Our Lord knows how changeable our wills are and how vast are the forces that fight against us as His people; therefore, He teaches us to pray, “Thy will be done.”

As Luther explains in the Large Catechism, “Just as God’s name is holy in itself, and we still pray that it be holy among us, so also His kingdom comes of itself, without our prayer. Yet we still pray that it may come to us, that is, triumph among us and with us, so that we may be a part of those people among whom His name is hallowed and His kingdom prospers” (Part III, The Second Petition, p. 414).

This evening, we meditate upon the trial of Jesus, seeing in this place the trials of the world that fight against God’s will and yet also seeing the work of God, bringing salvation to the world and making the place of trial a place of His eternal will.