Matthew 5:13: Temptation

A commonly heard message in a Sunday service contains this phrase, "Our lives are filled with junk."  Really, but, what kind of junk?  Most often this phrase is in reference to sin.  We more than often hear "sin is crouching at your door, you must master it" (paraphrasing Genesis 4:7).  Some of us go as far as to pray day and night that we would be delivered from our sin while others decide for themselves that sin is okay.  Jesus say's something that has been challenging to me about this sin.  In the Lord's Prayer Jesus ends by saying, "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."  What does Jesus mean by this?  Does God do the tempting and must we ask for God to not bring sin upon us?

Sin, defined by John Wesley, is a voluntary transgression against the known law of God.  As we understand God's law and the difference between good and evil, we become even more able to sin when we know what we are doing but choose to then disobey God.  This may be confusing when associating God with the one who makes us sin.  Why would God make sinful creatures but then provide Jesus Christ as a means of grace?

To try and clear this up, I am hoping to not get to in depth with Greek understanding or deep theological interpretations.  But, I wish to clear up and state that sin is not given by God, but sin came from our disobedience to God and God sent His Son to free us from our mistake.

One word that I would like to clarify is the word "lead."  The Greek translation is different because the word to lead is represented by the word eijsenevgkh/V which is translated as "you might not lead us."  From reading this from the understanding of "might not lead us," I believe that the person in control of not being tempted is not God, but ourselves.

As human beings, we like to find other people to blame.  For example, I do not like being wrong.  So, in order to make things right, I find a way around being wrong so that I do not get in trouble.   When we sin, we like to say that God made us do it.  Or, we even go as far as to say that Satan made us.  I believe that Satan and Hell exist and that they may be who Jesus references to as "the evil one."  Yet, I also believe that since the Garden of Eden in Genesis chapter 3, that mankind has always sought to be like God.

Immortality and power is something that human beings have sought.  We crave to be in control, and when a situation gets out of hand we tend to try to fix it before things get out of hand and we lose control.  You may read this passage as a deliverance from Satan's power to tempt us.  Or, you may also read this passage as a decision on our part to pray to God to deliver us from ourselves.

I believe this last sentence calls from us two things:

Having a humble heart.  Humility is a central theme because it causes us to pray to God to save us from ourselves.  It shows that we are able to take responsibility for our actions and repent to God for the sins that we have committed.  I even believe that we should pray this prayer daily to say to remind ourselves that we are the cause and we are choosing to repent of our sin.

Redemption.  I also so signs of redemption.  The prayer does not end with hopelessness, but provides forgiveness as Jesus becomes the very fulfillment of this prayer.  Jesus provides us a way to be delivered from "the evil one" and to be free.