11:2-13Notice the order in this prayer. First, Jesus praised God; then he made his requests. Praising God first puts us in the right frame of mind to tell him about our needs. Too often our prayers are more like shopping lists than conversations. These verses focus on three aspects of prayer: its content (11:2-4), our persistence (11:5-10), and God’s faithfulness (11:41-13).
Life Application Study BibleLukeChapter 11
Luke 11
New Living Translation · Life Application Study Bible · Original pages: 1708, 1709, 1710, 1711, 1712
A few verse numbers on this page were hard to read in the scan and are marked with a dotted underline — compare with the original page image if in doubt.
11Luke 11
1Once Jesus was ina certain place praying. As he finished, one of his disciples came to him and said, “LORD, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
2Jesus said, “This is how you should pray:*“Father, may your name be kept holy.May your Kingdom come soon.
3Give us each day the food we need,*4 and forgive us our sins,as we forgive those who sin against us.And don't let us yield to temptation.*”
5Then, teaching them more about prayer, he used this story: “Suppose you went to a friend's house at midnight, wanting to borrow three loaves of bread. You say to him, 6‘A friend of mine has just arrived for a visit, and I have nothing for him to eat.’ 7And suppose he calls out from his bedroom, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is locked for the night, and my family and I are all in bed. I can’t help you.’ 8But I tell you this—though he won't do it for friendship’s sake, if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence. * 9“And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 10For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. 11“You fathers—if your children ask* for a fish, do you give them a snake instead? 12Or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a scorpion? Of course not! 13So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.” Jesus Answers Hostile Accusations (135) 14One day Jesus cast out a demon from a man who couldn't speak, and when the demon was gone, the man began to speak. The crowds were amazed, but some of them said, “No wonder he can cast out demons. He gets his power from Satan,* the prince of demons.” 16Others, trying to test Jesus, demanded that he show them a miraculous sign from heaven to prove his authority. 17He knew their thoughts, so he said, “Any kingdom divided by civil war is doomed. A family splintered by feuding will fall apart. 18You say I am empowered by Satan. But if Satan is divided and fighting against himself, how can his kingdom survive? 19And if I am empowered by Satan, what about your own exorcists? They cast out demons, too, so they will condemn you for what you have said. 20But if I am casting out demons by the power of God,* then the Kingdom of God has arrived among you. 21For when a strong man like Satan is fully armed and guards his palace, his possessions are safe—2? until someone even stronger attacks and overpowers him, strips him of his weapons, and carries off his belongings. 23“ Anyone who isn’t with me opposes me, and anyone who isn’t working with me is actually working against me. 24“When an evil* spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, searching for rest. But when it finds none, it says, ‘I will return to the person I came from.’ 25So it returns and finds that its former home is all swept and in order. 26Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself,and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before.” 27As he was speaking, a woman in the crowd called out, “God bless your mother—the womb from which you came, and the breasts that nursed you!” 28Jesus replied, “But even more blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice.” Jesus Warns against Unbelief (136) 29As the crowd pressed in on Jesus, he said, “This evil generation keeps asking me to show them a miraculous sign. But the only sign I will give them is the sign of Jonah. 30What happened to him was a sign to the people of Nineveh that God had sent him. What happens to the Son of Man* will be a sign to these people that he was sent by God. 31“The queen of Sheba* will stand up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, for she came from a distant land to hear the wisdom of Solomon. Now someone greater than Solomon is here—but you refuse to listen. 3?The people of Nineveh will also stand up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, for they repented of their sins at the preaching of Jonah. Now someone greater than Jonah is here—but you refuse to repent. Jesus Teaches about the Light Within (137) 33“No one lights a lamp and then hides it or puts it under a basket.* Instead, a lamp is placed ona stand, where its light can be seen by all who enter the house. 34“ Your eye is a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is good, your whole body is filled with light. But when it is bad, your body is filled with darkness. 35Make sure that the light you think you have is not actually darkness. 36If you are filled with light, with no dark corners, then your whole life will be radiant, as though a floodlight were filling you with light.” Jesus Criticizes the Religious Leaders (138) 37As Jesus was speaking, one of the Pharisees invited him home for a meal. So he went in and took his place at the table.* 38His host was amazed to see that he sat down to eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony required by Jewish custom. 39Then the LORD said to him, “ You Pharisees are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and wickedness! 40Fools! Didn't God make the inside as well as the. outside? 41So clean the inside by giving gifts to the poor, and you will be clean all over. 11:24 Greek unclean. 11:30 “Son of Man” is a title Jesus used for himself. 11:31 Greek The queen of the south. 42“ What sorrow awaits you Pharisees! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens,* but you ignore justice and the love of God. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.; 43"What sorrow awaits you Pharisees! For you love to sit in the seats of honor in the synagogues and receive respectful greetings as you walk in the marketplaces. 44Yes, what sorrow awaits you! For you are like hidden graves ina field. People walk over them without knowing the corruption they are stepping on.” I I 49" Teacher,” said an expert in religious law, “you have insulted us, too, in what you just said.” 46“Yes,” said Jesus, “what sorrow also awaits you experts in religious law! For you crush people with impossible religious demands, and you never lift a finger to ease the burden. 47What sorrow awaits you! For you build monuments for the prophets your own ancestors killed long ago. 48But in fact, you stand as witnesses who agree with what your ancestors did. They killed the prophets, and you join in their crime by building the monuments! 49This is what God in his wisdom said about you:* ‘I will send prophets and apostles to them, but they will kill some and persecute the others.’ 90" AS a result, this generation will be held responsible for the murder of all God’s prophets from the creation of the world— 51from the murder of Abel to the murder of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, it will certainly be charged against this generation. 92" What sorrow awaits you experts in religious law! For you remove the key to knowledge from the people. You don’t enter the Kingdom yourselves, and you prevent others from entering.” I 53As Jesus was leaving, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees became hostile and tried to provoke him with many questions. 54They wanted to trap him into saying something they could use against him. Jesus Speaks against Hypocrisy (139)
Textual footnotes
- us each day our food for the day; or Give us each day our food for tomorrow.
