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 unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.
2 And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.
3 Give us day by day our daily bread.
4 And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.

Take note that Jesus Himself was praying.
Thus He showed His disciples (and us) the importance of prayer.
Perhaps that's why the disciple asked Jesus to "teach us to pray."

If you'll recall, Jesus taught the simple prayer in Matthew 6:9-13 as "The Disciple's Prayer." Some people call it "The Lord's Prayer." However, this prayer is instruction about HOW to pray, and is directed to the DISCIPLES. It is a MODEL prayer in that it gives us fundamentals.

Here, Luke recalls the same incident, but communicates it in a different manner.

First, there is the "address" of God. He is "Our Father," and He is "in heaven." He is Creator of all, and resides, in essence of holiness, far above and beyond what we presently are. Address Him with awesome reverence and respect.

Secondly, there are three petitions which agree with God's plan and program in this earth.
A) "Hallowed be Thy Name," reflects submission to an awesome God of perfection and holiness.
B) "Thy kingdom come," reflects the fact that we desire the END of God's plan. We desire to see the time when all God's children will be gathered to Him in eternal heaven.
C) "Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven," reflects the fact that we are submissive to Him in this present day. And we desire His will to be done in our lives.

Thirdly, there are four petitions which plead with God as our Providor.
A) "Give us this day our daily bread." The true disciple realizes that it is God Who gives us the phyisical ability to earn food. And it is God Who feeds us spiritual food. Without Him, we would have neither!
B) "And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." The disciple realizes he/she has a continual debt of transgression against God, and needs daily forgiveness. The disciple also realizes that others transgress against us, and we need to be forgiving in attitude toward them. To beg forgiveness without giving it is hypocritical.
C) "And lead us not into temptation." God would NEVER lead us to be tempted! The Bible says, "13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: 14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed." (James 1:13-14)
Therefore, this is a plea for God to help us in resisiting day-to-day temptations.
D) "But deliver us from evil." This is the disciple pleading that God will protect him/her from the continual onslaughts of the devil against them. There are constant attempts by the devil to destroy the witness of a believer. We need to be aware of that, and always ask God to protect us.

Fourthly, there is a "doxology," which Luke, by the way, leaves out. A doxology is an expression of praise.
"For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever!"(Matt. 6:12)
EVERYTHING belongs to God! I, you, we all belong to God. We are His to do with as He pleases. He pleases to forgive and save those who willingly acknowledge Him as LORD OF ALL! Let us praise Him! 1 Chron 29:11 says, "Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all."

Finally, there is the "AMEN!" (Luke also omitted this. See Matthew 6:12)
Amen actually means truly, or so let it be. The practice of the disciple should be to AGREE with all that God IS and SAYS!

5 And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves;
6 For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him?
7 And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee.
8 I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.

Luke relates that, following the disciple's prayer, Jesus taught a parable about the certainty of God answering consistent and persistent prayers.

The man had a friend who had traveled a long way, and hospitality demanded that he be fed. Since he had arrived around midnight, the journey must have been long and tiring!
But the man had nothing with which to feed his visitor!

Though people didn't usually venture out at night (because of malicious robbers), the man went to his closest neighbor, and asked for bread to feed his visitor.
The neighbor had already gone to bed (naturally, 'cause it was around midnight)!
In those days, houses usually consisted of only one or two rooms.
The neighbor would have been in bed with his wife, and their children would be between him and a bolted door. It would be impossible to open the door without awaking the children.

However, the incessant knocking of the man would also waken the children!
The neighbor would help the friend because of his "importunity."
That just simply means that the neighbor would help the man because it would be more expedient to do so, than to have him totally disturb the household!

If we are truly God's "friend," and we are living in faith, He will certainly answer our prayers because of our NEED. Now, God may not answer the prayer like we imagine, but He will certainly answer!

9 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
10 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

Our personal relationship with God opens the way for His expedient answering of our prayers!
Remember, He is GOD; we are SERVANTS in need!

"Ask," "seek," and "knock!"

