NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER SIX

Part III (con’t)

Verse 13a: So the Master told His disciples to also ask their heavenly Father: Don’t let us be tempted, thereby saving us from the disaster that would follow.

The idea of appealing to God that He keep temptation away from one’s ears and eyes, was not new to His Jewish audience. We are told that every time Rabbi Hiyya ben Abba fell prostrate on his face to pray he cried out, “O Merciful One, save us from the Tempter.”¹ Then the phrase, “lead us not into temptation” (KJV) has given many readers cause to wonder why God would do so. Since Matthew wrote his original notes in Hebrew, no doubt that is why one Hebrew Bible renders it this way: “And do not lead us into hard testing, but keep us safe from the Evil One.”² The Aramaic Version reads: “And bring us not into trial, but deliver us from the evil one.” The Peschito Syriac version reads: “from the evil.” And the oldest Hebrew version of Matthew has it: “…and do not lead us into the power of temptation but keep us from all evil.”³ Jesus knew full well about the Tempter and how he deceived Eve, tried to destroy Job; got Jonah on a boat to nowhere; and after spending 40 days and 40 nights in the wilderness the Tempter came and tried to derail our Lord’s mission.

The Greek word used here, peirasmos, has several factors that are tied to the idea of “experimenting with, attempting, trying, or proving.” In light of the context on owning up to what we owe to God and others, Jesus didn’t want His followers to try, prove or experiment with the idea that they could get by with first going to God for forgiveness before they forgave those who were indebted to them. Such an attempt to prove that there was a way around such a commandment would certainly lead to hardships and disasters. As I’ve mentioned many times before, context is very important in interpreting the text. So when Jesus told His disciples to ask God not to hold it against them when they came up short, it is dependent on their having dismissed any punishment against those who did the same to them. What could come out of this that would be considered a “temptation” to somehow get around forgiving others for not coming through with their promises or pledges and deal only with God. This line of the verse does not imply that God could or would lead us into sinful temptation or that this prayer might dissuade Him from doing so. Rather, it is rather a way of saying: “Lead us so that we will have no opportunity to take the path of temptation, thereby delivering us from any possible evil consequences.”

When we tie this to what was just said about owing and being owed, there are several possibilities. Let’s look at the word translated as “lead.” In the Greek word eispherō also conveys the idea of “being brought into.” Some scholars believe that this understanding is contained in what Moses told the Israelites about what God was doing: “And you must keep in mind that the entire trip the Lord your God has led you through these 40 years in the desert, was His way of testing you. He wanted to keep you humble. He wanted to find out what was in your heart. He wanted to discover if you would obey His commands.”⁴ We then read how this played out: “Don’t ever say to yourself, ‘I got all this wealth by my own power and ability.’ Remember the Lord your God is the One who gives you power to do these things. He does this because He wants to keep the agreement that He made with your ancestors, as He is doing today!”⁵

Jewish teachers knew about the dangers of being led astray. So Jews were encouraged to pray this way: “…do not let me become an habitual transgressor; and keep me from wandering into sin, or into iniquity, or into temptation, or into contempt. And may I keep a good attitude all the time, not a bad attitude all the time.”⁶ In the same location we find a list of Rabbis and how many of them would end their prayers. One of them finished his prayers by saying: “May it be Your will, O Lord our God, and God of our fathers, to deliver us from those who are disrespectful and from disrespect, from atrocious people and from atrocious disasters, from the immoral impulses and from an immoral companions, from grievous neighbors, and from the destructive Accuser, from a problematic lawsuit and from a problematic opponent, whether he is a son of the covenant or not a son of the covenant!”⁷ In the Jewish Prayer Book, under the Morning Blessings called “Vihi Ratzon,” this line is included: “Do not bring us close to sin, transgression or iniquity, nor close to a challenge. Make us cleave to the good inclination and to good deeds.” It then goes on to say: “May it be Your will, God, my Lord, and God of my fathers, to deliver me today and every day from insulting men and disrespect.” We are also told that the Jews were taught: “A man should always train himself to say: ‘Whatever the All-Merciful does is for good.”⁸ So it was clear to the audience that Jesus had a full grasp of the prayers they often heard their Rabbis say in the synagogue. That’s why they did not raise any objection on what He was teaching at this point.

