Revelation of the Fatherhood of God 73 prayer of Christ’s in which He so much as mentions God. The third verse of the 17th chapter of John, which says, “And this is eternal life, that they might believe in thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent,” may be an exception, but you will find that Westcott, and others of the best New Testament commentators, regard that phrase as a parenthesis of John the Evangelist, and not part of our Lord’s great prayer. I hope I am not misunderstood. I am meaning only that Christ’s conception of God and His practice of prayer did not rest merely on the theistic interpretation of the universe and the nature of its Creator in His majesty and almightiness. They rested on the father conception which He revealed in Himself. Just run over in your thought His prayers: the prayer that He taught us to pray, “Our Father, who art in h e a v e n t h e prayer He offered Himself when the disciples of John the Baptist came to Him: “I thank thee, Father, lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and the understanding, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for it seemeth good in thy sight;” the prayer that He offered in the temple, when Philip and Andrew came to Him with the message about the Greeks who were seeking to see Him: “Now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say ? Father, save me from this hour ? But for this cause came I unto this hour;” the prayer that He offered before the grave of Lazarus, “Father, I thank thee that thou hearest me, and I know that thou hearest me al ways;” the prayer that He put up in Gethsemane, “My Father, if this cup cannot pass from me except I drink it, thy will be done;” and the last prayer of all, when, as a tired little child, He lay down in His Father’s arms and fell asleep: “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.” He never pushed God off into His almightiness; not once in all His life of supplication can you find Him dealing with God in this way. He never smote the heart with the chill of the divine
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