- do you give them a stone? Or if they ask.
- Beezeboul; Latin version reads Beelzebub.
- 11:2 Some manuscripts add additional phrases from the LORD’s Prayer as it reads in Matt 6:9-13.
- 11:3 Or Give
- 11:4 Or And keep us from being tested.
- 11:8 Or in order to avoid shame, or so his reputation won't be damaged.
- 11:11 Some manuscripts add for bread,
- 11:15 Greek Beeizebou; also in 11:18, 19. Other manuscripts read
- 11:20 Greek by the finger of God.
- 11:33 Some manuscripts omit or puts it under a basket.
- 11:37 Or and reclined.
- 11:42 Greek tithe the mint, the rue, and every herb.
- 11:49 Greek Therefore, the wisdom of God said.
Life Application Notes 13 notes
11:3God's provision is daily, not all at once. We cannot store it up and then cut off communication with God. And we dare not be self-satisfied. If you are running low on strength, ask yourself, How long have I been away from the Source?
11:4When Jesus taught his disciples to pray, he made forgiveness the cornerstone of their relationship with God. God has forgiven our sins; we must now forgive those who have wronged us. To remain unforgiving shows we have not understood that we ourselves deeply need to be forgiven. Think of some people who have wronged you. Have you forgiven them? How will God dea! with you if he treats you as you treat others?
11:8Persistence, or boldness, in prayer overcomes our insensitivity, not God’s. To practice persistence does more to change our heart and mind than his, and it helps us understand and express the intensity of our need. Persistence in prayer helps us recognize God's work.
11:13Even though good fathers make mistakes, they treat their children well. How much better our perfect heavenly Father treats his children! The most important gift he could ever give us is the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-4), whom he promised to give all believers after his death, resurrection, and return to heaven (John 15:26).
11:14-23A similar and possibly separate event is reported in Matthew 12:22-45 and Mark 3:20-30. The event described by Luke happened in Judea, while the other took place in Galilee. According to Luke, Jesus spoke to the crowds; in Matthew and Mark, he accused the Pharisees.
11:15-20Some of the Pharisees’ followers also were exorcists— that is, they drove out demons. The Pharisees’ accusations were becoming more desperate. To accuse Jesus of being empowered by Satan, the prince of demons, because Jesus was driving out demons was also to say that the Pharisees’ own exorcists were doing Satan’s work. Jesus turned the religious leaders’ accusation against them. Jesus first dismissed their claim as absurd (Why would the devil drive out his own demons?). Then he engaged in a little irony (“What about your own exorcists?”). Finally, he concluded that his work of driving out demons proved that the Kingdom of God had arrived. Satan, who had controlled the kingdom of this world for thousands of years, was now being controlled and overpowered by Jesus and the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus’ Kingdom began to come into power at Jesus’ birth and grew as he resisted the wilderness temptations. It established itself through his teachings and healings, blossomed in victory at his resurrection and at Pentecost, and will become permanent and universal at his second coming.
11:21,22Jesus may have been referring to Isaiah 49:24-26. Regardless of how great Satan’s power is, Jesus is stronger still. He will overpower Satan and dispose of him for eternity (see Revelation 20:2, 10).
11:23How does this verse relate to 9:50: “Anyone who is not against you is for you”? in the earlier passage, Jesus was talking about a person who was driving out demons in Jesus’ name. Those who fight evil, he was saying, are on the same side as the one driving out demons in Jesus’ name. Here, by contrast, he was talking about the conflict between God and the devil. In this battle, if a person is not on God's side, he or she is on Satan’s. There is No neutral ground. Because God has already won the battle, why be on the losing side? If you aren’t actively for Christ, you are against him.
11:24-26Jesus was illustrating an unfortunate human tendency: Our desire to reform often does not last long. tn Israel's history, almost as soon as a good king would pull down idols, a bad king would set them up again. It is not enough to be emptied of evil; we must then be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish God’s new purpose in our life (see also Matthew 12:43-45; Galatians 5:22).