Early Christian apologist Tertullian gives us a thought to consider on this subject of not being tempted to do evil. He says that “God did not order the sacrifice of His Son in order to tempt His faith, but to prove it.” This was done so that later on Jesus was able to illustrate what He was teaching, that no one holds their loved ones any dearer than God. The disciples were so tempted to desert their Lord that they indulged in sleep instead of prayer. That’s why the phrase, ‘lead us not into temptation,’ is balanced by the phrase, ‘but deliver us from evil.’”⁹ I think this is more spiritual conjecture than the discovery of some hidden truth. However, there is little doubt that the disciples did fall asleep while Jesus was praying because the temptation to get a little nap was greater than the desire to stay away and keep watch. In that vein, all of us can petition God not to allow us to be tempted into complacency, but to remain as vigilant as the five wise virgins who were awaiting the call to the wedding with arrival of the groom. As John say at the end of his revelation, even come Lord Jesus!

Then Cyprian, the Bishop of Carthage offered this commentary: “After all these things, in the conclusion of the prayer comes a brief clause, which shortly and comprehensively sums up all our petitions and our prayers. For we conclude by saying, But deliver us from evil, comprehending all adverse things which the enemy attempts against us in this world, from which there may be a faithful and sure protection if God delivers us, if He affords His help to us who pray for and implore it. And when we say, Deliver us from evil, there remains nothing further which ought to be asked. When we have once asked for God’s protection against evil, and have obtained it, then against everything which the devil and the world do against us we stand safe and secure. For what fear is there in this life, to the man whose guardian in this life is God?”¹⁰

And Augustine, the bishop of Hippo, adds his insight into how this daily bread may be seen from a spiritual perspective. He writes: “But the other four things which we ask seem to me to belong to this temporal life. And the first of them is, Give us this day our daily bread. For whether by this same thing which is called daily bread be meant spiritual bread, or that which is visible in the sacrament or in this sustenance of ours, it belongs to the present time, which He has called today, not because spiritual food is not everlasting, but because that which is called daily food in the Scriptures is represented to the soul…. For perhaps for this reason also it is called bread, not drink, because bread is converted into nutrition by breaking and chewing it, just as the Scriptures feed the soul by being opened up and made the subject of discourse.”¹¹

Here we have the reverse of what happens when Jesus speaks in parables or allegories. In those cases our Lord takes a literal object or person and uses it in a metaphorical sense to illustrate a spiritual truth. But here the Master uses a literal phrase called “daily bread” and some Christian scholars see it in a figurative spiritual sense as referring to the Scriptures or the Eucharist. In my mind, while that is permitted to do so as a comparison, it should not be employed as an interpretation of what a scholar thinks Jesus was really saying.

Verse 13b: From this point on there is disagreement among the various translations of this text, as to whether or not this benediction, included in the King James Version: “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever, Amen,” was part of the original.

As we have seen, this was required in all Jewish prayers. Thus, in the most recent Jewish version it reads: “For kingship, power and glory are yours forever. Amen.”¹² This conforms to what we find where Rabbi Yishmael said that when the Name YaHWeH was heard in a prayer, they responded: “Blessed be the Name of His glorious Kingdom forever and ever.”¹³ Also we find that after the scapegoat was sent away into the desert and those standing in the courtyard heard the High Priest pronounce the Name YaHWeH, they would kneel, prostate themselves, fall on their faces, and call out: “Blessed be the Name of His glorious kingdom for ever and ever.”¹⁴ We also read that whenever the Shema was quoted: “Hear O Israel the Lord our God the Lord is One,”¹⁵ they immediately added without any pause: “Blessed be the name of His glorious Kingdom for ever and ever.”¹⁶ Then when the reader in the synagogue steps down from before the Ark of the Covenant and recites the benedictions, when he gets to: “Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Blessed art Thou who redeems Israel;” the congregation responds: “Blessed be the name of His glorious kingdom forever and ever.”¹⁷ One Jewish morning prayer ends this way: “Blessed be the name of His glorious kingdom forever and ever, Amen.”¹⁸

With Matthew being a genuine Jewish person there is no reason to believe that he left this out. But it does leads us to believe that the final “Amen” was added by some scribe or copier because this was only said after readings: “Who redeems Israel? He who answered Abraham on Mt. Moriah, He will answer you and listen this day to the sound of your cry. Blessed are You who redeems Israel.” Then the congregation responds, “Amen.”¹⁹ But after giving His disciples this prayer formula, our Lord wants to continue in order to emphasize an important point.

