Day #34
Larry Trotter
Words of Love
“…and lead us not into temptation.”
Luke 11: 4c NIV
…”but deliver us from the evil one.”
Matthew 6: 13b NIV
Overcoming the Barrier
As we finish this
week’s devotions focusing on the barrier evil presents to the abundant
life we are offered, I wanted to add one last perspective from Jesus. You may
recognize the verses from the Lord’s Prayer that many of us learned to pray at
an early age. I included the last phrases from Luke’s version as well as
Matthew’s because the later adds one line that brings an important dimension to
our meditations on evil. Luke and Matthew report the circumstances surrounding
Jesus’ prayer differently. Mathew’s version occurs in the context of Jesus
teaching the crowds during his Sermon on the Mount. Luke’s recollection is more
intimate as the disciples are with Jesus in “a certain place” while he was
praying. It doesn’t necessarily mean we have two differing versions of the same
story. Matthew reports that Jesus included a section on prayer within the
larger sermon, which included everything from how we are to treat others—don’t
murder, don’t commit adultery, give to the poor—to how to worship and how we
are to regard material possessions. It makes sense that this version is a bit
more developed because Jesus is teaching the crowds, which would include people
with a wide variety of experience with prayer. More detail would have been
necessary to provide understanding to as many as possible. In the case of
Luke’s story, the disciples are with Jesus at one of his usual spots where he
retreated from the crowds for prayer, as was his custom. Here, the disciples
are likely praying while Jesus is praying and, being so impressed with the
intimate nature of his prayers to his Father, asked him for guidance. In this
smaller setting he spoke more informally, with fewer details, yet covering the
same basic formula of adoration, surrender, confession, and request.
Now, let’s zoom in
on that last phrase: “…lead us not into temptation.” It’s a little confusing as
it seems to suggest that God tempts us, perhaps to see how we’ll respond. But
this contradicts James 1:13 where it clearly states that God does not tempt
anyone. It’s helpful to remember that in Jesus’ day people considered “tests,”
another word for “temptation” used here, as opportunities for spiritual growth.
But, as Jesus would experience in Gethsemane the tests can be very difficult to
withstand. So, here he may be suggesting that the disciples pray that their
vulnerabilities aren’t tested. Matthew’s version follows up with another phrase
that puts it into a perspective more germane to our study. The tests can also
come from the power of evil or the “evil one” as some manuscripts suggest. The
prayer acknowledges our vulnerability to the power of evil, understood as the
dark side of our own free will, or the overt attacks of an evil entity—the
devil, or Satan to whom Jesus referred more than once. That Jesus included this
in the prayer template he gave his disciples should indicate how seriously we
should take the power of evil and how diligently we should guard ourselves
against attack. Evil is sly and elusive and can morph effortlessly into the
form of something that looks so appealing: an apple, money, power, a man or woman.
If only the devil actually had horns and a pointed tail, wore a red suit, and
carried a pitchfork. He would be so easy to spot and avoid. However, he
doesn’t; he looks frightfully a lot like you and me. Thus, we need to constantly
remember the power of heaven that is a prayer away so that we can stand strong,
even at the very gates of hell, and not back down (apologies to Tom Petty).
Prayer
Holy God, our Might Fortress, please stand
before me, behind me, and beside me, today, so that evil will have to get
through your power before it reaches my weakness. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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