Matthew 6.13
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
This is the concluding line to the prayer Jesus gave his disciples when they asked him how they should pray. Before providing his model, Jesus emphasized the hypocrisy of using prayer to impress people or God. He suggested that prayer should be brief, sincere, and focused on Kingdom issues. The prayer, as presented in Matthew, is five verses. This article focuses on the fifth.
The phrase, “lead us not into temptation” has generated considerable debate. Does God lead us into temptation? If he doesn’t, why would we have to pray for him not to? James 1.13 says, “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.” So, if God does not tempt us, it must also be true that he does not lead us into temptation. Perhaps there is something about the phrase, “lead us not into temptation” that needs more scrutiny.
While the English is a direct rendering of the Greek, is it possible there is something idiomatic here that is lost in a literal translation? Does the phrase mean, “keep us from being tempted”? For three reasons, I believe the answer is “no”.
Reason one is that the earth is full of temptation. Even Jesus was tempted. Every restaurant is a temptation to gluttony; every attractive person is a temptation to lust; every fancy car is a temptation to envy; every shopping mall is a temptation to consumerism; every newscast is a temptation to despair and anger; every advertisement tempts us to feel inadequate. Can we get out of bed and not be tempted? Can we stay in bed and not be tempted? Even solitary confinement cannot keep us from temptation, because our minds are free to wander to all sorts of foolishness. From this perspective, if the phrase means “keep us from being tempted”, God’s remedy must be to strike us dead.
A second reason to doubt the meaning, “keep us from being tempted,” is that other Scriptures suggest that our experiences are a learning platform. Jesus prayed to the Father, “I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.” [John 17.15] “I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction.” [Isaiah 48.10] “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me…” [Psalm 23.4] Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. [James 1.2-4]
It should be noted that the word “temptation” can be translated “trial” or “test”. From one perspective, these words are very different. For example, if I find a wallet on the street with $500 in it, the urge to keep the money rather than return it is a temptation. A few years back, my house was struck by a powerful combination of thunder and lightning. Most of the windows in the house were shattered, while the house also experienced plumbing, electrical and structural damage. My wife and I had to relocate for 5 months. We battled with the insurance company, contractors and logistical complications, as we both struggled to remain responsible in our full time jobs. That was a trial.
However, a trial does not exclude moral elements. I struggled with the question, “Why me, God? Out of all the houses in the region, why was my house picked out to be the epicenter of the thunder strike? What did I do to deserve this?” I could have been filled with anger towards God. I could have fallen into despair and depression. I could have refused to face the added responsibilities and just walked away. The trial came packaged with a number of temptations. It is good for us to keep in mind how trials come with temptations. We must be mindful of how trials can lead to maturation, or they can lead to maturity setbacks.
Another issue related to temptations and trials has to do with the question of intent. Imagine yourself in a math class in which Satan is the teacher. (For some of us this may seem more like a memory than an exercise in imagination.) He gives the class the following instructions: “Class, in a few moments I will give you all a test with only one question. The question is, ‘What is the sum of 2+2?’, and the answer is ‘3’. Now go ahead and put your answer on the paper and turn in your test.” Now imagine the same scenario with God as teacher. The instructions are similar except that God tells you “2+2=4”. When Satan tests, it is his intention that you fail. This is temptation. When God tests, it is his intention that you are successful. Satan would have you drown in the water; God would have you become a strong swimmer.
A third reason why the phrase does not mean, “keep us from temptation” is a Hebrew device known as synonymous parallelism.
“Synonymous parallelism…says the same thing in different ways in order to convey its teaching. … Jesus’ prayer in Matthew 6:13—“Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil”—exhibits synonymous parallelism. The prayer has us asking God for the same thing in two different ways, namely, that He would keep us from the full assault of the evil one.” [from a lesson from R.C. Sproul’s Ligonier Ministries]
Examples of synonymous parallelism:
Save me, O Lord, from lying lips; and from deceitful tongues. [Psalm 120.2]
My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline; and do not resent his rebuke. [Proverbs 3.11]
But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities. [Isaiah 53.5]
“Deliver us from evil” helps us to understand that “lead us not into temptation” is a request that God would prevent us from succumbing to temptation.
Metaphorically, this could be pictured as a person leading a donkey and cart along a highway. On both sides of the highway are deep ditches. A fall into a ditch would be problematic, even catastrophic. The donkey might break a leg, or the cart might break a wheel. In any case, the traveler would experience a great loss. Leading us into temptation is like leading us into a ditch. There may be temptations all around us (ditches) but God does not want us to fall into them. To the contrary, he would have us stay on the highway, keenly aware of the difference between the highway and its ditches.
An amplified translation of “lead us not into temptation” could be, “When confronted with temptation, help us to recognize it for what it is. Grant us the strength to walk away from it or, for that matter, pick us up and carry us away from it.” The phrases, “lead us” and “deliver us” evoke the frequently used metaphor of God-as-shepherd. Jesus’ model prayer for us is a reminder that God is with us and is busy about the task of looking after us. It assumes that wherever we go we are being led by God.
