Question:

In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus teaches us to pray “Lead me not into temptation”. The phrase “Lead us not” is hard to understand, when we know that God would not lead us into temptation anyway. Can you explain this?

Answer:

At first, this does seem strange, but we would call this an interpretive problem.

Firstly, God’s holiness would clearly never allow Him to lead anyone into a situation where they will be tempted to sin. The word ‘temptation’ in Greek is peirasmos, which has the root meaning of ‘to test’ or ‘to prove’. It can mean trial or it can mean temptation, both of which are occasions when a Christian may be enticed to sin. The word is used in James 1v13, when the idea of temptation is in view: “Let no one say when he is being tempted ‘I am being tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt (peirasmos) anyone”. But in James 1v2-3, the word is used in connection with trials or difficulties: “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials (peirasmos), knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience”.

Secondly, in answer to this difficulty, we would affirm with Chrysostom, the early Church Father, who said that Jesus was not dealing here with logic or theology, but with the cry of our hearts in the face of danger. We all want to avoid the danger that sin brings. And so, this is the cry from every redeemed heart that despises and fears sin, wanting to avoid all possibility of falling into it. We would much rather avoid temptation than defeat it. So too with trials. We know that God can enable us to grow as Christians when we face trouble. But we would rather avoid being in the situation where trials lead us into sin. However, while we resist trials, we will seek to honour God and strengthen our spiritual muscles when we are unavoidably in the midst of trouble. Our great example is the Lord Jesus Himself who prayed “Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me”.
 

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