LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION…
The Lord’s Prayer-Part VI
Introduction:
In
December 2017, BBC circulated a controversial topic on the Lord’s prayer. The
title of that article: The Lord’s
Prayer: Pope Francis Calls for Change: “Pope Francis is suggesting changes
to Christianity’s Best-known prayer. Pope Francis has called for a translation of a
phrase about temptation in the Lord's Prayer to be changed. The current wording
that says "lead us not into temptation" is not a good translation
because God does not lead humans to sin, he says. His suggestion is to use
"do not let us fall into temptation" instead, he told Italian TV. The pontiff said France's Roman Catholic
Church was now using the new wording "do
not let us fall into temptation" as an alternative, and something
similar should be used worldwide. "Do not let me fall into temptation
because it is I who fall, it is not God who throws me into temptation and then
sees how I fell," "A father does not do that, a father helps you to
get up immediately." he told TV2000, an Italian Catholic TV channel.[1]
It
is the typical of the Media these days, Pope Francis has said one thing and the
Media hyped it up and reported something totally different. In this era of Fake
news, where the truth seems to have lost its credibility, how are we to
understand this part of the best-known prayer of Christians worldwide? What
does it actually mean when Jesus said, “Lead us not into temptation”? Would God
deliberately lead his people into temptation? Can we expect God to protect us
from temptation? How are we to understand the word, “temptation”? This morning
we will be looking into the fifth petition in the Lord’s prayer: “LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION.” Matthew
6:13,
I.
UNDERSTANDING TEMPTATION:
This part of the Lord’s prayer, “Lead us not
into temptation,” has been a puzzle for me, and, perhaps for you as well. How
do we understand these words? I want to break them into two parts: Lead us not
into, and temptation. Let’s first look at the word temptation. What comes to
your mind when you hear the word, “temptation”?
We often think of something irresistible, not good but pleasurable. For
example, who can resist the temptation of Ice-Cream?
In
plain terms temptation means, “a strong desire or urge to do something,
especially something wrong or unwise.” What does this word temptation particularly
mean in the Lord’s prayer? In the Bible, there are times some words from the
root languages cannot be translated accurately because of the lack of
corresponding words in English, this is one of them. From my study let me
attempt to explain this word temptation based on the context.
In
the root languages the noun translated “temptation” has a broad range of
meanings such as: To test, to try, to prove, to tempt, to put to the test, to
put to the proof, to attempt, to entangle and to experience. Based on this
range of definitions how do we understand this word temptation? Let me give a scriptural context. Genesis 22:1, “after these things, that God did tempt Abraham (KJV). The Hebrew word, Nacah means, “to put to the test.” It
should not be translated as, “tempt.” The Geneva Bible (1599) translated this
word as, “And after these things God did prove Abraham.” God wanted
to prove Abraham as righteous by testing his faith.
James
makes it clear the difference between the sources of temptation to the first
century believers in James 1:13-14, “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am
being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself
tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his
own desire.” What James saying here is that, “let no one who is tempted (to
sin) say that he is tempted of God.”
God
does not tempt anyone to sin, but he tempts only in the sense of proving
somebody to create confidence in the Lord and in himself and to give him
experience. Therefore, it is important for us to recognize the source. If it is
the devil (aka the tempter) who tempts, then it is for the purpose of causing
one to sin and fall short of the glory of God. If it is God, it is for the
purpose of proving someone or having someone experience his grace, goodness and
love, but never causing him to sin and fall. God’s ultimate objective is what
is good for us.
God
tests us inorder to confirm our faith, Ex 20:20, “Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. God has
come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep
you from sinning.” Or to prove our commitment, Deut 8:2 “Remember every road that God
led you on for those forty years in the wilderness, pushing you to your limits,
testing you so that he would know what you were made of, whether you would keep
his commandments or not. He put you through hard times…” Let’s look at how Adam
and Jesus dealt with temptation.
II. DEALING
WITH TEMPTATION: ADAM & JESUS
For
the very first time we see how the tempter the devil came to disrupt God’s good
plan for the humanity. Here is the all too familiar story of the fall in
Genesis 3: 1-7 “The serpent was clever, more clever than any wild animal God
had made. He spoke to the Woman: “Do I understand that God told you not to eat
from any tree in the garden?” The Woman said to the serpent, “Not at all. We can eat from the trees in the garden. It’s
only about the tree in the middle of the garden that God said, ‘Don’t eat from
it; don’t even touch it or you’ll die.” The serpent told the Woman, “You won’t
die. God knows that the moment you eat from that tree, you’ll see what’s really
going on. You’ll be just like God, knowing everything, ranging all the way from
good to evil.”
