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The Gospel of Luke Chapter Eleven
Commentary by Timothy H. Burdick
Now in Luke 11:1-4, we will take a
look at what is commonly called the “Lord’s Prayer.” I
prefer to call this the disciple’s prayer, however, because
it was actually a model prayer in which Jesus taught His
disciples HOW to pray. What some have called the “High
Priestly Prayer of Jesus” is really the Lord’s Prayer. It is
the prayer of submission that the Lord prayed to His Father.
That prayer is found within the whole of John Chapter 17,
but for now look with me at a time right before Jesus went
to the cross. Turn with me to John 17:1, where it says,
“After Jesus said this, He looked toward heaven and prayed:
‘Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that Your Son
may glorify You.’”
I suppose that some might say that
this is splitting hairs, but in John 17, Jesus models the
submission to God that He is teaching His disciples here in
Luke. In Seminary, we had a saying that “more is caught then
taught.” Jesus knew this principal very well and modeled His
prayer life for them, in addition to merely teaching it to
them. As we have already said, the Gospel of Luke contains
more detail about the prayer life of Jesus than any other of
the three Gospel accounts. There is power in prayer, and if
we in the twenty-first century are truly His disciples we
need to ask Him to teach us to pray just like Jesus’
disciples did long ago. Right now, stop and ask God to speak
to your heart. Ask Him to show you what it really means to
have communion with the Father.”
Look at Luke 11:1 - One day Jesus
was praying in a certain place. When He finished, one of His
disciples said To Him, “Lord teach us to pray, just as John
taught his disciples.” Jesus said to them, “When you pray,
say, ‘Father in heaven hallowed be Your name, Your Kingdom
come. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins
for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead
us not in to temptation,’” as you can read in Verses 2-4.
Rabbis from differing schools taught
their disciples how to pray. So in this text, we find a
“disciple” (student) of Jesus asking His Master to do the
same as John the Baptist had done. John the Baptist was
considered to be a Rabbi, a teacher to his own disciples.
Luke pointed out specifically in Verse One that it was one
person who asked this of Jesus, not the whole group. Just
out of curiosity, I wonder which disciple it was who asked
Jesus about prayer? Was it the one who was often their
spokesman, Simon Peter? Be that as it may, there is an
important truth here that we need to stop and look at.
No matter how small or insignificant
you may feel, God will often use one person just like you,
behind the scenes to get things started that would otherwise
never be accomplished. Don’t feel discouraged, you may feel
like a “fifth wheel” in life, but just remember that God can
do amazing things through one person who is totally yielded
to Him and is willing to ask Him for help.
Now let’s examine the main body of
the prayer as it is in Verse 2 and forward. “When you pray
say: “Father… hallowed be Your name, Your Kingdom come.”
Jesus is teaching His disciples and all who have come into a
relationship with Him, to address God as “Father.” Notice He
isn’t teaching the masses to do this. Before prayer can
become effective, a person has to come into a personal
relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Historically,
that is what every true disciple in history has done.
Matthew uses the term, “OUR father” (Matthew 6:9).
Personally, I like that phrase, because it shows that God
totally accepts those who would turn to Him. Secondly, using
“our” seems to create a warmer tone. By that I mean, a tone
which is more loving, more intimate. Finally, the word “our”
speaks to me of the interdependence that needs to be
established between God and ourselves, for our prayers to be
effective. Look with me at John 15:7 - “If you remain in me
and My Words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it
will be given you.”
Just a little aside before we go on.
Too many people think that because of Jesus’ words in John
15:7, they can claim anything they want in prayer. Notice
that this promise is given only to the disciple Jesus was
speaking to at the moment. This person is surrendering to
the Lordship of Christ on a daily basis in his or her prayer
life, and in this way, their will and the will of God became
more and more intertwined.
Jesus used the Greek term for
“Father” which meant “a nourisher, protector and upholder.
Jesus also counterbalances this picture as He emphasizes the
holiness of God. In other words, He knew that if we didn’t
keep in mind God’s Holiness, our relationship with Him could
become too casual. See Isaiah 6:3 - “And they were calling
to one another: “holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the
whole earth is full of His glory.” God is holy.
By addressing God as “Father,” Jesus
wasn’t making a slur on women’s rights. While some women
have felt offended when God is addressed gender specific as
a “male,” I think that it is important to take a look at the
culture of that time in order to understand Jesus’ usage
here. To see what I mean, read the story of the prodigal son
found in Luke 15:11-32. Jesus said: “There was a man who had
two sons. The younger one said to his father, “Father give
me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property
between them. Not long after that, the younger son got
together all he had, set off for a distant country and there
squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent
everything there was a severe famine in that whole country
and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out
to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to
feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that
the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. When he
came to his senses, he said, “how many of my father’s hired
men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I
will set out and go back to my father and say to him:
father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am
no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of
your hired men.’ So he got up and went to his father. But
while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and
was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son threw
his arms around him and kissed him. The son said to him,
‘father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am
no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said
to his servants, ‘quick! bring the best robe and put it on
him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring
the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and
celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again;
he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near
the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of
the servants and asked him what was going on. ‘Your brother
has come’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the
fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’ The
older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his
father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his
father, ‘look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and
never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a
young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when
this son of yours who squandered your property with
prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’
’My son.’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and
everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be
glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive
again; he was lost and is found.’”
