February 22, 2014: Luke Chapter 11

The Gospel According to Luke Chapter 11

Originally posted Friday, March 14, 2008 

Luke Chapter 11:1-4 The Lord's Prayer [see MT 6:9-13]

As mentioned before, this is better understood as the disciples' prayer since it is given to the disciples to use as part of their gatherings. That John the Baptist's disciples are mentioned as a reference for having a special prayer we are reminded that he had many followers who stayed with him until his death.

The prayer Jesus gives is both a corporate (worship) and individual (devotional) prayer. In both uses, the plural pronouns "us" and "our" keep us within the community as we pray. Even as we pray this prayer when we are alone, we pray for ourselves as well as the collective of Christendom. We do not pray in a vacuum. What we ask for ourselves we ask for everyone.

The original prayer was in Aramaic, translated into Greek and, in our case, into English. A lot gets lost in the journey. Below is a more direct translation of Luke's version which will help us "hear" Jesus' meaning as he spoke it.

Father (Aramaic Abba)

Let your name be held in reverence

Let your Kingdom come

Give us each day our bread for tomorrow

And forgive us our sins

For indeed we ourselves are continually forgiving everyone indebted to us.

And may you not lead us into the time of trial

Luke's version is probably closer to the original than Matthew's even though they both used the same source (Q). At the heart of this prayer is its understanding of God.

In the first line the use of "Abba" establishes the intimacy of the relationship between God and the disciples. It is a term of endearment: "My dear Father." Within this word is the understanding of both a love of and a trust in the Father.

In the next two lines the word "Let" admits that only God can bring about the Kingdom in its fullest sense and by doing so His name will be held in reverence. There is nothing we can do to hasten either.

The petition for bread is twofold, the bread for our daily sustenance and the bread of the coming Kingdom (for tomorrow) when it will be eaten at the Messianic banquet.

The next two lines relate to forgiveness. Matthew surely is correct in retaining the first line as "forgive us our debts." In Jewish and early Christian religious usage the two words are interchangeable.  Our sin puts us in debt to God (or to the one against whom we have sinned) and their is a relationship between God's forgiveness of our (sin) debts owed to God and our forgiveness of others' (sin) debts owed to us. This does not mean that we have to do something in order to earn forgiveness. It means that God's forgiveness is present in our forgiveness of others. Grace inhabits a gracious heart.

The last line has been taken in two different ways. In the life of the community it can be understood as a petition to God to protect the community from the temptation to deny Christ in the time of persecution. It can also mean the trial of the end times, in the final cosmic battle between the two Kingdoms: that of God and that of Satan. No doubt it was understood both ways.

Luke Chapter 11:5-13 Perseverance in Prayer [see MT 7:7-11]

Vss. 9-13 are found also in MT 7:7-11. The meaning is not that persistence in pray pays, as if one could wear God out in the asking. The issue is our persistence in being a praying person. We are encouraged to be praying people, to pray with hope and with courage, to pray for ourselves and for others. What we may lose in our praying is the implication of our own role in bringing about an answer. It is not altogether clear what happens in prayer. Of course we are, in honest prayer and to use religious terminology, in the spirit as we pray. We are in communion with God or at least with all we understand of God. But is this a two way communication? Is it all our words and no answer?  Is it possible there is an answer coming our way even in our own words? Is it possible that at least in part the answer to our prayer may be in what we do after we pray? Do we pray for peace and do nothing about peace? The Beatitude, "Blessed are the peace makers," refers to those who actively seek and work for peace. God's answer to the prayer for peace is not a heavenly magic wand. It is us! Do we pray for the hungry and then do nothing about hunger? The manna from heaven stopped long ago. We could fill a book full of litanies with our prayers and after each line answer the question, "What have I done to bring this about?" Perhaps this is what Jesus meant when he encouraged us to ask, to search, and to knock. When we pray, maybe the answer has already been given, and the one to whom it is given will be the bearer of it.

Luke Chapter 11:14-23 Jesus and Beelzebul [see MT 12:22-32; MK 3:20-30]

Luke and Matthew share (and edit) the same source for this passage and there are no important differences. However the principle issue is worth attention. While Luke omits mention of the antagonists being the Scribes and/or the Pharisees, it is evident that they are the accusers. The issue is whose power is at work in the exorcist. Since it is illogical that Satan would effect the destruction of his own agents - the demons, yet demons are in fact being destroyed, therefore the power must be God's. In effect, the antagonists have committed blasphemy because they have credited Satan with God's accomplishment and Jesus says as much when he declares that the Pharisees' own exorcists will be their judges on the last day.

