Deliver Us from Evil
We come to the last request in this series of posts on the Lord’s Prayer: Lead us not into temptation but deliver [PJ1] us from evil. You’ll find previous posts on this page.
The Lord’s prayer has much more than meets the eye. Jesus doesn’t only teach us to say our prayers. How puny that would be compared to what he engaged all his life: deliverance from evil. Reciting prayers without engagement in what we pray is like getting into a sail-boat in the harbor without ever surfing the wind
Question: as Jesus grew up, how did he come to believe that his role was to purge the world from all bad things? Answer: look at his unique family! His Heavenly Father, Creator of a world in total harmony with his will, totally void of any hint of evil, full of goodness, grace, and love. Jesus knew his Father’s will. Much as his mother and earthly father did.
His mother; where do I start? Look at her own surrender to God’s will. Look at Jesus’s! Hear her prayers, which I’m sure Jesus made his own. In Luke 1:46-55, Mary sings of victory over evil. It’s termed the Magnificat because it magnifies the Lord and his actions to do away with evil. Mary expected the destruction of the evil system the Evil one had constructed. And she accepted to participate in its destruction by being the chosen servant of the Lord.
When the angel surprised her with a big ask, she surrendered her will to become the servant of the Lord: “Well Gabriel, I’m in. I’ll participate in the cleansing of all evil! Let it be done to me as you have said’ ”.
Then this prayer long prayed in her heart got recorded. Thank God for that. It’s all about the elimination of evil: Scatter the proud… Bring abusive rulers down from their thrones … Lift the humble… Fill the hungry with good things… Bankrupt the proud rich… Rain down mercy on all the earth.
In short, Mary’s surrender and her prayers became the prayer of Jesus, “Deliver us from evil and let us not go through the great trial.” While breastfeeding her sons and daughters, while serving Sabbath meal after Sabbath meal, Mary sang of deliverance to her children. Ok, I don’t know she did exactly that. But I can’t imagine such deep-seated desires of her heart would go unexpressed. She passed on what the Holy Spirit passed on to her. Like mother, like son.
“Mary, did you know…?” says the Christmas carol. She knew, she knew, she knew… When the Holy Spirit came upon her, she knew to surrender. When the angel announced her baby would reign over the world and rain righteousness over it, she knew (Luke 1 1:33). His kingdom would never cease to be one of joy, peace and love in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17). He sacrificed himself to throw all evil into the lake of fire.
Mary’s passionate longing for justice as a teen mother gave impetus to Jesus’ agenda for ridding the world of evil in the Lord’s prayer. Her teachings made an indelible mark on her son’s.