If we do not, then the way is not "opened," and we shall not receive or find!

11 If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?
12 Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?
13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

If an earthly son is hungry and asks for bread, no self-respecting father would give him a stone!
Neither would a father give a serpent to a son who asked for fish to eat!

Here is the principle of prayer for need. Pray in sincerity, and you will be given guidance. James speaks of this in James 1:5-6. God's door is always open to pour out heavenly wisdom to those who seek His guidance.
An example is given which relates God to a human father. Fathers will not give evil gifts to a child who is asking. Neither will God.
This principle imparts a truth that is seldom received by saints of today. It is the principle of reliance upon God for spiritual discernment in decision making. Too often, we pray and then forget to look and listen for God's answer. We want a "quick fix." And we defer our attention from God to some "expert."

Let us pray and rely upon God's guidance.

14 And he was casting out a devil, and it was dumb. And it came to pass, when the devil was gone out, the dumb spake; and the people wondered.
15 But some of them said, He casteth out devils through Beelzebub the chief of the devils.
16 And others, tempting him, sought of him a sign from heaven.
17 But he, knowing their thoughts, said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house divided against a house falleth.
18 If Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? because ye say that I cast out devils through Beelzebub.
19 And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your sons cast them out? therefore shall they be your judges.
20 But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you.

Luke seems to continue with instance after instance in Jesus' life. But these are RELATED instances!
All of the previous discussions in this chapter have been related to prayer.
And, so is THIS instance. We shall see how in the next verses.

As Jesus was traveling, He stopped from time to time and healed people, or cast out demons.
On this particular occasion, a discussion of types arose.
Some said it was only by the power of "Beelzebub" (a name for Satan, or king of demons) that Jesus cast out the other demons.
But some others knew it was of God, and wanted Jesus to give them a "sign" that He was indeed God!

Jesus USED their discussion to explain.
Jesus said it would be foolish of Satan to cast out his own demons!
AND, if Jesus (Who was perfectly righteous) were acting on orders from Satan,
then what would they call the rabbi or prophet or healer that cast out demons?

Then, Jesus said it was by "the finger of God" that HE cast out the demons!

By using the term "finger of God," Jesus was saying "by the Highest Supreme Authority" He cast out those demons!!

THEREFORE, "the kingdom of GOD" was indeed being revealed in HIM!
My friends, no one can know about "the kingdom of God" except it be by revelation from God Himself!
AND, no one can ENTER the kingdom of God except through surrender to Jesus Christ!!

21 When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace:
22 But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils.
23 He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth.

Again, Jesus is using their discussion.
The "strong man" is Satan. He strives to KEEP things in his realm in "peace," or, without opposition. He would certainly not be causing his own demonic beings to cause disruption of his realm!

And, in verse 23, Jesus refers to His Divinity. He is the one "stronger" than Satan!!
If a person is not actively working WITH Jesus, that person is actively working FOR Satan!!
((See the discussion on Matthew 12:30 at: http://www.linktojesus.org/devotions/40_Matthew/CHAPTER_12.html))

Certainly, if we are working WITH Jesus, when we pray, HE (the "stronger") comes and takes over in our spiritual house!

24 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out.
25 And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished.
26 Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first.

When an "unclean spirit" (demonic) leaves a person, the person needs to be filled with Jesus and ask for God to give him His Holy Spirit. God's Holy Spirit will "teach" us by the Word of God (John 14:26). AND He will help us recall the Word we have learned so that we can USE it properly to make right decisions in our lives. God's Holy Spirit acts in a believer as a "stronger" than Satan, and righteously KEEPS the spiritual house!

If the person only acts on his own to "clean up his life", then soon, the demon will return! And when he returns, he'll find the spiritual house cleaned up. But no one "stronger" than the demon is there!! So that demon goes and finds more to come an inhabit the seemingly "cleaned up" life! THEN, that person is WORSE OFF than before!!!

27 And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked.
28 But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.

A pastor finished his sermon and was standing at the door greeting members as they left church.
One lady came by and said, "Pastor! I am just FILLED with the message this morning!"

