Monday, March 7
“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
Temptation in American vernacular is too often and too simply connected with topping dinner off with a dessert or having that extra helping at the dinner table. While the word may have a slightly shameful connotation it isn’t commonly included in the same sentence as evil. Though, arguably, one could make the case for feeding the world’s hungry more equitably.
Jesus’ use of the term temptation had particular theological meaning within the culture of his time and the growing community of disciples. Most commonly it would have referred to a testing or trial. The forty days Jesus spent in the wilderness exemplifies this point.
While some scholars have assigned eschatological meaning to the word, I find that Catholic priest and scholar, Joseph A. Fitzmyer points us to a more normative usage of the term from which we can derive meaning. Here the temptation would not so much refer to a force within us—such as our desires. Rather it would be seen, “as something that comes from without…a force, situation, or event that confronts the person being tested or tempted.”
The challenge for us then is more concretely placed within our faithfulness to God and God’s ways. The evil then can be seen as the lure to engage in iniquities and injustices of various sorts. In contrast to more literalist interpretations, it exemplifies the struggles of conscience in the face of challenge. And, it calls for our nuanced discernment.
Old Testament themes are full of examples of trials standing in the way of faithfulness to God. The Book of Job exists as the iconic illustration of trials. The New Testament builds on these themes. Here Jesus becomes the exemplar of faithfulness even as he holds the mirror to our own complexities and errancies. So I’d like, then, to think of evil more as a form of parameter rather than personified force. When our actions cross through this membrane we hurt others. When we are faithful to God’s ways we create more good in the world.
Temptation is part of daily life. It’s what we do with it that matters. God provides us the means and the inspiration—the strength and the power.
God let us pray each day for discernment in facing the challenges before us. Allow us to be mindful that faithfulness in your ways demands more from us than confronting our individual desires. And let us remember that even amidst our greatest trials that you abide with us. Amen
–Nena Radtke
1 Joseph A. Fitzmyer. Biblica, January 1, 2003. 260.