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This Part: 128 Pages
Page 55
11:4 And lead us not into temptation.
O ALL you who love the divine will, and are enamoured of a blameless life, draw near to God over all, and say, "Show me Your ways, O Lord, and teach me Your paths." For all wisdom and understanding is from Him; and the knowledge of all good comes to us from above from the supreme throne, as from a fountain; and no man can accomplish any thing praiseworthy, unless he receive the ability from Him. And this He teaches us Himself, saying, "Without Me you can do nothing." He therefore Who gives to every man all things whatsoever wherein they can justly glory, now leads us on to another of those things which are necessary to salvation. For He commands us when we are instant in prayer to say, "Lead us not into temptation."
With these words Luke concludes the prayer; but Matthew is found to add, "but deliver us from evil." And there is a certain close connection in the clauses: for plainly it follows from men not being led into temptation, that they are also delivered from evil; or perchance, were any one to say, that the not being led into it is the same as the being delivered from it, he would not err from the truth. But let us consider this: Does the Saviour and Lord of all wish His friends to be cowardly? Are they to be lazy and abject, and in earnest rather in avoiding the contest than in winning renown? And yet the Spirit said in the book of Psalms, "Be strong, and let your heart be firm, all you who trust in the Lord." And the Saviour Himself somewhere says, "Blessed are they who are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." If then He crown with such splendid honours him who is persecuted, and to be persecuted is undeniably a temptation [1], in what sense does He command them to avoid temptation? For certainly it is not inactivity, and an unprofitable dilatoriness, and a thankless sloth, which render those trained for gymnastic contests successful, and worthy of honours, and the clapping of hands, but, on the contrary, severe toil. Moreover, it is not in time of peace that one sees the man who is well acquainted with the tactics of war, and bold withal, and tried in battle, but he must have shown himself a hardy combatant against the enemy. And why then does Christ, so to speak, even hamstring those who love Him, by making them say, "Lead us not into temptation."
To this we reply, gathering after our manner those ideas which are best, that He does not wish His followers to be abject, nor yet indolent in any other way; that He even incites them to courageousness in all things praiseworthy, saying, "Enter in at the strait door: for narrow is the door, and constricted the way, that leads to life, and few are they who find it." There must therefore be in us an unchangeable and manly spirit of ardour: and a mind patient in endurance, such as was that of the blessed Paul, who said, "Who shall separate me from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or the sword?" But even though we be thus minded, and attain to these measures of manliness, yet we must think humbly of ourselves, being "poor in spirit," according to the Saviour's word, and not imagine that always and necessarily we shall conquer all temptations. For sometimes an unendurable alarm falling upon the mind of a man terrifies it into abject fear; as also does Satan, who hates whatever is good; and the severity of the temptation unbends sometimes even the most courageous mind. So do the violent and unendurable blows of the waves dash to pieces a firmly built and well-manned ship: and so does a dense mass of darts shot from the hands of the enemy put to flight the most steadfast soldier. No one therefore ought to be over-confident, or rash in encountering temptations, even though he be brave in mind: but rather let us reflect upon the infirmity of our mind, and fear with soberness, lest perchance we prove a cause of ridicule to our tempters, by not being able to bear the brunt of the battle.
1.[m] Or in more modern language a trial, which is the strict meaning of temptation, a derivative of tento.
Reference address : https://www.elpenor.org/cyril-alexandria/luke-commentary-2.asp?pg=55