The pastor thanked her, then turned to a teenage boy who was next in line.
"Son," asked the pastor, "What did you think of the message this morning?"

The young man looked thoughtful, then said, "To be honest, Sir, I got a belly full of you too!"

The lady who spoke up in verse 27 above had just heard Jesus deliver a short, but very effective sermon. She was in awe of the realization of WHO Jesus was, and she openly proclaimed a blessing upon the mother of Jesus.

She thought the mother of Jesus was particularly "blessed" to have given Him birth, and to have nurtured Him during formative years. Surely, Jesus' mother had experienced great joy at the special communion she had with Him.

And Jesus Himself proclaimed it so, saying "Yea."
But then, our Lord proclaimed a truth that is particularly worth noting.
He/she who hears and keeps the Word of God in his/her heart has as great a communion with Him as did His physical mother!

In another place, Jesus said, (John 14:21) "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him."

In hearing and obeying the Word of God we express our love for Him.
And, in so doing, He expresses His love for us by giving us His PRESENCE!

The wonderful Word of God is written so that when we hear and obey,
we know His presence and have sweet communion with our Lord!

29 And when the people were gathered thick together, he began to say, This is an evil generation: they seek a sign; and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet.
30 For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation.
31 The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and condemn them: for she came from the utmost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.
32 The men of Nineve shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.

Remember the discussion of the people before? Some thought Jesus was the devil, but some thought He was GOD! Jesus is still teaching in reference to this discussion.

The prophet Jonah was swallowed by a whale. (If you disagree that it was a whale, then see Matthew 12:40. Our LORD called it a WHALE!)

Now, if you can, imagine for a moment, spending 3 days and 3 nights in a whale's belly!
When regurgitated, Jonah probably looked pretty PALE!!
THIS Jonah was a "sign" to the Ninevites!
He came in his washed-out paleness, preaching vehemently: "REPENT! REPENT!! In forty days Nineveh will be OVERTHROWN!" (Jonah 3:4 paraphrased)

The fact is: the Ninevites BELIEVED Jonah and REPENTED!! And God SAVED them!!

Also, "the queen of the south" refers to 1Kings 10:1-10. There, she is called "the queen of Sheba" (believed to be modern Ethiopia). This woman saw first-hand the blessings Solomon had received, and declared they were of Jehovah God!

She believed and proclaimed.
So did the Ninevites.

And Jesus said the Ninevites and queen of Sheba would "rise up" at the judgment day, and
condemn those who did not believe Jesus!! Those had believed in LESS than what the people seeing Jesus had seen!! Jesus was healing: the lame, blind, leprous, deaf, and dumb! Jesus was raising the dead, and even casting out demons in His own Name!

Should not all this be attributed to GOD ONLY?

33 No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light.
34 The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness.
35 Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness.
36 If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light.

The purpose of light is to illuminate darkness and reveal that which is not seen.
The purpose of the eye is to allow light in so that the person can discern clearly .

These people who refused Jesus as God, were closing their eyes to the "Light" of truth!

If the "eye" of the soul refuses Jesus, the "Light" of God, how can one SEE God?!?
Indeed, is the bright candle of Jesus that REVEALS God!! ((See John 14:6))

37 And as he spake, a certain Pharisee besought him to dine with him: and he went in, and sat down to meat.
38 And when the Pharisee saw it, he marvelled that he had not first washed before dinner.
39 And the Lord said unto him, Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness.
40 Ye fools, did not he that made that which is without make that which is within also?
41 But rather give alms of such things as ye have; and, behold, all things are clean unto you.
42 But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
43 Woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye love the uppermost seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets.
44 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them.

The Pharisee invited Jesus to dinner, but then was apalled when Jesus didn't "wash" before He sat down to eat. There's a great lesson to be learned here.

Perhaps the Pharisee REALLY wanted to learn more about Jesus. But he allowed the ceremonial laws of man to supercede the laws of God in his mind. And he wouldn't ACCEPT Jesus as Lord, because he already had a mindset as to Who Jesus should be and how He should act.

