Continuing a Bible study of the Gospels:
(Luke 11:1) And it came to pass that as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples."
At the end of the last chapter, Jesus had been in the home of Martha and Mary, but apparently had left there, and was later in a different place, praying. When He had finished praying, one of His disciples asked Him to teach them how to pray, as he said John the Baptist had taught his disciples.
(2) And He said to them, "When you pray, say, 'Our Father, who is in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.'"
Jesus then began instructing them on how to pray. Biblical scholars say that this was at a different time than in Matthew 6:9-13. I don't know why that has to be. Luke says only that Jesus was praying in a certain place at some non-specific time, but there are subtle differences in the way Matthew and Luke described Jesus's instruction and prayer. In Matthew, Jesus had instructed that they pray "after this manner," and proceeded to give them an example of prayer. If, indeed, this disciple was asking again to be taught how to pray, and adding as John had taught his disciples, perhaps he was asking for a more specific prayer. Jesus had taught them the manner in which they were to pray, but perhaps they still struggled with the words. Here in Luke, Jesus says, "Say this...." This may indicate to us that this is one prayer that we may recite as Jesus did. In Matthew 6:7, Jesus said they were not to use vain repetitions as the heathens did. I always took this to mean that we should speak from our hearts and not recite the same prayers all the time, as they did in the Catholic church I attended as a teenager. However, the rest of Matthew 6:7 states that those heathen think they will be heard because of their many words. That says to me that they used vain repetitions within one prayer. They kept repeating themselves so as to give longer wordy prayers. I now understand Jesus to mean it's always okay to recite His Word, and to also use it as a model of how we should otherwise pray.
First, Jesus said we were to address and acknowledge our Father in heaven. We recognize and declare that His name is holy and to be given great reverence. We recognize and declare that God's kingdom has come to earth, and we desire that it be successful, as our prayers should always align with that goal in mind. We ask that God's will be done here on earth as it is in heaven. Not our wills, but His will, as He always knows best. We see short-term, but God sees the future and the big picture, and we should always desire that our prayers align with His perfect will. Romans 8:26 tells us that the Holy Spirit within us helps us with groanings which are not uttered to make intercession for us according to the will of God, because we don't know how to pray as we should. James 4:3 tells us that we don't receive what we pray for because we "ask amiss" for our own selfish desires. We can be thankful that Jesus has given us the Holy Spirit to pray for the best outcome according to God's will. And we can rest assured that God's will is always better than our short-sighted wills.
(3) "Give us day by day our daily bread."
Jesus continued with His model prayer. He indicated that it was okay to voice an honest desire for care and maintenance for the day. However, we should not be anxious about more than that. In Matthew 6:34, Jesus said not to be anxious about tomorrow, that sufficient for the day is its own troubles. In Matthew 6:32, He also said that our heavenly Father knew our needs. We are to seek Him first and all our needs will be given to us. "Our needs," not necessarily our wants. It is okay to ask for our needs, but we should trust the Holy Spirit of Father God in heaven to take care of the true desires of our hearts that we may not even recognize, but in the end, we will look back and realize that His will was better than what we could have ever asked for.
(4) "And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."
Jesus taught that we should ask for forgiveness for our sins, not just once, but continually in our prayers. We can ask this because we have also forgiven those who have wronged us. In Matthew 6:14-15, Jesus went on to add that if we indeed forgave others, our heavenly Father would forgive us. However, if we did not forgive, neither would God forgive us. Finally, we ask that God not lead us into temptation. It's not that God would otherwise lead us there; the sense is that we ask God to lead us away from temptation, and to deliver us from evil.
(5) And He said to them, "Which of you shall have a friend and shall go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves, (6) For a friend of mine in his journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.'"
Jesus began a parable by first asking his disciples a question. Which of them could relate to the man in his parable? That man had a friend to whom he went at midnight, a most inconvenient time, to ask for three loaves of bread, because another friend of his had shown up at his door and he had nothing to feed him.
(7) "And he from inside shall answer and say, 'Do not trouble me; the door is now shut and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you.'"
