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The Gospel of Luke Chapter 11:1-26 How to Pray 11:1 Now Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he stopped, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples." The disciples had been listening to the effective and personal way in which Jesus Christ prayed to God and were impressed by it so much that after he had finished they asked him to teach them how they might pray in the same way. They had seen how an attitude of prayer had been instilled in the lives of John’s followers, and thought perhaps Jesus might want them to be people of prayer too. 11:2 So he said to them, "When you pray, say: Father, may your name be honored; may your kingdom come. They were right, of course, and the fact that Jesus did as they asked indicates that he does indeed want us to pray to God in the same way that he did. Jesus began by showing how it is necessary to have a right relationship with God before we can pray; through Christ we have been given new birth and so God is our Father. It is this relationship which undergirds the entire prayer and which must be acknowledges at the start of it – God is our ‘Father’1. The nature of God as Father surpasses that of any earthly father. Moreover, whilst the relationship is intimate, Jesus insists that it must never become informal; by which I mean we must always remember that God is holy and that his Name is to be revered above all else. We are to pray that the reign or rule of God shall be extended, first of all in terms of obedience in our own lives and then throughout the world in the hearts and lives of men and women—resulting ultimately in the coming
1
Some manuscripts have πατερ ημων and some have simply πατερ, but in either case the context demands the sense ‘our father’ if not the words. The texts which prefer πατερ ημων actually read πατερ ημων ο εν τοις ουρανοις, the latter part meaning ‘who is in heaven’. This variant reading is perhaps the best known, as it occurs in the KJV, and emphasises the spiritual relationship between God and the petitioner. Our new birth is of a spiritual nature (e.g. John 1:12-13; 3:6; 2 Peter 1:4).
again of Jesus Christ. The same idea is conveyed by the line ‘your will be done as in heaven, so on earth’;2 the disciples of Jesus are to be willing to offer God their complete obedience. 11:3 Give us each day our daily bread. Not only complete obedience but also complete dependence is the essence of prayer. This line acknowledges God as the provider of our daily needs, specifically food, but all essential needs are meant (food, water, clothing or shelter). Notice how the prayer is to be repeated each day—‘daily bread’—in accordance with Jesus’ instruction to live one day at a time (Matt. 6:34). 11:4 And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And do not lead us into temptation. Confession of sin and asking for forgiveness is another essential element of our relationship to God in prayer. He alone can forgive our sins, and unless sin is forgiven it is impossible to joyfully, trustingly, enter his presence. But Jesus makes clear that our receiving forgiveness goes hand in hand with the necessity that we should forgive anyone who has offended or done us wrong (Matthew 18:21-35; c/f Col. 3:13). The next part of the prayer ‘do not lead us into temptation’ could not only imply that we are asking God to keep us from troubles, but that he might also give us strength to resist temptations when they come. The prayer invokes divine power to protect us from harm and evil, whether calamity or moral defilement.3 For some reason Luke omits the end of the well-known prayer; it is in Matthew that reads ‘for yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.’4
Persistency in Prayer 11:5-6 Then he said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, because a friend of mine has stopped here while on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him.' Just as the words of the ‘Lord’s Prayer’ helped Jesus’ disciples (and us!) to understand the things they (and we!) should pray for, so this parable indicates the persistent and importune way in which we should pray. Jesus calls us to imagine an unexpected guest arriving late in the night. Furthermore, imagine that this guest is hungry and you have nothing in the house for them to eat. Next imagine that in desperation you go to a friend's house—even though it was very late—and asked for their help. 11:7 Then he will reply from inside, 'Do not bother me. The door is already shut, and my children and I are in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything.'
2
Absent from some manuscripts, but included in the KJV and NKJV (in the margin of NIV, NASB and several others). 3 The singular masculine of the same word πονηρου can be used to denote the Devil, so some translations use ‘Evil One’. This interpretation seems to be quite in order if one remembers that all calamity and temptation to evil are thought to originate with Satan. 4 I think the most likely explanation for this is that Luke did not have access to this material; for it is not clear that his deciding to omit it deliberately would in any way help his argument in this section.
Actually, I’ve had real life experience of having cause to call on friends in the middle of the night, and their response has been varied. Initially, Jesus allows that it is reasonable to expect your friend not to be very happy about being woken from his sleep and that he will tell you to go away. 11:8 I tell you, even though the man inside will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of the first man's sheer persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs. Even if that person is a true friend, and your need is genuinely merits seeking help at that time of night, he might not be willing to get up and help you; yet, says Jesus if you keep on and on hammering at his door he will have no choice but to get up and give you what you need, otherwise he will never be able to get back to sleep! 11:9-10 So I tell you: Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Through this parable5 Jesus invites us to be persistent in our prayers to God, for as we keep asking, seeking His face and knocking at the door of heaven—we are certain to find the answer and the door of heaven will definitely be opened to us. Everyone who asks God the Father in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ—without giving up!—will undoubtedly receive (see also John 14:14). 11:11-12 What father among you, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? Here we see another aspect of prayer which Jesus insists must be taken into account when we pray – the nature and mind of God. We have already been instructed by Jesus to call God Father, and if a son were to specifically ask his devoted father for something (e.g. a fish or an egg) then he would generally give him what he asked for, not fob him off with some cheap alternative. What is more, the father would never choose something harmful to give his son (e.g. a snake or a scorpion). 11:13 If you then, although you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! The implication is that if we, as sinful human beings, are able to discern what is good, and are able to give such good gifts to our children, then how much more so is God? God has a mind of his own, and is able to discern what is best for us. Jesus’ teaching is clear that God will give good gifts to those who ask him for them; and this may also imply that God will not answer prayer for those things which are harmful to us. In particular, God (who is Spirit) is pleased when he sees us seeking and asking for spiritual things – he will never withhold the person, gifts or graces of the Holy Spirit from us (see also James 1: 17).
