At Jesus’ baptism, the Holy Spirit descended on him like a dove
and a voice came from heaven saying, “This is my Son, whom I love;
with him I am well pleased.” Immediately, Jesus was led into the
desert by the Spirit, where he was tempted by Satan (Matt. 3:16-4:11).
Upon his return from the desert, Jesus went up on a mountain to teach
his disciples. That teaching included the Lord’s Prayer.
The leading of the Spirit and the close connection between Jesus’
temptation and his teaching give us important insights into the meaning
and significance of the final petition of this prayer, which begins “Lead
us not into temptation.”
God’s leading
Does God tempt his people to do evil? If not, why pray “Lead us not
into temptation?”
In answering such questions, recognizing the distinction between the
Spirit’s leading and the devil’s tempting is crucial. God does
not tempt his people. He never tries to lure us into sin. As James
reminds and warns us, “When tempted, no one should say, ‘God
is tempting me.’ For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he
tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he
is dragged away and enticed” (James 1:13-14).
God does, however, allow us (and at times may lead us) into places
where our faith will be tested and tried. He may even permit Satan to
tempt us as he did with Job and Jesus. But since God is all powerful and
Satan is not, what Satan intends as a tool for leading Christians into
evil, God can use to strengthen.
While some may find such distinctions confusing, much can be clarified
by taking a closer look at the word “temptation.”
Testing and trial
In the Lord’s Prayer, the Greek word translated “temptation”
is
peirasmos, which may be translated “temptation,” “testing”
or “trial.”
Peirasmos derives from the root
peira,
which means “experience.” And, as William Barclay observes, “like
all Greek nouns which end in –
asmos it describes a
process.”
That
peirasmos can mean temptation, testing or trial helps us
see how these concepts are related. Consider, for example, the training
of soldiers. Before they are sent into battle, soldiers are taught about
weapons and tactics. They engage in rigorous physical conditioning.
Their knowledge and conditioning then are tested and tried in
battlefield simulations before they are ordered to engage in real
warfare.
Most trainees, I suspect, find this a trying experience. During the
process, some doubtless experience various temptations, including
misusing their weapons and dropping out of the program altogether. But
those who submit to the training and resist the temptations are then
suited for military service.
Although it is no longer politically correct to say so, the Christian
life is a spiritual battlefield. The New Testament writers did not shy
away from the language of spiritual warfare. Neither should we.
Part of our training in the life of faith, part of the experience
Christians must acquire if we are to be of service in God’s
kingdom, involves learning how to recognize, resist and ultimately
reject temptation.
Rejecting temptation
Austin Farrer offers a concise summary of how Christians are to deal
with temptation:
“To reject a temptation, we need only recognize the wrongness of
it. Afterwards we can take the wrong to pieces, if we like, and see how
many different principles of right it violated. Then a wrongness which
made a single impression on us may be seen to have been many-sided.”
Farrer helps us see that beneath the act of temptation lies the fact of
good and evil, the reality of right and wrong. If evil did not exist,
neither would temptation. If there were no distinction between right and
wrong, the concept of temptation would be meaningless.
These distinctions are especially important for postmodern Christians.
For if we mindlessly accept our culture’s contention that right and
wrong are merely matters of personal preference, we will have no reason
to reject temptation. And if we no longer believe that evil exists, we
will see no need to pray “Lead us not into temptation.”
Again quoting Farrer, “Is it not characteristic of Christ’s
simplicity, of his humanness, that he lets us pray against what recent
experience reminded him we must often undergo?”
Temptation is not sin. Jesus was tempted just as we are, yet did not sin
(Heb. 4:14-16). Temptation turns to sin only when we yield to evil
desires already within us.
May we therefore learn to pray as Jesus taught, “Lead us not into
temptation.”
Additional
Resources
William Barclay, The Lord’s Prayer (Louisville:
Westminster John Knox Press, 1998); Austin Farrer, The Triple
Victory: Christ’s Temptation According to St. Matthew
(Cambridge, Mass.: Cowley Publications, 1965). |