How do I defend this?

[JingshenBianxi]

Matthew 4:1 - Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

Matthew 6:13 - And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

How do I defend this? I find it to be an interesting find this morning as I was in the process of sending my wife an email regarding temptation but these two scriptures suddenly popped out at me and made me pause.

On the surface it clearly looks like a contradiction, but obviously I'm not sold on that. The obvious question is this..

Why would Jesus tell us to pray for us to not be led into temptation when the Spirit of GOD clearly LED JESUS Himself to it.

**Please use the scriptures, I can not afford to read " opinions "**

 

[Saucy]

Hebrews 4:15: "We have not a high-priest, who cannot have compassion on our infirmities, but one tempted in all things like as we are, without sin."

 

[JingshenBianxi]

Hebrews 4:15: "We have not a high-priest, who cannot have compassion on our infirmities, but one tempted in all things like as we are, without sin."

So it's basically saying that Jesus already experienced temptation to KNOW...to pray NOT to be led to it?

 

[Rajni]

So it's basically saying that Jesus already experienced temptation to KNOW...to pray NOT to be led to it?

Possibly. Though, if Jesus is God, then he would've already known what the experience would've been like. Then again, maybe that's how he, as God, would've known, by finding out that way. I don't know.

I actually ran into a similar dilemma, contrasting the appeal to God to "lead us not into temptation" with James 1:13, which states that God doesn't tempt anyone. I wondered why Jesus would tell us to ask God not to lead us into temptation if, indeed, He doesn't do that to begin with.

 

[Saucy]

Here's commentary from Aquainas in Summa Theologiae, who also used the Hebrews verse. He explains it better than I could.

I answer that, Christ wished to be tempted; first that He might strengthen us against temptations. Hence Gregory says in a homily (xvi in Evang.): "It was not unworthy of our Redeemer to wish to be tempted, who came also to be slain; in order that by His temptations He might conquer our temptations, just as by His death He overcame our death."

Secondly, that we might be warned, so that none, however holy, may think himself safe or free from temptation. Wherefore also He wished to be tempted after His baptism, because, as Hilary says (Super Matth., cap. iii.): "The temptations of the devil assail those principally who are sanctified, for he desires, above all, to overcome the holy. Hence also it is written (Sirach 2): Son, when thou comest to the service of God, stand in justice and in fear, and prepare thy soul for temptation."

Thirdly, in order to give us an example: to teach us, to wit, how to overcome the temptations of the devil. Hence Augustine says (De Trin. iv) that Christ "allowed Himself to be tempted" by the devil, "that He might be our Mediator in overcoming temptations, not only by helping us, but also by giving us an example."

Fourthly, in order to fill us with confidence in His mercy. Hence it is written (Hebrews 4:15): "We have not a high-priest, who cannot have compassion on our infirmities, but one tempted in all things like as we are, without sin."

 

[JingshenBianxi]

Possibly. Though, if Jesus is God, then he would've already known what the experience would've been like. Then again, maybe that's how he, as God, would've known, by finding out that way. I don't know.

I actually ran into a similar dilemma, contrasting the appeal to God to "lead us not into temptation" with James 1:13, which states that God doesn't tempt anyone. I wondered why Jesus would tell us to ask God not to lead us into temptation if, indeed, He doesn't do that to begin with.

the scriptures say that the Spirit led him to the wilderness to be tempted BY THE DEVIL.
So no, God doesn't tempt anyone.

But wow..another interesting possible contradiction.
That scripture in James 1 says that God CAN NOT BE TEMPTED BY EVIL!?

Yet JESUS, the WORD OF GOD, was even TEMPTED?!

 

[Saucy]

the scriptures say that the Spirit led him to the wilderness to be tempted BY THE DEVIL.
So no, God doesn't tempt anyone.

But wow..another interesting possible contradiction.
That scripture in James 1 says that God CAN NOT BE TEMPTED BY EVIL!?

Yet JESUS, the WORD OF GOD, was even TEMPTED?!

Well, don't gloss over verse 12: "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him."

Don't forget that Christ wasn't 100% God on earth. He was also man. The temptation to sin isn't the bad part. We don't sin by being tempted. We sin by giving in to that temptation. I think you're playing into semantics just a tad, but really Christ came here with a mission. He came to be a example on how to live for all of mankind. That's what Christian means, to be "Christ-like", so He had to endure all the things man endures and to show that He didn't sin.

Don't you have to test the spirits? Wouldn't someone who isn't God jump at the chance to rule all the kingdoms in the land? He proved His deity once again by avoiding temptation, enduring, and gave an example to each of us.

 

[Rajni]

the scriptures say that the Spirit led him to the wilderness to be tempted BY THE DEVIL.

Yeah, I had considered that, but the Spirit (which is basically God), led him into the wilderness for the express purpose of being tempted. That is, essentially, being "led into temptation".

 

[Rajni]

Just thinking out loud, here: When we are tempted by something, we feel a pull towards that something. So if I were tempted by God, wouldn't that pull me toward Him? That would be a good kind of temptation, wouldn't it?