Jesus continued with his example which concluded his question about which of them had such a friend who would then reject him and tell him it was too late, he was in bed, and he couldn't get up and help him.
(8) "I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity, he will rise and give him as many as he needs."
Jesus said that mere friendship might not make the man willing to get up at midnight to give food to his friend, but because he persisted in asking, he would get up and give him as much as he needed. Jesus's point was that we can go boldly to the throne of God and be persistent in asking for something in prayer. Jesus said in Luke 18:1, "Men ought always to pray and not to faint." This parable served as an example of prayer. We may approach God at any time with the same confidence we would have when approaching a friend. We come in prayer for needful things, as bread is needful, as we know that God gives us our needs, but not necessarily our wants. We come in prayer for others, not for our own selfish desires, but that we may accomplish our Godly purpose in helping others. Finally, if God doesn't seem to answer right away, it's okay to be persistent. More than okay, it's pleasing to God; "pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Jesus implied that God would answer such a prayer.
(9) "And I say to you, ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you."
Indeed, Jesus told them that if they asked as modeled in His parable, it would be given to them. If they sought something in prayer, like mercy, knowledge, or wisdom, they would find it. And doors would be opened.
(10) "For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it shall be opened."
Jesus confirmed that everyone who asked for something would receive it, and those who sought something would find it, and those who knocked would have the door opened. It's important to remember that we should pray for things within God's will and according to Jesus's model. Remember James 4:3, "You ask and do not receive because you ask amiss, that you may consume it on your lusts."
(11) "If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? Or if a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?"
As an illustration, Jesus asked if a son asked for bread from a father, and here Jesus personalized it by asking any of them who were fathers to especially consider what He was saying, would they give a stone to their son who asked them for bread? Would they give something that in no way solved their son's problem? If their son asked for a fish, would they give him a serpent instead? Would they give him rather something that would endanger him?
(12) "Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?
Likewise, if a son asked for an egg, would the father give him a scorpion, something that would not help him but would hurt him?
(13) "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them who ask him?"
Therefore, Jesus concluded, since they as flawed sinful fathers knew how to give appropriate gifts to their children, how much more they could expect from the perfect just heavenly Father. Jesus said their heavenly Father would give the Holy Spirit, the very best gift, from Whom all good gifts would come. Our heavenly Father gives more than we could ask for, "for we know not what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit itself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And He who searches the hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God." (Romans 8:26-27) We don't always know what is best in a situation, but the Holy Spirit does know because His mind is aligned with the will of God, and as Romans 8:28 continues, "...all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." But once again, our Father will not give us our lustful desires that He knows will hurt us; He gives us our needs for a greater end than we can imagine. Would a father give his son a deadly scorpion just because he asked for it?
(14) And He was casting out a devil and it was mute. And it came to pass when the devil was gone out, the mute spoke, and the people wondered.
At what appears to be another time, Jesus cast a demon out of a mute man. When the demon had been cast out, the formerly possessed man spoke, and the people who witnessed this miracle marveled.
(15) But some of them said, "He casts out devils through Beelzebub, the chief of the devils."
Some of the people who witnessed this said that Jesus cast out devils by the spirit of Beelzebub, Satan himself. The account in Matthew said that these were Pharisees who suggested that. The account in Mark said it was the scribes. That is, if this is the same account. I suppose it is possible this happened more than once, and Jesus would have the same answer.
(16) And others, testing Him, sought from Him a sign from heaven.
Others in the crowd tested Jesus to see in what spirit He operated and wanted to see a sign from heaven. This was not included in the accounts in Matthew and Mark, so this possibly is another instance where people claimed Jesus must be working through Satan to be able to do such miracles.
(17) But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house against a house falls. (18) If Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? Because you say that I cast out devils through Beelzebub."
Although they had not spoken what they thought to Him, Jesus knew what they thought and told them He knew what they thought, and demonstrated to them what an absurd idea it was that He would be doing good through Satan. Satan's evil kingdom, if working against itself doing good, would fail.
(19) "And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges."
