Lead Us Not Into Temptation
Lead Us Not Into Temptation: Commentary
"And lead us not into temptation" is the sixth of the Lord's prayer's seven petitions. The sixth request of the Lord's prayer is that we avoid being in a situation where temptation can overcome us. Being tempted or challenged is not wrong (Jesus was!). It is imprudent to succumb to this desire. Father Maximos, a monk on Mount Athos, observes that the holy elders teach that assaultive ideas, such as temptation, progress through five stages. Logismos (thoughts and pictures that attack our reasoning and lead us away from Christ) target our minds first.
For instance, we may be tempted to steal something in a store. At this moment, no sin is committed (sinful thoughts and ideas occur to everyone - even the most holy!) The following step is engagement — at this point, we can engage in a discourse with this notion (for example, we may consider the risks involved). Again, no transgression has occurred. Consent is the third stage. In the mind, a decision is made to submit to this onslaught.
This is the origin of sin and what leads us to commit it. Captivity is the next level. When temptation strikes again, we have significantly less resistance to these attacks and develop an addiction to or control over them. According to the holy elders, there is a fifth and final stage — passion. At this point, addictions (such as alcoholism or drug abuse) become obsessive, resulting in self-destruction and harm to others. (Father Maximos' teachings on this subject are detailed in Kyriacos Markides' book "The Mountain of Silence").
As can be seen from the preceding, the first and second stages – assault and interaction – are where we will need to be mindful of Jesus' admonition "do not lead us into temptation." This is where the combat will take place. If a thought is going to lead us down a destructive path, we must pray to God to "rescue us from evil" and provide us with the power necessary to reject this assault on our thoughts.
Matthew Henry's Commentary
This petition is expressed as follows: (1.) Negatively: Keep us from succumbing to temptation. After praying for the removal of sin's guilt, we pray, as is fitting, that we will never return to folly, that we will not be persuaded to do so. It is not as if God tempted anyone to sin; rather, "Lord, do not let Satan loose on us; chain up that roaring lion, for he is cunning and vindictive; Lord, do not abandon us to our own devices (Ps 19:13), for we are extremely frail; Lord, do not lay stumbling-blocks and snares before us, nor place us in situations that may cause us to fall."
Temptations are to be prayed against, both for their discomfort and trouble and for the danger we face of succumbing to them and the guilt and suffering that ensue. Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible, Volume V (Matthew to John)
Albert Barnes's Commentary
Verse 13. And lead us not into temptation. A supplication comparable to this is submitted by David, Ps 141:4 "Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to do wicked actions with men who perform wickedness." God tempts no man See Jas 1:13. This phrase, then, must be employed in the sense of permitting. Do not suffer us, or tolerate us, to be tempted to sin. In this it is claimed that God has such authority over us and the tempter, as to preserve us from it if we call upon him. The word temptation, however, (Mt 4:1) indicates sometimes difficulty, affliction, anything that challenges our goodness. If this be the intention here, as it may be, then the import of the petition is, "Do not afflict or try us." (z) "forgive us our debts" Mt 18:21-35, Lk 7:40-48
Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 13. [And save us from succumbing to temptation] That is, do not subject us to a painful ordeal. PEIRASMON, which may be interpreted here as painful trial, derives from PEIRW, which means to pierce through, as with a spear or spit, as some of the greatest Greek poets did. Numerous primitive fathers interpreted it in this manner, and so added quam ferre non possimus, "which we cannot bear."
The term does not only refer to Satan's violent assaults, but also to extremely trying conditions for which we lack the grace or courage to bear. Bring us not into the room, or lead us not into the room. This is a purely Hebraic expression: God is said to perform something he only permits or permits to be done. Temptation frequently takes the following form: To begin, a straightforward bad notion. Second, a strong imagination, or an impact made on the imagination by the object of our desire. 3dly. Take pleasure in viewing it. Fourthly, the willful consent to conduct it. Thus, lust is conceived, sin is completed, and death is conceived. 1 John 1:15. Additionally, see Mt 4:1. A man can be tempted without succumbing to it; succumbing to it entails yielding to, closing in on, and accepting it. (Source: Adam Clarke's Bible Commentary)
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