All three synoptic gospels record Jesus saying, "Pray that you may not enter into temptation"; in Luke, he says it twice. Yes, I realize that Biblical scholarship says that the synoptics probably shared the same sources, but I still find the exact repetition striking. What does our Lord mean by this repeated instruction?
In St. Thomas Aquinas' wonderful commentary on Matthew, the Catena Aurea (available online at www.ccel.org/ccel/aquinas/catena1.html), he quotes St. Jerome on this verse:
"It is impossible that the human mind should not be tempted, therefore
He says not 'Watch and pray' that ye be not tempted, but 'that ye enter not into
temptation,' that is, that temptation vanquish you not. ... This is against those rash persons who think that whatever they
believe they can perform. The more confident we are of our zeal, the more mistrustful
should we be of the frailty of the flesh."
Earlier, Aquinas cites Origen's comments on the fact that Jesus brought with Him into the Garden Peter, James and John:
"He took with Him the self-confident Peter, and the others, that they
might see Him falling on His face and praying, and might learn not to think great
things, but little things of themselves, and not to be hasty in promising, but careful
in prayer. ... He who had said above, 'Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart,'
now commendably humbling Himself, falls on His face. But He shews His devotion in
His prayer, and as beloved and well-pleasing to His Father, He adds, 'Not as I will,
but as thou wilt,' teaching us that we should pray, not that our own will, but that
God’s will, should be done."
If Jesus, being God and man, underwent such agony, how much more must I pray for grace to persevere in doing God's will in the face of temptation? As when He washed the apostles' feet, He is again giving us an example. "As I have done, you also must do." Teach me, Lord, to watch and pray.
