Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil (the evil one).
Matthew 6:13
With the past Good Words I’ve written, one could possibly feel overwhelmed when considering the temptations and tests we are sure to face. However, our encouragement and strength come from knowing that whatever we face, and however we face our own temptations and tests, Jesus overcame His without falling into sin; so we can too. This is good news.
We are to be of good cheer, knowing that all temptations are common in this world. So, we count it all joy when we meet them, knowing that our sufficiency is not of ourselves but in Christ.
Because greater is He who is now dwelling in us than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4), we can boldly confess, like Jesus, “The prince of this world is coming, but he has nothing in Me” (John 14:30).
Jesus, who was tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15), encourages us to come boldly to the throne of grace, where we will receive mercy and find grace in our time of need. This is our overcoming promise, enabling us to avoid the snare of temptation.
Jesus, in our Scripture today, tells us to pray to the Father and specifically ask to be delivered from the evil one. We know from the epistle written by James that God tempts no man with evil. So, how do we understand this request from Matthew 6:13, where we are told to pray, “Lead us not…”?
Let’s look at a couple of word studies:
LEAD — eispheró: to bring in, to lead into, to carry into.
TEMPTATION — Cognate: 3986 peirasmós (from 3985 /peirázō) — temptation or test. Both senses can apply simultaneously, depending on the context. The positive sense (“test”) and negative sense (“temptation”) are functions of the context, not merely the words themselves.
Elliott’s Commentary gives a worthwhile explanation to help us understand this petition from Matthew 6:13:
“Lead us not into temptation.—The Greek word includes the two thoughts which are represented in English by ‘trials,’ i.e., sufferings which test or try, and ‘temptations,’ allurements on the side of pleasure which tend to lead us into evil. Of these the former is the dominant meaning in the language of the New Testament, and is that of which we must think here. (Comp. Matthew 26:41.) We are taught not to think of the temptation in which lust meets opportunity as that into which God leads us (James 1:13–14); there is therefore something that shocks us in the thought of asking Him not to lead us into it. But trials of another kind—persecution, spiritual conflicts, agony of body or of spirit—these may come to us as a test or as a discipline. Should we shrink from these? An ideal stoicism, a perfected faith, would say, ‘No, let us accept them, and leave the issue in our Father’s hands.’ But those who are conscious of their weakness cannot shake off the thought that they might fail in the conflict, and the cry of that conscious weakness is therefore, ‘Lead us not into such trials,’ even as our Lord prayed, ‘If it be possible, let this cup pass away from me’ (Matthew 26:39). And the answer to the prayer may come either directly in actual exemption from the trial, or in ‘the way to escape’ (1 Corinthians 10:13), or in strength to bear it. It is hardly possible to read the prayer without thinking of the recent experience of ‘temptation’ through which our Lord had passed. The memory of that trial in all its terrible aspects was still present with Him, and in His tender love for His disciples He bade them pray that they might not be led into anything so awful.”
The questions we can always keep before us are:
What is the treasure we carry in our hearts?
What do we desire in this life more than God?