12/8- Lord’s Prayer- 5- “And lead us not
into temptation but deliver us from evil.”
Read: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:21);
“No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” (I Corinthians 10:13); God raises a Son to rescue us from the hand of our enemies and enable us to serve Him without fear.” (Lk. 1:74)
Read: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:21);
“No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” (I Corinthians 10:13); God raises a Son to rescue us from the hand of our enemies and enable us to serve Him without fear.” (Lk. 1:74)
Thoughts: God is our protector from
temptation and from evil. It is good to
pray for God to protect us not only from hurt and harm but also from temptation
and evil. “God Guard our hearts” is a
good prayer for families to pray.
Activity: What do you do when someone is
mean to you? There are bullies at
school, work, even home- and we can be tempted to be a bully too. Talk about what to do if someone is mean to
you.
The Bible is full of stories of people who were mean. People were mean to Daniel- throwing him in a lion’s den. Joseph’s brothers were mean to him. People were even mean to Jesus- trying to kill Him on the cross- but the cross was not the last word. Make a cut out of a cross as a reminder that when people were mean to Jesus He overcame them by both his death and rising at Easter. Trace the Lord’s Prayer on the picture, saying it together.
The Bible is full of stories of people who were mean. People were mean to Daniel- throwing him in a lion’s den. Joseph’s brothers were mean to him. People were even mean to Jesus- trying to kill Him on the cross- but the cross was not the last word. Make a cut out of a cross as a reminder that when people were mean to Jesus He overcame them by both his death and rising at Easter. Trace the Lord’s Prayer on the picture, saying it together.
Other thoughts: The Pope recently raised an issue about re-translating the Lord's Prayer particularly about this petition. Below are my thoughts on this:
Lead us not into temptation is the phrase in question. The words "lead us not" (the traditional translation) vs. "do not let us fall into" (as the Pope proposed). No doubt the idea of God's leading us into temptation is problematic. The problem, I believe, is not with the text, but with our ability to believe it. The passage is a prayer that God would not bring us to a place where we will be tempted. God guides us wherever we go in His providence. Sometimes suffering and crosses are not evil in themselves. God often uses the sufferings we face to sharpen us and shape us as a potter would mold clay. It is more problematic, perhaps, to believe that God is not able to keep us from a situation that is tempting. To "not fall" is passive whereas to "lead us not" implies God plays a more active roll in protecting us from both temptation and evil. Either way, we are the one who falls into temptaion.
In Greek the word "lead" is eisphero- which means to bring in. It is actually not fall. It literally means bring us not to temptation. It seems to me the gist of the passage means, "Do not bring me to the place of temptation." The Pope has good intentions, and it is not wrong to re-translate this, but it just misses a good portion of the point of the prayer.
I am not opposed to translating the Lord's Prayer so that it is in modern English. Language changes. But we're not supposed to change meanings just because we don't think it jives with what we think God should have said.
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