Verse 14: Yes, if you forgive others when they cannot follow through with their commitments, then your Father in heaven will also forgive you when you cannot follow through with yours.

Now Matthew records Jesus using a different word for what was noted as “trespasses” or “debts” in the prayer. The Greek word here, paraptōma, means either to fall next to or near by, or to have a lapse or deviate from the intended goal. Most scholars take it to mean a lapse or deviation. So in a sense, it means a failure in completing a task or keeping a promise. However, it appears to be taken in the sense that such a failure is not intentional or due to neglect. Solomon warns of the same consequences: “Those who refuse to help the poor will not receive help when they need it themselves.”²⁰ For the Jew, any person who caused serious harm needed to give a sincere apology. When they do so, then the wronged person is religiously bound to accept the apology and forgive them. But even without receiving an apology, forgiveness was considered a very pious act.

One Jewish theologian had much to say on this subject, and offers this observation: “It is pious behavior if a person who was wronged by a colleague would rather not admonish him or mention the matter at all because the person who wronged him was very boorish or because he was mentally disturbed, provided he forgives him totally without bearing any feelings of hate or admonishing him. The Torah is concerned only with those who carry feelings of hate.”²¹ Then He continues: “It is forbidden for a person to be cruel and refuse to be appeased. Rather, he should be easily pacified, but hard to anger. When the person who wronged him asks for forgiveness, he should forgive him with a complete heart and a willing spirit. Even if he aggravated and wronged him severely, he should not seek revenge or bear a grudge.”²² Also, another Rabbi addresses the subject of revenge²³ by giving this practical illustration: “If one was cutting meat, and cut his hand with the knife, would he go ahead and cut the other hand with which he was holding the knife? Not hardly! By the same token, taking vengeance means you end up injuring yourself yet again.”²⁴ Now our Lord takes this opportunity to also point out the difference between the way the hypocrites do things and the way He wanted His disciples to do them.

Verse 15: But if you do not forgive others, then your Father in heaven will not forgive you of your failures either.

Here our Lord offers the consequences of not following through with the first part of this proposition. The orator Chrysostom is not hesitant to point out the obvious in such cases. He says: “What great punishment then must people deserve, who after all this, so far from themselves forgiving, do even entreat God for vengeance on their enemies, and diametrically as it were transgress this law; and this while He is doing and contriving all, to hinder our being at variance one with another? For since love is the root of all that is good, His removing from all sides whatever mars it, will bring us together, and cements us to each other. For there is none, not even one, be he father, or mother, or friend, or what you will, who so loved us as the God who created us. And this, above all things, both His daily benefits and His precepts make this very clear. But if you recount for me all the pains, and sorrows, and atrocities in your life; just consider how many times you offend Him every day, and you will no longer be surprised, if even more bad times come your way. And if you end up enjoying anything good, that should be what makes you marvel and be amazed. But as it is, we keep track of all the calamities that come upon us, but of the offenses, whereby we offend others daily, we give no consideration: therefore we become perplexed. Because if we were to count with precision the errors we make in just one day, it should alert us to all the repercussions we would be liable for as a result.”²⁵

Another way we might put this, is to think of all the times Jesus was left to eat and sleep out in the cold countryside; how many times He was shouted down, laughed at, made fun of, ridiculed, called names, and plotted against; how many wounds He received between the Garden of Gethsemane and His arrival before Pilate, including slaps in the face, lies told about Him, a staged hearing without allowing Him to call any witnesses; then the deep lacerations on His back from shards of pottery tied to the ends of the leather strings that wrapped around His torso 39 times; the punctures on His forehead from the crown of thorns pushed down on his brow; the exhaustion and torment of having to carry His own cross, and the nails in His hands and feet. Then compare that to anything you may have suffered for Him, and I’m sure you’ll see how weak your complaints are sometimes when you object to the way people may be treating you for His namesake.