Church Fathers Commentary Matthew 6:10

"Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth." — Matthew 6:10 (ASV)

St. Augustine of Hippo: In that kingdom of blessedness, the happy life will be made perfect in the saints just as it now is in the heavenly angels. Therefore, after the petition, "Your kingdom come," follows, "Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." This means that just as Your will is done by the angels in heaven—who enjoy fruition of You, with no error clouding their knowledge and no pain marring their blessedness—so may it be done by Your saints who are on earth, and who, regarding their bodies, are made of earth. Thus, "Your will be done" is rightly understood as, "May Your commands be obeyed." And "on earth as it is in heaven" means by humans as it is by angels; not merely that they do what God wants them to do, but that they do it because He wants them to do it—that is, they act according to His will.¹

St. John Chrysostom: See how excellently this follows. Having taught us to desire heavenly things by saying, "Your kingdom come," He instructs us, before we even come to heaven, to make this earth a heaven by saying, "Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."

St. Jerome: Let those who falsely affirm that there are daily fallsⁱ in heaven be put to shame by this text.ⁱ

St. Augustine of Hippo: Or, it can be understood as being done by sinners just as it is by the righteous, as if He were saying, "Just as the righteous do Your will, so also may sinners"—either by turning to You, or by each person receiving their just reward in the last judgment.

Alternatively, by "heaven" and "earth" we may understand the spirit and the flesh. As the Apostle says, In my mind I obey the law of God (Romans 7:25), we see the will of God being done in the spirit. But in the change that is promised to the righteous, the prayer Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven means that just as the spirit does not resist God, so also may the body not resist the spirit.

Or, "on earth as it is in heaven" can mean in His Church as it is in Christ Jesus Himself; in the woman who is espoused to Him as it is in the Man who did His Father's will. And heaven and earth may be suitably understood as husband and wife, since it is from the heaven that the earth brings forth her fruits.

St. Cyprian of Carthage: We do not ask that God may do His own will, but that we may be enabled to do what He wills to be done by us. For it to be done in us, we need that will—that is, God's help and protection. For no one is strong by their own strength, but is safe only through the grace and mercy of God.

St. John Chrysostom: For virtue comes not from our own efforts, but from grace from above. Here again, prayer for the whole world is urged upon each of us, since we are not to say, "Your will be done in me," or "in us," but "on all the earth." We pray this so that error may cease, truth be planted, malice be banished, and virtue return, and so the earth may not differ from heaven.

St. Augustine of Hippo: This passage clearly shows, against the Pelagians, that the beginning of faith is God's gift, since the holy Church prays for unbelievers that they may begin to have faith. Moreover, since this is already done in the saints, why do they still pray for it to be done? They pray so that they may persevere in what they have begun to be.²

Pseudo-Chrysostom: These words, "on earth as it is in heaven," must be taken as applying to all three preceding petitions. Observe also how carefully it is worded. He did not say, "Father, hallow Your name in us," "Let Your kingdom come to us," or "Do Your will in us." Nor did He say, "Let us hallow Your name," "Let us enter into Your kingdom," or "Let us do Your will," so that it would not seem to be either God's doing alone or humanity's doing alone. Instead, He used a middle form of speech and an impersonal verb. For just as a person can do nothing good without God's help, so also God does not work good in a person unless that person wills it.

1. Serm. in Mont., ii, 6
2. De Don. Pers., 3

Glossa Ordinaria: It is fitting that after our adoption as sons, we should ask for the kingdom that is due to sons.¹

St. Augustine of Hippo: This is not said as if God does not now reign on earth, or had not always reigned over it. The word Come, therefore, must be understood as "be revealed to humanity." For no one will then be ignorant of His kingdom when His Only-Begotten Son comes, not only in understanding but in visible form, to judge the quick and dead.

The Lord teaches that this day of judgment will come when the Gospel has been preached to all nations, which pertains to the hallowing of God's name.²

St. Jerome: It is either a general prayer for the kingdom of the whole world—that the reign of the Devil may cease—or for the kingdom within each of us, that God may reign there and that sin may not reign in our mortal body.

St. Cyprian of Carthage: Or, it is a prayer for that kingdom which was promised to us by God and bought with Christ's blood, so that we who were formerly servants in the world may afterward reign under the dominion of Christ.³

St. Augustine of Hippo: The kingdom of God will come whether we desire it or not. But in this prayer, we kindle our desires for that kingdom, so that it may come to us and that we may reign in it.⁴

John Cassian: Or, we pray this because the saint knows by the witness of his conscience that when the kingdom of God appears, he will be a partaker in it.⁵

St. Jerome: But it should be noted that only a person of great confidence and an unblemished conscience can pray for the kingdom of God and not fear the judgment.

St. Cyprian of Carthage: The kingdom of God can also represent Christ Himself, whom we daily wish to come, and for whose advent we pray that it may be quickly revealed to us. Just as He is our resurrection because in Him we rise again, so He may be called the kingdom of God because we are to reign in Him.

We rightly ask for God's kingdom—that is, the heavenly one—because there is also an earthly kingdom. However, whoever has renounced the world is superior to its honors and its kingdom. Therefore, the one who dedicates himself to God and Christ does not long for the kingdom of earth, but for the kingdom of Heaven.

St. Augustine of Hippo: When those who are already holy pray, Let your kingdom come, what else are they praying for but to persevere in the holiness that has been given to them? For the kingdom of God will not come in any other way than how it is certain to come for those who persevere to the end.⁶

1. Serm. in Mont., ii, 6
2. De Don. Pers., 3