 

[2Timothy2:15]

Matthew 4:1 - Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

Matthew 6:13 - And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

How do I defend this? I find it to be an interesting find this morning as I was in the process of sending my wife an email regarding temptation but these two scriptures suddenly popped out at me and made me pause.

On the surface it clearly looks like a contradiction, but obviously I'm not sold on that. The obvious question is this..

Why would Jesus tell us to pray for us to not be led into temptation when the Spirit of GOD clearly LED JESUS Himself to it.

**Please use the scriptures, I can not afford to read " opinions "**

The Holy Spirit led Jesus, being perfect and without sin, fully Man and fully God to show us how to fight temptation and win. Jesus did they same thing every time, he used the word, the sword of God to combat satans lies. This was not only a proof of who Jesus was, it is a testimony and an example of how we are to deal with it. But the Lord's prayer is one that we hope not to be led into temptation. The bible says not only the devil is the one who tempts us but our own flesh. To pray that we are not led into temptation by our own flesh or the evil one is to avoid it entirely since we are not Jesus and we are not God we are still being sanctified and are much more susceptible to temptation. Jesus was not nor ever was.

 

[Greg J.]

We aren't Jesus. We have a sinful nature.

I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me, but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me. “Come now; let us leave. (John 14:30-31, 1984 NIV)

God tests his followers so that they may pass and share in God's glory. The devil tempts so someone will reject God. The Holy Spirit only drove Jesus into the desert. It was the devil who tried to get Jesus to fail. God's foreknowledge of what will happen never makes him responsible for what happens. Clearly the devil is responsible for tempting him.

 

[Radrook]

Being led into a place where Satan would choose to tempt Jesus does not mean that his heavenly Father was tempting him. The temptation’s responsibility is clearly described as being Satan’s not God’s.

Also, in the book of James we are told that temptation is caused by wrongful thoughts. Otherwise they are just empty words or events that have absolutely no power over us. In Jesus’ case he felt no temptation to do any of the inane things that Satan proposed. So he never felt tempted because he never experienced the evil desires that Satan’s offers were intended to provoke.

James 1:14
But each one is tempted when by his own evil desires he is lured away and enticed.

So having no evil desires, Jesus was only exposed to an effort to tempt him but never actually felt tempted or lured, as James says, via finding any of those things to be attractive..

 

[Hidden In Him]

Matthew 4:1 - Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
Matthew 6:13 - And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

How do I defend this?

Good question! I will try to give you the answer in the simplest terms.

Matthew 6:13 is written in the context of practicing forgiveness towards others, especially others who belong to God (Matthew 6:14-15). What was He commanding they forgive specifically? Jesus was returning now to Matthew 5:43-44 at this point in the sermon and referring back to it, with the temptation being specifically the possibility of being led off through the enticements of Satan into cursing our brothers instead of blessing them. Thus, the "Lord's Prayer" is in large part a command to stay away from engaging in religious strife and debate. The exemplary prayer of "Lead us not into temptation" essentially says, "Lord, keep me from getting angry at my brother and sinning against him." All the teachings of Matthew 6 leading up to this verse and after it address the methods the Jews used to receive revelation from God, particular prayer, alms, and fasting, which is why the lead off to the Lord's Prayer is "Give us this day our daily bread...," not earthly bread because He teaches us later in Chapter 6 to never even worry about what we shall eat (Matthew 6:31). Matthew 6:11 in the Lord's Prayer is a prayer to receive spiritual bread from God, and in order to do so we should be praying that He protect us from being led into temptation to get into doctrinal strife with others. Specifically the disciples were being warned not to do this with the Pharisees.

Now as to our Lord being led into temptation in the wilderness, this is indeed a call upon every believer's life, but it is a completely different issue. Here the teaching is that immediately upon receiving the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, our God will call us to crucify the flesh, because in order to withstand strong temptation from Satan as true servants of God we will have to be prepared to reject his offers. Hence the Holy Spirit empowers us to begin bringing the flesh down through fasting, so as to be able to reject those offers when and if they come.

So one is a command to avoid those temptations which we should NOT be engaging in, while the other refers to temptations we absolutely cannot avoid as Christians, if we are going to be truly Spirit-led and Spirit-anointed.

I actually ran into a similar dilemma, contrasting the appeal to God to "lead us not into temptation" with James 1:13, which states that God doesn't tempt anyone.

This Chaela (hello, by the way ), is largely the same situation as in Matthew 6. James is teaching that God cannot be tempted by evils, relating this specifically in the context of the letter to the fact that unlike God we CAN, however, get seduced by Satan into doctrinal strife with others (James 3:1; James 3:6). "Masters" in James 3:1 in the KJV is literally the word "teachers" in the Greek. Hence the teaching is once again, it will be YOU who gets seduced into getting into strife with others over doctrine, and you will not be able to justify it before God and others by saying "I am becoming tempted from God, i.e. to lash out in wrath verbally against my brother over doctrine." Again, here as in Matthew, the command is instead to pray to God that you do not get overcome by the temptation to sin verbally against others. It is a temptation we are NOT required by God to face, so hence we should be praying to avoid.

