its proper holy purpose. Jesus isn’t just interested the teaching of God’s Word. He wants the people of God to live according to it.

But the Jews are unconvinced. Who gave You the authority to behave this way? Who authorized You to overturn our business and take away our trade? Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” (John 2:19). They think He’s talking about the stone building He just cleansed. But He means His own Body, that of the only begotten Son of the Father (John 1:14), which He will give into death.

Jesus intends to accomplish a deeper cleansing. For His righteous anger and zeal against the misuse of God’s name does not stop with His cleansing of the Temple. “Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.” … [Jesus said]: “Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” This He said, signifying by what death He would die. (John 12:27-28, 31-33).

At Jesus’ trial, He is accused of blasphemy. At that time Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, “Behold the Man!” Therefore, when the chief priests and officers saw Him, they cried out, saying, “Crucify Him, crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “You take Him and crucify Him, for I find no fault in Him.” The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God.” (John 19:5-7).

“He has made Himself the Son of God.” And when the Jews are asked whether they desire to crucify their Messiah, the chief priests reply that Caesar alone is their god and savior (John 19:15). Just like Nadab and Abihu, these chief priests offer profane fire. Accusing Jesus of blasphemy, they tell lies about God. They profane His name. Yet Jesus does not destroy them in His wrath. He submits to shame and mockery and bitter death. The chief priests of the Jews wanted Jesus to be crucified for the crime of claiming to be God. In this, they profane His name. But Pilate writes the charge against Jesus, setting it over His head: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS (John 19:19-22). Jesus is not crucified for the crime of blasphemy. He is crucified for the “crime” of being the Messiah — the Savior of the whole world. In Jesus, the Lord’s house is torn down.

Again, Jesus will be consumed with zeal for the Lord’s house. His zealous anger is set against every sin. By His obedient death on the cross, He hallows and glorifies God’s name. In Him, holiness is restored to us. In His resurrection, the temple of His body is raised in three days, just as He said. Even when He was sinned against, He kept God’s name holy.