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Matthew 6:13
In Matthew 4:1-11; Mark 1:12-13, and Luke 4:1-13 is the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. God is just, and He will give the opportunity for one to prove themself against His will. Satan is the master of disobedience to God and is in opposition to God in his desire to lift himself above God (Isaiah 14:12-15). The temptation of Jesus in the wilderness is a one-on-one opportunity for Satan to prove himself. But in this temptation of Jesus is the wonderful work of God as Satan throws everything he has at Jesus to do his best to make Jesus fall to his desired authority. Satan knows that he is more powerful than the will of humanity and this is his best opportunity to defeat God and claim victory for himself. But God uses this as an opportunity to prepare for what is to come. God uses this opportunity for Satan to have no excuses when Jesus rises from the grave in victory over the power of Satan. A big part of the victory of Jesus being the risen Savior of the world is to have overcome everything that Satan can tempt Him with and still yet remain sinless. Jesus knows what it is like to be tempted by Satan. Jesus knows all the hurts and heartaches that Satan can throw at us. Jesus is the only one to overcome it all! Jesus is worthy! And He did this – He endured the pain and suffering for us so that through what He has taken for us we may be forgiven and set free from Satan by putting our faith in Him.
But we must also take note that when Jesus taught this prayer to His disciples, He had not yet gone to the cross and paid the price for all sin. In His human form, He still felt the human temptations that Satan throws at us; He witnessed these things in the people that were around Him every day, and He healed them to show us that He is more powerful than our temptations. But He also looked forward to the day when all would be accomplished through the fulfillment of His mission on earth, and He needed, in His human form, His divine strength and prayer to help Him through it. Jesus felt it all for us; He knows all our temptations; and He feels all our pains of human life. He came to set us free from them and make the way for us to be redeemed to our Father in heaven. And He accomplished it all through His death, burial, and resurrection!
This is a promise and example that Jesus has taken our temptations and defeated them.
This is a promise that Jesus is our deliverer from the temptations of this world.
Jesus was led into temptation to face it head-on, and He teaches us in this prayer given to His disciples that He does not desire God to do the same to us, but that He keeps us from the temptation that Satan threw at Him. He knows the evil of Satan, and He knows that Satan is more powerful than we are. He also knows that He is our only hope to overcome the temptations that Satan will throw at us. We learn in John 3:16 (HCSB), “For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.” Jesus states in John 14:6 (NKJV), “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
Dear LORD,
Please help us to see that Jesus came to set us free from sin and the power of Satan because we cannot. Please help us to see that You love us so much that You came to save us from being lost forever. Please help us to see Your love for us in our Savior Jesus, that we would humble ourselves in obedience to Your love for us and be set free from sin forever – in Christ. In Jesus name I pray, amen.