Gonna leave this one not cleaned up, since I have to go to church.

 

[mark kennedy]

Matthew 4:1 - Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

Matthew 6:13 - And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

How do I defend this? I find it to be an interesting find this morning as I was in the process of sending my wife an email regarding temptation but these two scriptures suddenly popped out at me and made me pause.

On the surface it clearly looks like a contradiction, but obviously I'm not sold on that. The obvious question is this..

Why would Jesus tell us to pray for us to not be led into temptation when the Spirit of GOD clearly LED JESUS Himself to it.

**Please use the scriptures, I can not afford to read " opinions "**

Of course we can pray, lead us not into temptation, but the Scriptures assure us we will face them. Jesus prayed the night he was betrayed for the Father to take the cup away, in the end he still had to face the cross and drink the cup to the bitter dregs. I don't know why this was necessary at the start of Jesus ministry but clearly, the plans and purposes of God were involved in it.

This happens right after Jesus was baptized and being without sin he was still baptized. It's a little known fact but women before they married were baptized in their wedding gown. It symbolized the death of the old life was over, a new life as a wife and mother was beginning. Jesus' days of being a carpenter were over, he would never return to Nazareth where he undoubtedly plied his father's (Joseph) trade like any good Jewish boy would do. Once he did this he was taken on his role as Messiah and somehow the confrontation with Satan was the first step. He would go from that place to preach the Sermon on the Mount and his ministry had begun.

 

[Aseyesee]

Matthew 4:1 - Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

Matthew 6:13 - And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

How do I defend this? I find it to be an interesting find this morning as I was in the process of sending my wife an email regarding temptation but these two scriptures suddenly popped out at me and made me pause.

On the surface it clearly looks like a contradiction, but obviously I'm not sold on that. The obvious question is this..

Why would Jesus tell us to pray for us to not be led into temptation when the Spirit of GOD clearly LED JESUS Himself to it.

**Please use the scriptures, I can not afford to read " opinions "**

This happens everytime God speaks, as Jesus said, immediately the devil comes, though it is shown in alot if different ways and forms in scripture.

 

[ToBeLoved]

Matthew 4:1 - Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

Matthew 6:13 - And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

How do I defend this? I find it to be an interesting find this morning as I was in the process of sending my wife an email regarding temptation but these two scriptures suddenly popped out at me and made me pause.

On the surface it clearly looks like a contradiction, but obviously I'm not sold on that. The obvious question is this..

Why would Jesus tell us to pray for us to not be led into temptation when the Spirit of GOD clearly LED JESUS Himself to it.

**Please use the scriptures, I can not afford to read " opinions "**

Jesus was tempted to give Satan a shot at making Jesus sin, because if Jesus was not perfect, He could not be the sin atonement for the world.

We pray to God that we are not led into temptation because we are not perfect and many times when tempted will fall in some way.

I don't want to be tempted more than I already am. I have no issues with these verses, they make sense to me.

 

[Aseyesee]

Jesus was tempted to give Satan a shot at making Jesus sin, because if Jesus was not perfect, He could not be the sin atonement for the world.

We pray to God that we are not led into temptation because we are not perfect and many times when tempted will fall in some way.

I don't want to be tempted more than I already am. I have no issues with these verses, they make sense to me.

Paul seemed to think that God would not allow you to be tempted above what you are able to bare.

 

[ToBeLoved]

Paul seemed to think that God would not allow you to be tempted above what you are able to bare.

What does that have to do with the verses that you quoted.

It says that we pray not to be led into temptation. I want that and pray for that.

Now of course God doesn't put more on His Children than what they can bare, but that doesn't mean that we should want to be tempted.

I purposely didn't want to see the movie Magic Mike. Because I think from the previews that it may have led to some thoughts that would have tempted my mind. The devil can tempt, look at Job.

 

[Aseyesee]

What does that have to do with the verses that you quoted.

It says that we pray not to be led into temptation. I want that and pray for that.

Now of course God doesn't put more on His Children than what they can bare, but that doesn't mean that we should want to be tempted.

I purposely didn't want to see the movie Magic Mike. Because I think from the previews that it may have led to some thoughts that would have tempted my mind. The devil can tempt, look at Job.

Maybe the words should be, deliver us from evil by not leading us into temptation.

The disciples' question was asked from where they were, or how they viewed things, and Jesus' words were more or less in seed form to them. Seeds grow, and where your at changes with the growth.

 

[Ron Gurley]

Q: 1.Why would Jesus tell us to pray for us to not be "led into temptation" ?
2. when the Spirit of GOD clearly LED JESUS Himself to it?

A1: "lead us not into temptation" AND deliver us from the evil ONE!
A2: FIRST STEP: symbolic water baptism STARTED Jesus' ~ 3 year MINISTRY. SECOND STEP: undergo hardships during the 40 days in the desert. God did NOT send the devil to tempt Jesus. Satan, on his own , tried to divert Him from completeing His MISSIONS on earth.