Yesterday, I posted about \u201cyour kingdom come\u201d in the Lord\u2019s Prayer in Matthew 6.9-13 and Luke 11.2-4. The Aramaic word maranatha<\/em> is similar. Here is an excerpt from my book, The Restitution of Jesus Christ<\/em>, about maranatha<\/em>:<\/p>\n The Apostle Paul uses the Aramaic word maranatha<\/em> only in 1 Corinthians 16.22.[1] This use indicates that Greek-speaking Christians borrowed this transliterated word from the early Aramaic-speaking Jewish Christians of Judea and Galilee and made it a part of their own liturgy. Its meaning is complex.[2] If parsed marana tha<\/em>, it is a request and means \u201cour Lord, come;\u201d but if parsed maran atha<\/em>, it is a confession and means \u201cour Lord has come.\u201d<\/p>\n Some scholars have thought that this early Christian use of maranatha<\/em> in mostly a liturgical setting indicates that its meaning is to be found in its application to the Eucharist (Lord\u2019s Supper). In that case, it could mean either of the above. However, it is more likely that Paul mostly employed it eschatologically, i.e., \u201cour Lord, come,\u201d to indicate the Christians\u2019 hopeful, expectant attitude concerning Jesus\u2019 promised return to earth in glory. Accordingly, some New Testament scholars, not just traditionalists, think that maranatha<\/em> in 1 Corinthians 16.22 is a prayer which verifies Paul\u2019s sanction of praying to Jesus,[3] thus asking Him to return soon. But this concept conflicts with subordinationist elements in New Testament eschatology and Christology as follows: (1) Paul\u2019s teaching that only the Father will \u201cbring about\u201d Christ\u2019s return (1 Timothy 6.14-15) and Jesus\u2019 two revelations that (2) He did not know the time of His return (Matthew 24.36\/Mark 13.32>) and (3) only the Father decides the timing of such events (Acts 1.7). Also, Daniel calls \u201cthe end\u201d of the age \u201cthe appointed time,\u201d[4] meaning that God long ago \u201cdecreed\u201d it (Daniel 9.27), so that it is fixed and cannot be changed. So, this Christian use of maranatha<\/em> likely expresses merely the heart\u2019s desire for Jesus to return rather than it being an actual prayer request for Him to return soon. Such a view accords with \u201cCome, Lord Jesus,\u201d in Revelation 22.20, which may represent the translation of maranatha<\/em>. Many scholars compare it to the Jews\u2019 Kaddish prayer about Messiah, \u201cMay he reveal himself speedily in our days.\u201d<\/p>\n Geza Vermes and others trace this early Christian use of maranatha<\/em> back to Jesus\u2019 words in His so-called Lord\u2019s Prayer, \u201cThy kingdom come\u201d (Matthew 6.10\/Luke 11.2).[5] This is a prayer directed to \u201cOur Father,\u201d not Jesus. Even if maranatha<\/em> represents a prayer asking Jesus to return, it would be the same as praying to the Father, \u201cThy kingdom come,\u201d since Jesus is the embodiment of the kingdom of God. And this connection may suggest that the early church employed maranatha<\/em> liturgically, perhaps at the Eucharist, but only in the sense of asking Jesus to be in their midst, which would have been synonymous with requesting the presence of the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n [1] Maranatha<\/em> also appears in Didache<\/em> 10.6.<\/p>\n [2] Gordon D. Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians<\/em>, in NICNT<\/em> (1987), 838.<\/p>\n [3] Oscar Cullmann, Christology<\/em>, 209-16; Larry W. Hurtado, One God, One Lord<\/em>, 106.<\/p>\n [4] Daniel 9.26; 11.27, 29, 35, 40; 12.9, 13.<\/p>\n [5] G. Vermes, The Changing Faces of Jesus<\/em>, 201.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Yesterday, I posted about \u201cyour kingdom come\u201d in the Lord\u2019s Prayer in Matthew 6.9-13 and Luke 11.2-4. The Aramaic word maranatha is similar. Here is an excerpt from my book, The Restitution of Jesus Christ, about maranatha: The Apostle Paul uses the Aramaic word maranatha only in 1 Corinthians 16.22.[1] This use indicates that Greek-speaking […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1477,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-eschatology"],"yoast_head":"\n