Every week, we pray that our Father will not lead us into temptation, and that He will deliver us from evil. This is part of the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray, and the petition is reinforced by the promise of James: “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone” (2:13). James roots this promise in the nature of God: God is wholly good, and therefore cannot be tempted. He cannot wish or intend evil. It is an insult to God’s goodness to hint that He is capable of tempting us.

And yet, Matthew records that Jesus received the Spirit at His baptism, and that this Spirit led Him into the desert, where the devil was waiting to tempt Him. In fact, the point can be made more strongly: The syntax suggests that the purpose for which the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness was so that He might be tempted by the devil. The Spirit led Him “to be tempted” (an infinite expressing purpose).

Does God tempt? Does He lead into temptation? Does He put His children in harm’s way? Is there in fact a dark side to God? Is He looking for opportunities to send us to hell, and constructing opportunities when none presents itself naturally?

Part of the answer is to recognize that the word “tempt” can have more than one nuance. On the one hand, God does not tempt anyone in the sense that He does not desire that we do evil. He does not put the devil in our path in order to get us to fall. Yet, on the other hand Moses exhorts Israel to remember that the Lord led them through the wilderness “that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not” (Deuteronomy 8:2).

God doesn’t tempt in the sense of willing us to do evil, enticing us to do wrong. When we do wrong, we can’t blame God. We are led astray by our own sinful desire. But God does tempt in the sense of testing us, in the sense that He puts the pressure on us, in the sense that He knocks out the props that we rely on, in the sense that He leads us into deserts to hunger so that the things hidden in our hearts will be revealed.

It’s perfectly typical for God to bring such times of testing in the immediate aftermath of some great Spiritual gift. God created Adam, and then brought the serpent to the garden gate to test His newborn son. God brought Israel out of Egypt, and immediately they are plagued by Amalekites snapping at their heels. God brings the true Israel, Jesus, through the waters of the Jordan, fills Him with the Spirit, and then sends Him off to be tested.

This is the way the Father worked with His Son Israel, and His Son Jesus. It’s the way He works with all His sons. He gives us the Spirit, exhorts us to follow the Spirit, and then the Spirit leads us into the valley of death or into the howling waste. This is how our Father brings us to maturity, by placing devils and satans and accusers and dangers in our way. He does not intend evil. He intends it for our good. He intends it to strengthen our hands for war, so that we grow in faith and hope in God.