When the Woman saw that the tree
looked like good eating and realized what she would get out of it—she’d know
everything! —she
took and ate the fruit and then gave some to her husband, and he ate. (The
Message). Here are a few things for us to know what the three areas of
temptation for Adam and Eve were, and what contributed to their fall.
The
devil made the woman to doubt God’s command and enticed her with the forbidden
fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil: Vs 6, “So when the woman saw that the tree was
good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to
be desired to make one wise, (to give insight) ESV.
Here we see three basic areas that
the devil uses to entice people, and they are: lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh
and the pride of life. If we are not careful we all can be tempted by what we
see with our eyes, by the fleshly desires and by what we have or want to have.
Satan persuaded Eve, once Eve fell, she influences her husband to follow the
same course.
What contributed to their fall? It was a conscious
and deliberate violation of God’s explicit command and adding more to God’s
Word has lead Adam and Eve to fall and eventually plunge all of humanity into
sin. Note that Eve adds the phrase,
“neither shall you touch it,” to God’s words. This is typical of us humans. We
find it difficult to leave God’s Word alone.
Let’s
move now to see how Jesus handled temptation in the same three areas. Matthew
4:1-7, “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to
be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights,
he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of
God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” What can we learn from
this passage: Vs 1, “Led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by
the devil,” reveals that it was the divine intention for Jesus to be tempted,
the Greek verb rendered here can also be translated as “tested.”
The
devil uses the same three areas: The lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh
and the pride of life. Jesus used scriptures accurately and precisely not only
to defeat the devil but give us tools to use when we are tempted. He overcame the
lust of the flesh by quoting Deuteronomy 8: 3, “man does not live by bread
alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” He
overcame the lust of the eyes by quoting Deut 6:16, “You shall not put the Lord
your God to the test.” He overcame the Pride of Life, by quoting Deut 6:13 “You shall fear only the Lord your
God; and you shall worship Him and swear by His name.”
What can we learn from these
scriptures?
Jesus was not only an avid reader of the scriptures but he also memorized,
remembered and effectively used as weapons against the onslaught of the tempter
who came to test Him. If Jesus was
tempted in these areas we are not exempted. How are these three areas
manifested in our times? Lust of the eyes is what we see or read on the TV,
internet, magazine or books. The devil allures us by what we see. What we see
is what we think and what we think is what we act. Therefore, let’s make a
covenant with our eyes as Job did. Job 31:1“I have made a covenant with my
eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin?
Lust
of the flesh is the cravings for food, pleasure and sex. Many of us lack
control in these areas. We don’t want our natural appetites to control us
rather we want to take control of them. Finally, the pride of life, is taking
pride in our successes, achievements, possessions etc.
Like
never before these days so many temptations for God’s children to endure and
overcome. I understand it is hard to live as Christians these days. But let’s
not loose heart and give into temptation. We are given the word of God, let’s
use it as a double-edged sword against the devil. Moreover, remember, Jesus was
tempted as we are being tempted. He became our high priest and he is able to
help us when we are tempted. (Heb 2:18), The one who overcame temptation in his
life is now teaching his disciples to pray, “Lead us not into temptation.”
III.
LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION
Vs13,
“lead us not into temptation,” (ESV) The Greek for temptation can also mean
testing. N.T Wright in the Kingdom New Testament translates this verse as, “Do
not bring us into the great trial.” Jesus is teaching his disciples to pray
that God would not lead them into trials so deep that they would tempted to be
unfaithful to Him. As we noted earlier, God does not tempt us to sin, but he
may send various kinds of trails and tests into our lives.
James
the brother of Jesus exhorts us how to approach when we go through trails and
testing. James 1:2-4, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever
you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith
produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be
mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
The
trials that come on our way may be in the form of chronic sickness, the loss of
a loved one, broken relationships, and marriages, etc. This scripture tells us
that God sends these trials tests on our way in order to test our faith, and when
we stand the test to reward us.
Trails
expose the true heart. They are good for our soul as they keep us humble and refine
our Character. There is a Chinese proverb, "A gem is not polished without
rubbing, nor a man-made better without trials." Therefore, let’s not shy
away when we go through our share of trails.
Much
can be said about trails and how to endure when we face them. But as we leave
this morning let’s remember Jesus Christ our Lord stood His test and overcame
the temptation from the devil. He is encouraging us to pray to God not to lead
us into temptation. He sent His Holy Spirit to aid us. Next time when you go
through temptation take hold of this promise, I Corinthians 10:13, “The
temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God
is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand.
When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.” Amen!
