Deliver Us from Evil
Deliver Us from Evil
Matthew 6:13
Good Friday
April 2, 1999
When a child reaches a certain age, almost any order is answered with the question, “Why?” We might say something like, “Come in out of the rain, or you’ll get wet.” “Why?” “It’s getting dark; time to go to bed.” “Why?” There just seems to be no satisfactory answer!
The Why Question. What’s interesting is that there are three “why” questions in the Passion of our Lord—none of which is answered. Jesus asks Judas “why”: “Friend, why have you come?” (Mt 26:50 NKJV). The second “why” question Pilate asks the leaders of the people: “Why?” “What crime has this man committed?” (Lk 23:22). Jesus asks the third question as he hangs on the cross: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mt 27:46). This raises a question. How can God be forsaken by God? The divine mystery and workings of the Holy Trinity boggle our infinite minds. And then we have this statement regarding the Father from our Lord Jesus earlier in his ministry, “The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone” (Jn 8:29). But now, as he hangs on the cross, could Jesus still make that claim? There his loneliness is unmistakable in the dreadfully precious words “My God, my God! Why have you forsaken me?”
There are times, I’m sure, when every one of us has felt pretty alone, and maybe even deserted by God. Consider Peter who must have felt that awful fearful loneliness when he denied our Lord three times. And, who has not known that sense of loneliness when caught sinning? But the greatest loneliness of all was when the Father made his Son “to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor 5:21). Alone, and forsaken by God, for us, in our place; that has either got to be absolute foolishness, or immense and unconditional love.
God Uses Evil. When we are instructed to pray, “Deliver us from evil,” We are being taught how to evoke God to our favor. To do so is a response to Love, His Love. Some, however, never realize their desperate plight. There is no greater evil than to be eternally separated from God, which is brought about by unbelief. The Savior told Nicodemus, “Whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son” (Jn 3:18). But how can anyone pray “Deliver us from evil,” if they are unable to recognize evil? For that matter, how can anyone pray to be delivered from evil who doesn’t think they need to be delivered from it? The young man Joseph illustrates how these two things work. As a slave in the house of the Egyptian official Potiphar, Joseph is invited to commit adultery by Potiphar’s wife. He quickly refuses, as it would be a sin against his Egyptian master, and as he puts it, “How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” (Gen 39:9). Joseph recognized evil and sincerely desired to be delivered from it. And for all that, he was unjustly imprisoned for attempted rape for 14 years.
Certainly lust is a problem that many people face, like Potiphar’s wife. We each have different weaknesses, but we all have them. Many of these evils surface in the Lenten narrative—pride, envy, greed—to name a few. Although we would like to disown such things, Christians are not exempt from sins of the heart and the flesh.
So, when we experience difficulties in out Christian walk, we may wonder if God has really heard our pleas to “deliver us from evil.” Trust in the source of all good allows us to understand and to shun evil. Enduring such hardships, like Joseph, is simply to yield to God’s discipline. Scripture records this truth, “God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father. … No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it” (Heb 12:7, 9-11).
The Final Deliverance. But, is that all faith can provide? Are we simply left alone by God to endure the trauma of evil until the final deliverance which he promises? I don’t think so. Joseph was eventually released and given the highest position in Egypt next to Pharaoh. Job endures tremendous emotional and physical pain, yet, is restored double what he had at first. Surely, the Hebrew passage speaks to these very examples of faith and trust in being delivered from evil.
Even so, the greatest evil of being separated from God due to sin has to be dealt with, in us, all other deliverance we might have experienced is not withstanding in the final judgment. That’s why Luther closes his explanation of this last petition of the Lord’s Prayer with the hope that when our last hour comes, our Father would give us a blessed end and graciously take us from this valley of sorrow to himself in heaven.
Who has endured anything close to what our Lord suffered on his way to the cross. Forsaken by everyone, he must yield his innocent life to evil. And “why?” It is God’s will that he do so for us. There is no greater love available than that love displayed on the cross of Jesus Christ. There is no greater concern for our eternal well-being than that expressed by Jesus on the cross, “Father, forgive them. For they do not know what they are doing.”
So it is out of Divine Love and Concern for us that we learn to pray, “Deliver us from evil.” What a tremendous embrace the Lord extends to us in those words. “Deliver us from evil.” It is so easy to say. God forbid that we ever forget what it means. It is enough to trust our Lord who says, “I am going … to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (Jn 14:2-3).
Look at it this way. If a good friend invites you to his home which you have never seen, would you demand information about the room we would use, what the menu would be, or who else was invited. More than likely you would show confidence in your host by joyfully accepting the invitation with thanks and anticipation. When the Lord teaches us the Lord’s Prayer, he is like a most valued friend inviting us to stay with him in his eternal home, which we have never before seen.
O Lord, deliver us from evil. Amen.