Luke · chapter 11 of 24
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Luke 11 begins when a disciple asks Jesus to teach them to pray, and he gives the Lord's Prayer and speaks of asking, seeking and knocking. He then answers those who say he casts out demons by Beelzebul, refuses to give a sign, speaks of the lamp of the body, and pronounces woes on Pharisees and lawyers.
Jesus continues his journey toward Jerusalem. Luke 11 opens with an intimate scene of prayer and ends with a public confrontation with the religious leaders. The chapter contrasts the trust of children who ask a good Father with the hardness of those who reject the light offered to them.
While Jesus is praying in a certain place, one of his disciples asks him to teach them to pray. Jesus gives the Lord's Prayer: hallowed be the Father's name, his kingdom come, give us each day our daily bread, forgive us our sins as we forgive those indebted to us, and lead us not into temptation. He then tells of a friend who bothers a neighbor at midnight for bread and receives what he needs because of his persistence. He urges them to ask, seek and knock, because the Father will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask, far more than a human father gives good gifts to his children.
Jesus casts out a demon that was mute, and some say he does it by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, while others ask for a sign from heaven. Jesus answers that a divided kingdom cannot stand, that if he casts out demons by the finger of God the kingdom of God has come, and that whoever is not with him is against him. A woman in the crowd blesses Jesus' mother, and he replies that those who hear the word of God and keep it are more blessed. To the generation seeking a sign, Jesus says it will receive only the sign of Jonah: the queen of the South and the men of Nineveh will condemn those who did not listen to one greater than Solomon and Jonah. He speaks of the lamp of the body: take care that the light in you is not darkness.
Invited to dine at a Pharisee's house, Jesus does not wash before the meal and his host is surprised. Jesus says they clean the outside of the cup, but inside they are full of greed and wickedness, and he pronounces woes on the Pharisees for tithing without justice, loving the best seats and being like hidden graves. He also accuses the lawyers of burdening others, of building tombs for the prophets their fathers killed, and of taking away the key of knowledge. The scribes and Pharisees begin to press him hard, lying in wait to catch him in something he says.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
The Lord's Prayer teaches us to ask that God's name be hallowed and his kingdom come, and then for daily bread, forgiveness and help against temptation. God comes first, then our own needs.
Jesus urges us to ask, seek and knock, because the one who asks receives, the one who seeks finds and to the one who knocks it is opened. It is an invitation to constant prayer, confident that God answers.
If human fathers, though evil, know how to give good gifts to their children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him. The greatest gift of prayer is God himself.
Jesus answers the woman who blesses his mother by saying that those who hear the word of God and keep it are blessed. True blessing is not kinship but obedience to the word.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: That he teach them to pray, as John the Baptist taught his disciples. — Luke 11:1
Answer: That God give us each day our daily bread. — Luke 11:3
Answer: Because of the persistence of the one asking, even though he would not do it out of friendship. — Luke 11:5-8
Answer: The Holy Spirit. — Luke 11:13
Answer: The sign of Jonah. — Luke 11:29-30
Answer: That inside they were full of greed and wickedness. — Luke 11:39
The Lord's Prayer is a model for praying simply: start with God's glory, ask for what we need each day, seek forgiveness and forgive, and depend on his protection. In a small group you can pray this prayer slowly, phrase by phrase, and talk about which request is hardest for us.
The second half of the chapter warns against a religion of appearances. Jesus wants a clean heart, not only clean hands. Ask yourself which part of your life you tend so others will see it and which you hide from God, and remember that whoever prays persistently receives from the good Father the greatest gift: his Spirit.
Luke 11 ends with growing tension: the scribes and Pharisees try to catch Jesus in his words. In Luke 12 Jesus addresses the crowds and his disciples, warns against hypocrisy and teaches us not to be anxious about riches.
Luke's version is shorter and has five petitions, while Matthew's is longer. Jesus may have taught the prayer on different occasions, or the evangelists may have summarized it. The differences do not change the meaning: it is a model, not a fixed formula.
In Luke, Jonah was a sign to Nineveh through his preaching, and Jesus is a sign to his generation. Matthew adds the parallel with the three days in the fish's belly. Luke stresses that those who heard Jonah repented, and now one greater than Jonah is here.
It is an image that the way we see determines how we live. If the eye is healthy, the body is full of light; if bad, of darkness. Jesus asks that the light within us not be darkness, that is, that we not close our eyes to the truth he brings.