Additionally, if it was only through the power of Satan that Jesus was able to cast out demons, then He asked them how it was that their own followers cast out demons, as some of the Jews had been able to do. The actions of these "sons" would stand as judgment against what these people were suggesting. They certainly weren't professing to cast out demons through Satan, so how could such an absurd accusation be made of Jesus?
(20) "But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God has come upon you."
By saying "the finger of God" Jesus may have been referring to Exodus 8:19, when Pharoah's magicians admitted that their tricks did not nearly measure up with the miracles wrought by Moses "with the finger of God." Jesus's ease and His immediate perfect result in casting out the demon was likely very superior to any casting out of demons they had ever witnessed and should be considered as it was with Moses against Pharaoh's magicians, only by "the finger of God." Thus there could be no doubt that the kingdom of God had come to them and they were rejecting it.
(21) "When a strong man armed keeps his palace, his goods are in peace."
Still referring to Satan, Jesus compared him to a strong and armed man who kept his palace and goods safe.
(22) "But when a stronger than he shall come upon him and overcome him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoils."
When one stronger than the strong man, that is Jesus Christ in this example, comes upon him and overcomes him, as when Jesus cast the demon out of the man, the stronger Jesus also takes from Satan all his power he had over the one he possessed, and He divides his spoils, taking possession of the formerly possessed man's mind and body, and makes him whole again.
(23) "He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters."
At first glance, "He who is not with Me is against Me" seems at odds with what Jesus said in Mark 9:40, "he who is not against us is on our side." In Mark 9, the man who was casting out devils in Jesus's name could not be said to be against Jesus and His disciples. He was doing what he was doing for Jesus and His purpose of bringing souls to salvation. In this case, those who asserted that Jesus performed miracles through Beelzebub were certainly against Him. If the man in Mark 9 had been casting out demons in Satan's name, then He would have definitely been against Jesus. However, he was working in Jesus's name trying to gather souls for salvation. These people who called Him of the devil were not only not gathering souls, but were scattering souls with their blasphemy against Jesus.
(24) "When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walks through dry places, seeking rest, and finding none, he says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.'"
Jesus then said that when a demon spirit had gone out of a man, it sought another soul to possess. Dry desert places to a demon spirit would be places where the Gospel of Christ was preached and accepted; it could certainly find no peace there. Therefore, it would decide to return to the vessel from which it had left.
(25) "And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order."
When that demon spirit in Jesus's example came back to its previous home, it found that body empty, as is meant by "swept and in order." There was nothing else in there, just the empty body, as the account in Matthew 12:44 also added "empty." In this example of Jesus, the person who had been possessed by a demon, but then cleansed of it, did not seek to fill himself with the spirit of Christ. A person will be filled with one thing or another; he does not remain an empty vessel. He who did not accept Jesus and His gospel was against Him, and empty, but not for long.
(26) "Then he goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there; and the last of that man is worse than the first."
If that demon found the man not filled with Jesus, then it would come back with seven other demons even more wicked than it was, and they would all inhabit the man. There have been instances of multiple demons possessing one body in scripture; there was the man possessed by "Legion," so called because there were many demons, and there was Mary Magdalene who had been possessed by seven demons. The last condition of the man who had been possessed by one demon, but did not seek to fill himself with Jesus, would be much worse when possessed by multiple demons than he was with the one.
(27) And it came to pass, as He spoke these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice and said to Him, "Blessed is the womb that bore You and the breasts which You have nursed."
After Jesus had spoken these things, a woman in the crowd of people listening, raised her voice and declared to Jesus that His mother was blessed to have given birth to and nurtured Him. She surely meant it as a compliment to Jesus that He did and spoke such great things, that His mother was blessed to have been chosen as His mother.
(28) But He said, "Yea, rather, blessed are they who hear the word of God and keep it."
Jesus answered and said to the woman, that yes, His mother was indeed blessed, but much more blessed were those who heard His word and accepted it and kept it. That was the most important thing, not to be merely associated with Christ, even as His mother, but to fully accept Him and His Gospel, and be counted among the saints in heaven. Judas Iscariot was one of Jesus's closest associates, but he rejected Jesus.
As this is a rather long chapter, and has had much commentary up to this point, I will end this post for now, and finish chapter 11 in the next post.
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