Let’s turn to the second phrase, “but deliver us from evil”. What is evil? There are a variety of ways to define “evil”. For the Christian, the most fundamental idea is disobedience to God. God defines good and evil.
Generally speaking, what God calls good and evil seems like good guidance to us. For example, almost everyone would agree that “do not kill” is a good principle. I believe that civil laws in every country in the world affirm this basic idea.
There are interpretive differences, of course. There is debate about whether this applies to war, or to capital punishment, or to abortion, or to mercy killings but, generally, people don’t assume a license to kill, and they definitely don’t want to be killed by others. But not all God’s directives are easily understood. God’s command to Jesus to submit to crucifixion was very difficult for the disciples to understand. With hindsight we understand that Jesus’ sacrifice was necessary in order to atone for our sins. Sometimes we don’t have the vantage point to understand God’s requirements. At these times we must say, “He is Lord and he is good. We will obey him because we trust him. We trust him more than we trust ourselves.” To obey God is good; to disobey him is evil.
Another way of understanding evil is to observe the effects of human behavior. Jesus summarized all the commandments in this way: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets” [Matthew 22.37-40].
God’s commands are all about loving him and loving one another. He has also made it abundantly clear that he loves us. “The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.” Zephaniah 3.17. This is the kind of love we all long for. The point is that God’s commands are intended for our benefit. When we love God, we act like him, which is to do good. When we love our neighbors and ourselves, our actions are beneficial, not destructive.
So what do we mean when we pray, “deliver us from evil?”
First, we must see that it is a prayer that we do good, that we follow the Commandments, that we love God and one another.
Sometimes this phrase is interpreted “deliver us from the evil one”. By and large, the two renderings end up meaning much the same thing, but the second rendering does bring to mind a different way of looking at the phrase. Evil can come upon us from the outside.
Sometimes the evil is a natural calamity, such as a hurricane that hits New Orleans. Sometimes evil comes in the form of apathy, and is responsible for such social ills as racism, dysfunctional schools, unchecked pollution, massive incarceration, civilian armament, and international militarism. Sometimes the evil is by design, not for you particularly but you generally. As an example, the State of Pennsylvania does not want you to be impoverished through gambling…but it has no compunction about advertising and inducing the general populace to take a chance on the Lottery every day, even though it knows the Lottery fleeces its participants, sometimes to the point of removing skin.
Sometimes evil intentionally comes after you. As the Monty Python boys used to say, “No one expects the Spanish Inquisition. The Christians were not looking to be entertainment victims in the Roman Coliseum. The Jews were minding their business in Europe when Hitler decided on a policy of ethnic cleansing.
So another aspect of this prayer is that it is a request for protection. “Lord, protect me from the evil designs of others.”
But there is one more aspect to “deliver us from evil” that helps to explain why this line is the conclusion to the prayer. When Adam and Eve sinned, they brought a great calamity on all of creation. They brought a number of different calamities, of course, such as painful childbirth, marital conflict, and thorns & thistles. But the great calamity was the sentence of death. “…of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” [Genesis 2.17]
So, what is the third meaning of the phrase, “deliver me from evil”? If we are delivered, truly delivered from evil, we must be delivered from the consequences of evil, including that of death.
“Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’” [1 Corinthians 15.51-55]
“You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” [Matthew 16.18] This passage is generally interpreted as the Church prevailing against the powers of evil. While I believe this is true in a general sense, the metaphor suggests something more specific. The verse speaks of the “gates” of hell. Gates are not weapons. Gates are like doors in that they open and close, but they are typically located on the perimeter of a property or a fortress. So, while the image may imply a battle is taking place, it specifically speaks of a gate that is unable to keep the Church from passing through the gateway. The church smashes the gates.
But is the Church smashing the gates in order to invade the Kingdom of Satan?
The word for hell in the passage is hades, otherwise known as the place of the dead. The Church is not breaking into hell, it is breaking out of hell. In one very real sense, while we live on this earth we are in hell because we are here under the sentence of death. We are “dead men walking”. However, Christ’s resurrection proved his authority even over death. The Father also granted him the right to exercise this authority for all those he called to be his own.
So the final understanding of “deliver us from evil” must be, “Lord, raise us up imperishable to be a part of your holy, everlasting Kingdom.” This perspective of the phrase adds an eschatological feel to the ending of the Lord’s prayer. That is, it calls to mind Christ’s second coming and the establishment of a new heaven and new earth.
So, what are the three implications or meanings of the phrase, “deliver us from evil”?
Deliver us from the commission of evil;
Deliver us from those who would bring evil against us; and
Deliver us fully Lord, out of death and to yourself, where there no longer is evil, or any evil consequences.
As such, we can see and enjoy the fact that this prayer is not merely to help us in our present behavior and circumstances, but it is a reminder of God’s promise to us that, in time, we will be fully delivered from all that brings us sorrow, and delivered to all that brings us joy.
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