Matthew 4:1 Then the Spirit led Jesus into the desert to be tempted by the devil.
Matthew 6:13 And do not lead us into temptation. But deliver us from the evil one.
Two chapters apart, barely two pages apart, and yet it says something completely different from one another. When you first begin chapter four, you are in for quite a surprise. The SPIRIT LED Jesus into TEMPTATION. What?? The SPIRIT did? WHAT??? I know Jesus needed to experience all things human, but since He is fully human, does He really need to go to the desert to be tempted? And if this experience was meant to help us relate to Him more, why do we only see His answers to the devil, and not any of the tempting struggle that He went through as He was tempted? If He was actually tempted by these pathetic attempts by the devil, why don’t we see more of a struggle?
Alright, so if we can settle this with acceptance that since no one else was with Jesus we don’t know the struggle He went through, and that He was so perfect He wasn’t tempted except for this once after 40 days with no food and being all alone then where does Matthew 6:13 come in? We are supposed to be like Jesus, and to do everything He did and more. The Spirit actually led Jesus into temptation, and so why should we pray to be lead out of temptation? Is this so that we don’t have to endure more temptation than necessary, or is it our way of begging to have it easier on us? Is Matthew 6:13 only to be used for strength once we are in the middle of temptation?
Shouldn’t we embrace everything the Spirit has for us? The Spirit led Jesus into temptation, does He led us there as well? Why are we trying to get out of temptation, instead of resisting it, as Jesus does in the desert?
I know this is so full of questions. I have a lot more questions than I do answers. That seems to be happening a lot lately, I have a lot less answers than I used to. I have been told that this is a good thing though, so I am ok with continuing to ask questions. I haven’t written a blog in a while that tells you what I have been thinking about, and in all honesty it is because I haven’t been thinking about too much. I have determined this month to reconnect with God, and to resume my search into who He is. Hopefully there will be lots more to come.
