I hope that it has been edifying to slow down over words that many of us learnt by heart as children but that we rarely stopped to really think about. What rich words our Lord taught us to pray. They draw us to the Great Transcendent God whom we get to call Father, teaching us to bow to him as the Eternal King of heaven and earth, and to trust in his provision for what we need physically and spiritually. Our desperate condition as sinners who have rebelled against our Holy and Almighty Creator has been changed through Christ, making us recipients of mercy and grace in the forgiveness of our sins. We are then to pay this forward to our fellow sinners, extending the grace we have received to those who sin against us.
But this is not all we are to pray for. The prayer ends, “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” This section of the prayer has always been a bit confusing for me: Does it mean that God can tempt us? What does it mean that God can lead us into temptation? Why doesn’t He spare us from temptation in the first place?
I don’t think I’m the only one this has affected. A few years ago, the Roman Catholic Church was in the news[1] because the Pope approved a change to the wording of this prayer. Rather than, “lead us not into temptation”, Pope Francis approved a change to “lead us not to fall into temptation”. While we must admit the original wording of the prayer leaves us uneasy, we cannot decide to change God’s Word in an attempt to resolve this discomfort. It is our job to wrestle (as I hope we’ve been doing) to get clear on what these words mean and don’t mean.
Can God tempt us?
I think it might be useful for us here to consider the Greek word that has been translated “temptation” – peirasmos. It has two meanings, which James helpfully exhibits in his first chapter. Firstly, as we typically understand temptation, to be enticed to sin by our evil desires, “Let no one say when he is tempted (peirasmos), “I am being tempted (peirasmos) by God,” for God cannot be tempted (peirasmos) with evil, and he himself tempts (peirasmos) no one. But each person is tempted (peirasmos) when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” (James 1:13-15). James shows just how contrary this meaning is, when used with God as subject. The usage here is related to evil and is therefore distant from God. Can God tempt? No. God cannot be linked with evil and is therefore not a tempter! It is our evil desires (our sinful desires) that lure us so that we end up sinning and become deserving of the just punishment for sin, death!
Secondly, peirasmos can mean to be tried and tested. James opens his letter with, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials (peirasmos) of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.” (Jas. 1:2-3). . . “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial (peirasmos) for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.” (1:12). He sets out for us that trials are a part of the Christian life that we are meant to endure as they are part of God’s sanctifying work (1:4), at the end of which we can expect to be richly rewarded with the crown of life. This usage is not evil and therefore can be associated with God.
What then does it mean for God to lead us into temptation? Earlier in Matthew’s gospel, we are told, “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” (Matt. 4:1). This reveals to us an uncomfortable truth: that God led Jesus to the place of temptation. After Jesus has been baptized, he is led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness where the intention was that he would be tempted by the devil. Matthew agrees with James, God does not tempt, but he can lead us into circumstances where we can face temptation.
When we come to the prayer, “lead us not into temptation”, it can carry both meanings. We are praying to God not to lead us into situations where we can be tempted by the devil or face hardships that can try our faith. Often difficult situations can tempt us into sin in an attempt to escape them. For example, when Abraham faced famine in the Promised Land, he goes to Egypt and in an attempt to save himself from any persecution because of his beautiful wife, he decides to lie that she is his sister. It is by God’s grace and kindness that Abraham is found out and spared (Gen. 12:10-20).
What happened to Jesus when He was led by the Spirit to tempted? He was placed in a weakened state – he fasted for 40 days, and then was tempted by the devil (4:2-3). It sounds incredibly hard and painful. There the devil aimed to entice him with food – the thing that it may have seemed He needed the most from being so hungry. Yet Jesus trusted in the Lord’s faithfulness to sustain by His word and so prevailed over Satan (4:4). The devil tempted him with testing the Lord – asking Him to put Himself in a situation to ’cause’ God to act (4:5-6). Jesus once more is surrendered to God’s will and so does not sin by testing the Lord. Lastly, the devil tempts Jesus with an offer of authority that is tied to Jesus worshiping him (4:8-9). But Jesus casts him away and clings to the faithful worship of the One True God (4:10). He was tried and tested, and being holy did not fall into temptation.
What were God’s purposes in this? Many commentators agree that Jesus was in His temptation identifying with Israel in the Old Testament, going through what they went through. Deut. 8:2-3 helps frame this for us, “ And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”
Why did the Lord lead Israel into temptation in the wilderness? “that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart”. God allows trials and temptations so that He can show us what is really in our hearts – our beliefs and attitudes, our strengths and weaknesses. The Lord allowed Israel to hunger, then fed them with manna through supernatural supply, so that they would know that they didn’t eat because they could supply bread for themselves but they ate because God supplied food by speaking it into existence. Israel’s history tells us that they doubted God’s supply many times. Their hearts were revealed to be untrusting of God but willing to trust in sinful humans and empty idols. But where they fail, Jesus succeeds. He is the Perfect Israel who is victorious under temptation and trial. His heart is revealed to be pure and full of trust in God. He stands as a perfect representative for us in this regard, while also modelling for us what faithful trust in the Lord looks like.
More to this, when Jesus was tempted, being fully human, he felt what we feel when we are tempted – the pain and trial of it, but he did not fall into temptation and sin. He stood on the Word of God and prevailed against the Devil. This is why we can truly testify of Jesus as our great High Priest , “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” He really knows what being tempted feels like, yet he never gave in! He prevailed and so he can help us do the same.
Why does Jesus then teach us to pray “lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil”? Two things stand out. Firstly, He stands as the One who was tempted and tried and triumphed over Satan, in the wilderness, and eventually at the Cross, and so in His name we can pray to be spared from temptation and trial, but especially to know that He has crushed Satan and can deliver us from his devious schemes. He has provided a means for our relief and salvation. Secondly, it is a prayer in admission of our weakness and our dependence upon the Father. We need our merciful Father to further supply for us spiritually by granting us grace to be saved from trials that can overwhelm us or draw us towards sin and to especially rescue us from the devil exerting any power over us.
As we pray this part of the prayer, we concede that God is sovereign and in that capacity can act in accordance with his good pleasure. If it pleased him to lead his Only Begotten Son towards temptation, he might also be pleased to lead us there as well. But he is not the Tempter. It simply leaves us with the discomfort that God might purpose for us to be exposed to the temptation towards evil without being in any way defiled by evil himself. As He did it in the Old Testament, the testing – the leading into temptation, was for the purpose of proving the faith of his people. It was for the purpose of sanctification – the growing in holiness by growing to truly and fully trust the Lord. Therefore, if the Lord is pleased to lead us into temptation, it is for our eventual good and his greater glory.
The prayer teaches us that we can pray for God not to lead us into temptation, but it provides that this might still please him to do because of the next part of the prayer, “deliver us from evil”. This part allows for us to face temptation from the Devil but implores our Father to deliver us from him and his influence. In effect we are praying something like, “Father, please don’t lead us into temptation, but if it pleases you to, deliver us from the Evil One and his evil influence.” This part of the prayer draws us to appreciate the sovereignty of God in leading our paths and setting out the course of our lives (Proverbs 20:24; Ps. 139:16). But it also implores him to keep us safe from evil, and in effect sin. This means that we should not think to change the words as they are but learn to pray them, humbly submitting to God in his sovereignty, trusting him to keep us safe even as he sanctifies us.
[1] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/06/led-not-into-temptation-pope-approves-change-to-lords-prayer