Matthew 6:10

Thy kingdom come. As to the nature of the “kingdom of heaven” and its central position in the teaching of Jesus see on ch. 4:17. As to the “kingdom of heaven” in the Sermon on the Mount see on ch. 5:2, 3. Christ here speaks, not so much of the kingdom of grace, as of the kingdom of His glory (MB 108), for which the kingdom of grace prepares the way and in which it culminates (see ch. 25:31). Such an interpretation is supported by the tense of the Greek verb. See on ch. 6:13.

Throughout the ages the promise that the kingdoms of this world would eventually become the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ (Rev. 11:15) has spurred the citizens of the kingdom of grace to holy living (1 John 3:2, 3) and to self-sacrifice in the proclamation of the good news of the kingdom (see Acts 20:24; 2 Tim. 4:6-8). In the minds and hearts of true Christians in all ages “that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13) has ever been uppermost and has inspired them to holier living.

Thy will be done. Christ now turns to the will of God, particularly as it affects this earth. When human hearts yield to the jurisdiction of the kingdom of divine grace, the will of God for them is accomplished. The tense of the Greek verb shows that this petition is also anticipatory. The request is for an end to the reign of sin and for the arrival of that moment when the will of God will be as universally accomplished upon this earth as it is throughout the other dominions of God’s creation.