When You Pray, Say: "Lead Us Not into Temptation"
And [Jesus] came out and went, as
was His custom, to the Mount of Olives, and
the disciples followed Him. And when He came to the place, He said to them,
“Pray that you may not enter into temptation.”
And He withdrew from them about a
stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if you are willing,
remove this cup from Me. Nevertheless, not My will, but Yours, be done.”
And there appeared to Him an angel from
heaven, strengthening Him. And being in an agony He prayed more earnestly; and
His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. And when
He rose from prayer, He came to the disciples and found them sleeping for
sorrow, and He said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may
not enter into temptation” (Luke 22:39-46).
Grace and peace to you from God our
Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!
On the night when He was betrayed
the Lord institutes the Holy Sacrament of His Body and His Blood. His Supper. His
last will and testament. A pure gift from Him that He promises is for you, for
the forgiveness of your sins.
And then, He’s off to Gethsemane. A garden. A place of temptation. You remember
Eden, don’t
you? Another garden. Where Satan tempted Adam and Eve and mankind gave into the
temptation and fell into sin. And now the Second Adam, Jesus, is in the Garden of Gethsemane. Tempted to not drink from
the cup His Father has set before Him. The cup of bearing the world’s sin. The
cup of bearing God’s wrath against the world’s sin. The cup of offering Himself
as the all-sufficient atoning sacrifice.
In the Garden of Gethsemane
your salvation is at stake. And Satan knows it. So does Jesus. And the
temptation to avoid Good Friday is immense. “Father, if it is Your will, remove
this cup from Me,” Jesus prays. “Nevertheless, not My will but Yours be done.”
This is a big deal! You see, if
there is no Good Friday, there is no salvation. There is no forgiveness—for you
or for anyone! So Satan’s been working overtime to lead Jesus off the road to
Good Friday. To avoid the Cross at all costs. To stop God’s kingdom from coming.
To halt God’s will from being done. To stifle the hallowing of God’s name. And
to prevent the forgiving of trespasses.
Satan tempted Jesus in the
wilderness after His Baptism. All of those temptations were intended to knock
Jesus off the path to Good Friday. Satan failed. And so the old serpent left
Jesus alone for a more opportune time.
But he went back to work at Caesarea
Philippi. If you want to derail Jesus from Good Friday, then why not use an
apostle? So Satan did. He used Peter as his mouth. Peter took Jesus aside and
read Him the riot act: “All that suffering and dying talk is nonsense, Jesus! We
won’t be having any of that! No way will we allow you to be a dead christ. Christs
don’t die! Dead christs won’t do us any good!” And Jesus had to rebuke Peter: “Get
behind me Satan!”
The pressure builds. The disciples
argue about who will be the greatest this very night at the table where Jesus
is among them as Servant of all. Soon Judas will arrive with soldiers to give
Jesus the kiss of betrayal for some quick cash. All the while Peter, James, and
John can’t stay awake and watch for one hour.
Tomorrow is Good Friday. The time to
drink the cup. And as Jesus hangs on that cross Satan viciously attacks again! With
a huge temptation—a temptation offered through the two robbers and the chief
priests. Through them Satan hides and yet speaks: “Come down. Get off the cross.
Save yourself!” “Let this Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the
cross, that we may see and believe!”
Wow! A brilliant temptation! After
all, Jesus came down from heaven so that sinners would believe in Him. And now,
if He will just show some divine power… Gloriously descend from the cross… Miraculously hop right off and save Himself… “Do
that Jesus and we promise—we’ll believe in you!”
In that temptation your salvation is
at stake. For if Jesus would come down from that cross alive, your sin would
not be atoned for. But Jesus will not give in. He stays put. He hangs fast. Until
He dies and atonement made. Salvation achieved. Salvation won. Satan loses. His
head is crushed. Death put to death. There is no condemnation for you. Jesus
delivered you from all that. He drank the cup of the Father’s wrath to its
fullest.
Jesus is our Great High Priest. He
was tempted in every way as we are, but He did not sin. Then on the cross, He
exchanged that perfect obedience and righteousness for your disobedience and
sin. Christ’s resistance to temptation is your salvation. Therefore He teaches
you to pray: “And lead us not into temptation.”
Throughout our series on the Lord’s
Prayer, you have heard about what toil and labor is needed to keep all that you
pray for and to persevere. This, however, is not done without weakness and
stumbling. Although you have received forgiveness and a good conscience and are
entirely acquitted, yet your life is of such a nature that you stand one day
and fall the next. Therefore, even though you are declared righteous now and
stand before God with a good conscience, you must continue praying that God
would not allow you to fall again and yield to trials and temptations.
When you pray, say: “Lead us not
into temptation.” Jesus is your help in times of temptation. And believe me,
you need His help! For Satan and his allies have turned their attention to you!
To deceive you. Into false belief especially after you’ve prayed: “forgive us
our trespasses.”