5
This parable is found only in Luke, but the exhortation to be persistent in asking, seeking and knocking (Luke 11:9-10) is found also in Matthew 7:7-8.
A Serious case of Blasphemy 11:14 Now he was casting out a demon that was mute. When the demon had gone out, the man who had been mute began to speak, and the crowds were amazed. When Jesus cast the demon out from a man whose possession had taken away his ability to speak, the multitudes of common people were amazed. 11:15 But some of them said, "By the power of Beelzebul, the ruler of demons, he casts out demons." The Pharisees (Matthew 9:34), however, accused Him of casting out demons with the help of Beelzebub, the ruler of all demons (Satan). This was their blasphemy, for they were attributing to Satan what in fact could only correctly be attributed to God. 11:16 Others, to test him, began asking for a sign from heaven. Others in the crowd—equally antagonistic—tried to provoke Jesus, demanding that he show them a miraculous sign from heaven to prove his authority (one might have thought the miracle they had just witnessed to be evidence enough!) 11:17 But Jesus, realizing their thoughts, said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself is destroyed, and a divided household falls. Jesus, knowing that their questions were not sincere, but arose because of their opposition to him and his message, nevertheless taught them patiently by means of a parable. Any kingdom which is divided by civil war it is heading for ruin; and a household that is not united will sooner or later break apart. 11:18-20 So if Satan too is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? I ask you this because you claim that I cast out demons by Beelzebul. Now if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has already overtaken you. So if Satan—whose purpose it is to destroy the works of God and to bring people into bondage— were acting against himself by setting people free from the power of darkness then his kingdom of darkness would collapse. Clearly, since Satan is opposed to God then the one who opposes and destroys Satan’s power over humanity must be God’s agent. Exorcism was in fact widely practiced among the Jews before Jesus’ time; in whose name did these exorcists act? In the name of Israel’s God of course! So, says Jesus, these Jewish exorcists, armed only with the divine name and not anointed by divine power would be able to tell the Pharisees that it is only in God’s name that demons can be cast out. In this way they would condemn the Pharisees’ for blasphemy. Yet Jesus’ ministry came with such power as these exorcists had never before witnessed, for Christ’s ministry was endued by the Holy Spirit—evidence that the Kingdom of God had arrived and was being revealed among them. 11:21 When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his possessions are safe.
Jesus asks his hearers to imagine Satan—when he has taken possession of a person by means of demons—as being like a strong man armed to the teeth, guarding his property against all who might seek to take it from him. 11:22 But when a stronger man attacks and conquers him, he takes away the first man's armor on which the man relied and divides up his plunder. Only someone who is far stronger than such a strong man can succeed in overpowering him, stripping him of his armor and taking away his goods. In the same way it requires someone much more powerful than Satan to set captives free from the powers of darkness (see Gen. 3:15; Col. 2:15 and Heb. 2:14-15). 11:23 Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. Whoever does not believe in Jesus Christ and does not take their stand for him is already his opponent (for we are all condemned sinners, controlled by dark powers, outside of Christ e.g. Eph. 2:1-3). Similarly, anyone who is not working together with Jesus in his work to destroy Satan’s kingdom is actually taking a stand against Christ. Such people would include purveyors of false religious teaching or false miraculous signs—they are the ‘opponents’ of Christ i.e. they are antichrists (1 John 2:18,22; 4:3; 2 John 1:7). 11:24 When an unclean spirit goes out of a person, it passes through waterless places looking for rest but not finding any. Then it says, 'I will return to the home I left. This disturbing insight into the nature of demons demonstrates how vast is Jesus’ superiority over them – quite simply he knows all about them. When driven out, the demon is not destroyed, but continues to wander about the world of men in torment. ‘Waterless places’ may not so much signify that demons detest water (in fact this is highly unlikely) as the absence of comfort in torment (compare Luke 16:24). Apparently, the demon can only find ‘rest’ to some extent by possessing an individual so that through his or her members it can fulfil its desire for lust and sin. If it cannot find another person to possess, it knows enough about human nature to go back and try to see if it can re-enter the person from whom it was exorcised. Evidently, demons know all about dangers of backsliding. 11:25-26 When it returns, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live there, so the last state of that person is worse than the first. When the demon finds that person ‘swept clean and put in order’, which I think means delivered completely by Jesus BUT NOT having the Christ life through the Holy Spirit dwelling within him or her,6 then he will attempt a re-possession. I say this because the Holy Spirit will not share his holy temple with any unclean intruder. Even so, the demon knows it will be much harder once someone has encountered Christ—even if they have not continued with him—to get them to revert to the ways of sin, so it recruits help in the form of seven other unclean spirits more evil than himself so
6
Which is to say, although they have encountered Christ, and benefited from God’s power, yet they have not committed their lives fully to him in order to experience his everlasting salvation.
that they can effect a re-entry and remain in that person. Thus the last state of that person will be worse than it was before he was set free by Jesus Christ (2 Peter 2:20-22). © Derek Williams & Mathew Bartlett 2014. Bible Studies Online UK www.biblestudiesonline.org.uk You may copy, print or distribute our studies freely in any form, just so long as you make no charges. Sign up today for our FREE monthly Bible study magazine “Living Word” Scriptures taken from the NET Bible www.bible.org