Luke Chapter 11:24-26 The Return of the Unclean spirit [see MT 12:43-45]

This passage belongs with the previous debate over exorcisms. In a parable form Jesus asks the question, "What becomes of the person from whom a demon has been cast out?"  Demons come about from some causal affect. The house well swept and cleaned can get dirty again unless the housework is maintained. The evil driven out must be replaced by something more powerful, a faithful relationship with God, one occupied with doing God's work. This is more than a distraction like chewing gum instead of smoking.  An act of turning is necessary, a turning away from the life one has led to the one in which God is actively present. A house cleaning isn't the answer. We have to redecorate the room. 

Luke Chapter 11:27-28 True Blessedness [Found only in Luke]

This brief passage is an ode to Mary, mother of Jesus. The substance is similar to the passage referring to the true family. In that case, Mary and Jesus' siblings were standing outside a house where a crowd had gathered and they asked to see him. When told his family was asking for him he used the opportunity to teach the meaning of true family. It is not that Mary is not blessed as the mother who bore him and nursed him; it is a matter of degree. In matters of the all important Kingdom which is to be sought first, those who are the most blessed are those who both hear the word of God and obey it.

Luke Chapter 11:29-32 The Sign of Jonah [see MT 12:38-42]

Although Luke and Matthew use the same source for this Son of Man passage, Luke has made a change which shifts the emphasis away from Jonah's experience in the belly of the fish and the Son of Man in the heart of the Earth for three days and three nights. For Luke the sign of Jonah - the only sign Jesus will give, is his preaching to this generation in the same way that Jonah preached to Nineveh. The difference is that in Jonah's case his preaching led to Nineveh's repentance while for "this generation" it did not. Therefore, the people of Nineveh will condemn this generation at the last Judgment. In the same way, the Queen of the South came to listen to Solomon's wisdom and followed it, so she too will rise up and condemn this generation that came to hear Jesus and did not follow him.

Luke Chapter 11:33-36 The Light of the Body [see MT 5:15, 6:22-23] 

The passage begins and ends with a metaphor about light and lamps. In the ancient understanding of human anatomy the eye contained light. When the light which is within joins the light which is outside, objects are seen. Thus vs. 34, "Your eye is the lamp of your body." Our inner beings are affected by this light as vs. 34bindicates. We are filled with light or darkness depending on the soundness of the eye - the lamp which gives forth light. The key words in the metaphor are lamp and light. If we understand this passage in view of the preceding one about the preaching of Jonah which brings about the repentance of Nineveh, compared with the preaching of Jesus to this generation which did not bring about repentance, we will see the metaphor's key. Jesus is the lamp; the light is his preaching about the Kingdom of God. Those who rejected his Kingdom message did not receive the light and so are full of darkness. Those who did not reject the message and so received the light are full of that light. We will see this idea of light in its fullest development when we read John's Gospel. Until then, meditate on this idea of light. Where does the light which guides our lives come from? What light forms our world view, our self-understanding? Do we find any light in our Christian practices? How does that little ditty go? "This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine."

Luke Chapter 11:37-54 Jesus Denounces the Pharisees and Scribes

All of this passage appears in Matthew, but direct comparison is difficult because it is located in a number of different passage locations. Since they both have used the same source, it appears Luke has collected the sayings and woven them together as a critique on the practices of the Scribes and Pharisees. We have written about the Pharisaic holiness traditions and the burden they placed on the general population that would find it impossible to keep them. We see mention of this burden in this passage. Jesus is criticized for not washing his hands before the meal. The Pharisees are aghast. Then begins an extended denunciation of these strict practices which are being scrupulously followed by the Scribes and Pharisees while they have at the same time neglected the more important commandments. They may be perfect in tithing everything down to the smallest herb, but they failed to fulfill the most important of commands: to love God and to do justice. It is a lesson which instructs us. We can often be so busy keeping the rules that we forget the Ruler. Jesus never presented an image of the Kingdom of God as a Kingdom of rules to be checked off for admission. Indeed, it seems all to simple: Love God, love neighbor, love self; do unto others as you would have others do unto you; forgive seventy times seven; do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with your God.