This probably doesn’t come as a
complete surprise to you: Although you have been born again and are accounted
as righteous for the sake of Christ and His work of redemption, you are not
free from temptation. And that temptation comes from three dangerous foes: the
devil, the world, and your own sinful flesh.
We dwell in the flesh and carry the
old Adam with us like an ugly, malignant, conjoined twin. Our sinful nature
exerts himself and encourages us daily to unchastity, laziness, gluttony and
drunkenness, greed and deception, to defraud our neighbor and to overcharge him.
In short, old Adam encourages us to have all kinds of evil lusts, which cling
to us by nature and which are inflamed by society, and what we hear and see of
other people.
The world joins as an ally, offending
us in word and deed. It drives us to anger and impatience. In short, there is
nothing but hatred and envy, hostility, violence and wrong, unfaithfulness,
vengeance, cursing, slander, pride and haughtiness, with useless quest for
honor, fame, and power. No one is willing to be the least. Everyone desires to
sit at the head of the group.
Then comes along the devil, pushing
and provoking in all directions. But he especially agitates matters that
concern the conscience and spiritual affairs. He leads us to despise and disregard
both God’s Word and works. He tears us away from faith, hope, and love, and he
brings us into misbelief, false security, and stubbornness. Or, he leads us to
despair, denial of God, and blasphemy. These are snares and nets, indeed, real
fiery darts that are shot like poison into the heart, not by flesh and blood,
but by the devil.
Satan’s most dangerous attacks go
like this: “Jesus didn’t die for you! Your sins are too big for Him! He really
doesn’t like you at all! He couldn’t care less about you.” All so that you
despair of Jesus and His Good Friday salvation for you. To despise God’s Word. And
turn to yourself or other false gods. So that you become arrogant and live in a
false security that would end hellaciously!
Great and grievous, indeed, are
these dangers and temptations, which every Christian must bear. You bear them
even if you could somehow isolate yourselves from outside contact. Every hour
that you are in this vile life, you are attacked on all sides, chased and
hunted down. You are moved to cry out and to pray that God would not allow you
to become weary and faint and to fall again into sin, shame, and unbelief. For
otherwise it is impossible to overcome even the least temptation.
This, then, is what “lead us not
into temptation” means. It refers to times when God gives you power and
strength to resist the temptation. However, the temptation is not taken away or
removed. While you live in the flesh and have the devil around you, no one can
escape his temptation and lure. It can only mean that you must endure
trials—indeed be engulfed in them. But we say this prayer so that you may not
fall and be drowned in them.
To feel temptation is, therefore, a
far different thing from consenting or yielding to it. We must all feel it,
although not all in the same way. Some feel it in a greater degree and more
severely than others. In general, the young most often suffer from temptations
of the flesh. Afterward, when they reach mid-life and old age they feel it from
the world. Those who are occupied with spiritual matters, that is, strong
Christians, feel it from the devil. Such feeling, as long as it is against our
will and we would rather be rid of it, can harm no one. For if we did not feel
it, it could not be called a temptation. But it becomes sin when we consent to
it, when we give it the reins and do not resist or pray against it.
Therefore, you must be armed and
daily expect to be constantly attacked. Do not go in security and carelessly,
as though the devil were far away from you. At all times you must expect and
block his blows. Though you are now chaste, patient, kind, and in firm faith,
the devil will this very hour send such an arrow into your heart that you can
scarcely stand. For he is an enemy that never stops or becomes tired. When one
temptation stops, there always arise others.
Beware! This is a battle that you
cannot win! Certainly on your own, you can’t! But that does not mean you are
without hope or help. You must take hold of the Lord’s Prayer, and speak to God
from the heart like this: “Dear Father, You have asked me to pray. Don’t let me
fall because of temptations.” Then you will see that the temptations must stop
and finally confess themselves conquered. If you try to help yourself by your
own thoughts and counsel, you will only make the matter worse and give the
devil more space. For he has a serpent’s head. If it finds and opening into
which it can slip, the whole body will follow without stopping. But prayer can
prevent him and drive him back. So pray!
And, when you pray, say: “Lead us
not into temptation.” This is how faith talks. Especially when the temptations
come pouring in. Come bombarding in. For these words are your ammunition. Your
missiles against Satan’s assaults. Against the world’s charms. Against the
seductions of your own flesh.
But though these temptations are
meant for evil against you, God means it for good, that you may have eternal
life. By faith, all these temptations drive you to Jesus. The flesh and blood
Jesus of Gethsemane and Golgotha. The very
same Jesus who gives you His Body and Blood in the Sacrament this night as the
very promise of His victory over all your sin and the wicked powers of the
world and Satan. The Lord’s Supper tonight provides you with benefits for the
long haul. For now and for eternity. Victory now and forever. For where there
is forgiveness of sins there is life and salvation. And Jesus promises in His
new covenant, as you receive Him in, with, and under the bread and the wine by
faith: “You are forgiven for all of your sins.”
In the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Adapted from a sermon
series presented by Brent Kuhlman at a pre-Lenten Preaching Seminar on Luther’s
Small Catechism the 3rd chief part—The Our Father.
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