Many times I've talked to people about surrendering to Jesus, and they have sidetracked the conversation by what they have seen Christians do or not do. Their acceptance of the Truth is pushed aside by a predisposed opinion!

Jesus realized the gravity of the situation, and used the opportunity to teach a correct view of man's ceremonial laws. For instance, verse 39. The ceremonial laws required that they cleanse the dishes thoroughly. But they paid no heed to cleansing the inside of their souls!!

In verses 41 and 42, Jesus showed how they were more concerned with tithing than giving!
If a person is more conscious of receiving acclaim for tithing than he is for sharing with the needy, then his focus is misplaced! These guys let EVERYONE know that they were tithing EVERYTHING! But when it came to GIVING, their hearts were CLOSED!

Jesus also alluded to the fact that these people were more concerned with WHERE they sat in church! (vs 43)
They wanted to be where everyone could SEE them!
They weren't their for GOD'S glory, but they were there for their OWN glory!

44 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them.

Jesus concluded His short sermon with this dynamic statement!
These people were like graves that were UNMARKED!
Under their law, a man was DEFILED if he touched a grave.
And these people were like unmarked graves, defiling everyone with whom they had contact!!

Today is no different from that day!
There are STILL those who USE church rather than SUPPORT church!
There are many who attend simply to be SEEN, and not to SERVE or GIVE!

Here, perhaps we should get the meaning of "Woe."
The Greek word is ouai, pronounced "oo-ah'-ee." It is an announcement of GRIEF!
It is the same word used in Revelation 7:13. And in that particular place, the announcement of tremendous grief is upon those in the earth who have refused to believe God!

Jesus was saying that these scribes and Pharisees would receive great grief because they refused TRUTH and lived with a predisposed idea of God!! Their actions caused other people to go astray, and they would ANSWER for it!!

45 Then answered one of the lawyers, and said unto him, Master, thus saying thou reproachest us also.
46 And he said, Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers.
47 Woe unto you! for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.
48 Truly ye bear witness that ye allow the deeds of your fathers: for they indeed killed them, and ye build their sepulchres.
49 Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute:
50 That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation;
51 From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation.
52 Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered.

Jesus had included "scribes" with the "Pharisees" in verse 44.
One of the "lawyers" (actually a description of the scribe), took exception to being included.

Jesus began to describe the things that the lawyers did which kept people OUT of the kingdom of God!
They "burdened" the people with many laws. Yet even they abide by those laws! And, when they KNEW that those laws were "burdensome," they wouldn't repeal them!

They built shrines to prophets of old, but wouldn't listen to prophets in their own day!
By refusing the prophets of their own time, they gave "witness" to the fact that their "fathers" "deeds" of murdering prophets were ok with them!

He who refuses to listen to God's prophets of today, endorses the murderous acts of those before them!

It is in Christ that we find the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (See Col. 2:3).
The "wisdom" of God is in the "Word of God."
Jesus was referring to the fact that the Word of God prophesied (in many places) that they would murderously slay true prophets! (See Jer. 2:30, Jer. 44:4-5, Dan. 9:10, Amos 2:11, Zech. 7:12)

Soon, these very ones would lead the rebellious action which would CRUCIFY JESUS!!

By encumbering the people with many laws, they took "away the key of knowledge," and "hindered" people from entering the kingdom of God!

OH! The drastic difficulties caused by the legalists of Christianity!!

53 And as he said these things unto them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to urge him vehemently, and to provoke him to speak of many things:
54 Laying wait for him, and seeking to catch something out of his mouth, that they might accuse him.

With boisterous, disorderly disagreement they began to try and get Jesus to speak about "many things"! And their ONLY purpose was to see if they could catch Him saying something of which they could accuse Him!

When a person refuses truth, and then is confronted with that truth, they simply try to find something about that truth of which they can complain!

Receive the truth of Jesus Christ as God in the flesh!
THEN, you will begin to work WITH Him instead of AGAINST Him!

BACK TO HOME PAGE