When the Lord Jesus Christ taught His disciples to pray, He gave them a model to follow. We often refer to it as the Lord's prayer. Many Christians can recite this beautiful prayer from memory. There is much that it can teach us about God and what our communication should be with Him.
As I studied this powerful prayer, I came to a phrase near the end that taught me a powerful lesson about Christ.
"Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil," the Lord said (Matthew 6:13).
The Greek word used for "deliver" is ῥύομαι (rhoumai), which means "to rescue."
But it means more than that.
Strong's concordance, a well-known biblical resource, defines rhoumai further as meaning:
"to draw to oneself"
"to snatch up"
"to rescue a person to and for the deliverer"
"to deliver someone to and for the rescuer"
I then imagined a benevolent bystander who happened to be an excellent swimmer diving in and rescuing the child.
He did not know the child. He did not love the child. But he was a good person who wanted to do what was right.
This is a beautiful and noble act, but it is not what the word connotes.
Christ rescues us to Himself.
He is the one who is most concerned for our safety and salvation.
He plunges into the water out of pure love for us. He ignores any danger. He gives His life in order to rescue us.
He is not just a benevolent bystander.
He is our Savior, who saves us to Himself because He loves us more than anyone else.
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