Pope Francis
recently changed the Lord’s Prayer from, “…lead us not into temptation,” to “…don’t
let me fall into temptation.” The Pope’s translation seems to imply that temptation
is accidental; like falling into a pit. While God did not tempt Jesus, He did
allow his Son to experience temptation, “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into
the desert to be tempted by the devil” (Matt 4:1 NIV). Jesus shared in our humanity and He fully understands our struggle with temptation.
The writer of Hebrews said, “Because he himself suffered when he was tempted,
he is able to help those who are being tempted” (Heb 2:18 NIV).
1 comment:
Gail;
-----Your mind is so faithful to the sense of God’s Word. It seems such a minor difference between “not fall into” and “don’t lead me into”. But the difference is astronomical.
-----First, and most important, like you allude to the accidentalness of falling into a pit, there is no agency at work other than the careless human agency. That is simply not the reality God created. God’s reality is full of spiritual agency. Yes, ghosts, goblins, and demons if you must, even angels, and thankfully, the Holy Spirit. See what we cut out of the picture by not abiding in the sense of God’s Word! Well, I don’t know about goblins, but the witch of Endor would not have recoiled in complete fear had not Saul’s ghost actually appeared at her summoning. And we all know Jesus cast out demons. The Word of God is true; ghosts, demons, angels, and the Holy Spirit are realities, and maybe excepting ghosts, demons, angels, and the Holy Spirit are active agents amongst mankind’s activities. And those activities include our temptations.
-----Second, and more to the point of the Pope’s error and your good catch, temptation is not by fall, like it is something that just shot up at the moment and tripped you down. Jesus likened faith to a mustard seed because it begins so seemingly inconsequential that it could go totally amongst the bursts of wild flowering weeds. But it is so bursting with life itself that just a little water germinates it, and a continuity of moisture sprouts it, then grows it. Faith grows up through a chain of mental and emotional effects brought on by simple ideas from God’s Word activating your life. That is a spiritual thing. Why would temptation not be faith’s opposite, and also a spiritual thing?
-----Temptation also germinates from a seed, usually an innocent seed planted in the wrong soil. I think quite opposite of Puritans, Muslims, and religious bigots who must tear down sexuality so it won’t blush God. God delights in the romance and sexuality of committed brides and grooms till the time of their ripe old passing. That’s why guys who can’t even get out of bed can still get up. It is a wonder God filled with glorious meaning, even spiritual meaning. But when it is dropped in the wrong soil poison grows. And the seed isn’t just the action. It is the thought. It is even the twinge of emotion generating the thought. Those also are seeds. Thoughts and emotions have proper soil too, even in the minds of the single. If there is a desire to be married, then there can be prayer for the one who will eventually, indeed be that spouse. And that same sense carries through every kind of man’s activity. Propriety makes righteousness. Impropriety makes sin. The inkling is either a seed of inspiration or sin.
-----No. Temptation is not a happenstance. It is a progression, sometimes led forth by your own agency, and sometimes by more demonic agency. So we must desire the Lord’s agency. This is why Jesus’ template for prayer includes the request for our inklings to be delivered from evil soils for being planted in godly soils by the Lord’s agency, from wetting the seed to germinating the sprout to growing the fruit. Fruit doesn’t just fall out of the sky.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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