11:27,28Jesus was speaking to people who put extremely high value on family ties. Their genealogies were important guarantees that they were part of God’s chosen people. A man’s value came from his ancestors, and a woman’s value came from the sons she bore. Jesus’ response to the woman meant that a person’s obedience to God is more important than his or her place on the family tree. Consistent obedience is more important than the honor of bearing a respected son.
11:29,30What was the sign of Jonah? God had asked Jonah to preach repentance to the Gentiles (non-Jews). Jesus was affirming Jonah’s message. Sajvation is not only for Jews but for all people. Matthew 12:40 adds another explanation: Jesus would die and rise after three days, just as the prophet Jonah was rescued after three days in the belly of the great fish.
11:29-32The cruel, warlike men of Nineveh, capital of Assyria, repented when Jonah preached to them—and Jonah did not even care about them. The pagan queen of Sheba praised the God of
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Israel when she heard Solomon's wisdom, and Solomon was full of faults. By contrast, Jesus, the perfect Son of God, came to people that he loved dearly—but they rejected him. Thus, God's chosen people made themselves more liable to judgment than either a notoriously wicked nation or a powerful pagan queen. Compare 10:12-15, where Jesus says the evil cities of Sodom, Tyre, and Sidon will be judged less harshly than the cities in Judea and Galilee that rejected Jesus’ message. 11:31, 32 The people of Nineveh and the queen of Sheba had turned to God with far less evidence than Jesus was giving his listeners—and far less than we have today. We have eyewitness reports of the risen Jesus, the continuing power of the Holy Spirit unleashed at Pentecost, easy access to the Bible, and knowledge of 2,000 years of Christ's acts through his church. With the knowledge and insight available to us, our response to Christ ought to be even more complete and wholehearted. 11:33-36 The lamp is Christ; the eye represents spiritual understanding and insight. Evil desires make the eye less sensitive and blot out the light of Christ’s presence. If you have a hard time seeing God at work in the world and in your life, check your vision. Are any sinful desires blinding you to Christ? 11:37-39 The hand-washing ceremony was done not for health Teasons but as a symbol of washing away any contamination from touching anything unclean. Not only did the Pharisees make
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a public show of their washing, but they also commanded everyone else to follow a practice originally intended only for the priests. 11:41 The Pharisees loved to think of themselves as “clean,” but their stinginess toward God and the poor proved that they were not as clean as they thought. How do you use the resources God has entrusted to you? Are you generous in meeting the needs around you? Your generosity reveals much about the purity of your heart. 11:42 Rationalizing not helping others is easy because we have already given to the church, but a person who follows Jesus should share with needy neighbors. While tithing is important to the life of the church, our compassion must not stop there. Where we can help, we shoutd help. 11:42-52 Jesus criticized the Pharisees and the experts in religious law harshly because they (1) washed their outsides but not their insides, (2) remembered to give a tenth of even their garden herbs but neglected justice, (3) loved praise and attention (4) loaded people down with burdensome religious demands, (5) would not accept the truth about Jesus, and (6) prevented others from believing the truth. They went wrong by focusing on outward appearances and ignoring the inner condition of their hearts. People do the same when their service comes from a desire to be seen rather than from a pure heart that is full of love for others. People may sometimes be fooled, but God isn't. Don’t be a Christian on the outside only. Bring your inner life under God’s control and your outer life will naturally reflect him. 11:44 The Old Testament laws said a person who touched a grave was unclean (Numbers 19:16). Jesus accused the Pharisees of making others unclean by their spiritual rottenness. Like unmarked graves hidden in a field, the Pharisees corrupted everyone who came in contact with them. 11:46 These “religious demands” were the details the Pharisees had added to God's law. To the commandment, “Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy” (Exodus 20:8), for example, they had added instructions regarding how far a person
could walk on the Sabbath, which kinds of knots could be tied, and how much weight coutd be carried. Healing a person was considered unlawful work on the Sabbath although rescuing a trapped animal was permitted (14:5). No wonder Jesus condemned their additions to the law. 11:49 God’s prophets have been persecuted and murdered throughout history. But this generation was rejecting more than a human prophet—they were rejecting God himself. This quotation is not from the Old Testament. Jesus, the greatest prophet of ail, was directly giving them God’s message. 11:51 Abel's death is recorded in Genesis 4:8. For more about him, see his Profile in Genesis 5, p. 15. Zechariah’s death is recorded in 2 Chronicles 24:20-22 (the last book in the Hebrew canon). Why would all these sins come upon this particular generation? Because they were rejecting the Messiah himself, the one to whom all their history and prophecy were pointing. 11:52 How did the legal experts remove the “key to knowledge”? Through their erroneous interpretations of Scripture and their added man-made rules, they made God's truth hard to understand and practice. On. top of that, these men were bad examples, arguing their way out of the demanding rules they placed on others. Caught up in a religion of their own making, they could no longer lead the people to God. They had closed the door of God's love to the people and had thrown away the key. 11:53, 54 The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees hoped to arrest Jesus for blasphemy, heresy, and lawbreaking. They were enraged by Jesus’ words about them, but they couldn’t arrest him for merely speaking words. They had to find a legal way to get rid of Jesus.