“Lead us not into temptation.” 

About 5 years ago, Pope Francis commented on this phrase of the Lord’s Prayer, saying that he found the English translation problematic.  His straight-forward objection was that God doesn’t lead us into temptation in the first place: “It’s Satan who leads us into temptation, that’s his department.”

Pope Francis is right.  We don’t need to implore God, “Please don’t trip us up with temptations.”  Surely, the original meaning of the text is better translated “save us from the time of trial.”

In the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness, even though it is the devil who tempts Jesus, it is the Holy Spirit who leads him to the place of temptation.  This, however, does not contradict Pope Francis’ defense of the goodness of a Father who does not want to see us fall. 

The point of telling us that Jesus is led by the Spirit is not to claim that the Spirit is responsible for the temptation.  It is to demonstrate that even in this time of testing, God is still in charge and still guiding and supporting Jesus.

In other words, Jesus is not left on his own to be ambushed by the devil.  He is not the hapless victim of evil; he is coming to grips with temptations that will face him throughout his life and ministry.

The devil represents the very real power of evil and the very real tendency of all humans to choose the ways of self-centeredness and satisfaction over sacrifice and trusting obedience to God.  But God and the devil are not superhero rivals locked in some kind of ‘battle of the titans’ with you and me as the contested prize of their fight.  God’s sovereignty over the universe is never in question.

In the worst of our temptations, God is present, not to give us a good shove to see if we’ll stumble and fall, but to support us in the struggle.  It’s up to us to reach out for help.

Prayer:  You know my weakness; keep me from temptation.  You know my pride; keep chipping away at it so I can reach out to you for help when trouble comes.  Amen.