In the Middle Eastern culture, the
father was regarded as an extremely loving figure. The
father in the Western World has nowhere near the patriarchal
authority that the father in the Eastern culture of that
time did. Look at Genesis 49:1 for an example. In that place
we see Jacob blessing his grown sons: “Then Jacob called for
his sons and said: ‘Gather around so I can tell you what
will happen to you in days to come.’”
There were at least two meanings
expressed when Jesus told His disciples to pray for His
kingdom to come in Verse 2 of Luke 11. While we are to pray
for a literal and physical fulfillment of the Kingdom, we
also are to pray that God’s rule and reign in our hearts
will become more and more of a reality. In this light, look
at two Scriptures with me. First Jesus tells us, “Blessed
are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they
will be filled” (Matthew 5:6). Secondly, Peter says, “For it
is written: “Be Holy, Because I am Holy” (1Peter 1:16).You
may ask, “Just what is the “Holiness” of God?” When we talk
about the Holiness of God, we are talking about His purity,
His nature which is not and cannot be corrupted by sin.
“Hallowed” (Verse 2) is simply a derivative word which means
“Holy.” So Jesus is teaching us to pray: may God’s Name be
revered and respected.
The name of God was something that a
Jewish person wouldn’t even speak. When writing God’s name,
the Jewish people took the vowels out of YHVH, so there is a
debate over the pronunciation of it. All of this was done in
order not to blaspheme.
Matthew 6:10 sets forth the words
that most of us are familiar with: “Your Kingdom come, Your
will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Jesus is saying
the same thing in Luke, but Matthew gives a more complete
version of the prayer.
Before going on, I want to talk a
little bit about God’s will. As believers there is a lot of
confusion about God’s will. So let me try and clear some of
that up. Finding God’s will should never be thought of as
some kind of mystical or scary experience. God is a good and
loving God. He only wants the best for you!
So we can trust Him if He says, “Now
is not the right time for your answer to prayer,” or He
might say “no” altogether. For an example of this, look with
me at, 2:Corinthians12:7-9, “To keep me from becoming
conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations,
there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan
to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take
it away from me. But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient
for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” God
answered Paul’s request with a “No.”
I was in sales for many years and we
learned that the phrase, “no” is not necessarily negative.
You can be assured that even when things look bleak God has
the best in mind for you. We live in a sin-darkened world,
but God has overcome the world. Look with me at John 16:33 -
“I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have
peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart!
I have overcome the world.”
Luke goes on in 11:3 - “Give us each
day our daily bread.” This is just asking God to meet our
material needs on a daily basis. Again, we are to live in a
daily dependence on Him. Our spiritual walk includes waiting
on God for our daily provision. Compare this thought with
the words of Jesus in Matthew 6:30 as He described God’s
care for us: ”If that is how God clothes the grass of the
field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the
fire, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little
faith?”
In our culture, we are too
independent. By that I mean that many of us feel that we
work to meet our own needs, and that God is off somewhere in
the background. Look with me at what the Book of James has
to say about this -” Every good and perfect gift is from
above coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights,
who does not change like shifting shadows” (James 1:17).
When we are tempted to think that we have “made it on our
own,” we need to remember that everything that we have is a
gift from God. Now to see this, let’s look at Genesis 2:15,
where it sets forth the principal that everything is a gift
from God: “The Lord God took the man and put him in the
garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” But note
that one of His gifts is that, where possible, we are to
work.
So you may be asking, why two
versions of the same prayer? Scholars have debated this
point, asking if they are two distinct prayers or basically
the same formula used in two differing formats. While
Matthew presents the mature version that we all know and
love, they are both saying the same thing. It is my opinion
that they were given in different formats for a reason.
Matthew’s may have evolved over time, becoming more
complete, but they both (Matthew and Luke) have the same
basic framework.
The important thing to me is that we
see no contradictions here or anyplace else in Scripture. We
need to concentrate on the message that Jesus gave, not
dwelling on methods that we only partially understand.
Now let’s look at the final verse of
this prayer. Luke 11:4 says, “just as we have been forgiven,
we need to forgive.” It is not saying that our initial
forgiveness by God has to be earned by our forgiveness. It
is saying that lack of forgiveness is a sin. And our sins
can thwart our prayers. Look with me at Psalm 66:18 - “If I
had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have
listened.”
What Is Jesus saying in the second
part of this verse, when He asks God not to lead us into
temptation? For the answer to this we will look at James
1:13-14, “When tempted, no one should say, ‘God is tempting
me.’ For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt
anyone; But each one is tempted when by his own evil desire,
he is dragged away and enticed.” Jesus is simply asking the
Father to protect us or in other words, to keep us from
places where we will be tempted.
The final addition to this prayer as
recorded in Matthew, is implied in Luke. In Matthew 6:13b,
Jesus asks the Father to, ”deliver us from the evil one. We
are not to have anything to do with evil, for by playing
with it, we allow Satan a foothold in our lives.
Some translations close this prayer
by saying, “For thine is the kingdom and the power and the
glory forever.” While these words are beautiful, most agree
that these were most likely not the original words of Jesus.
They were most likely added on later to enhance worship.
Next in Verse 5 & forward, Jesus
gives us a parable to let us know that we should not be
passive or timid in our prayer life. As long as we are
surrendering to God’s will, there is nothing wrong with
having personal requests. James 4:2 says, “You want
something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you
cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not
have, because you do not ask God.” Then James continues in
Verse 3 to tell us why many don’t get the answers we are
looking for. “When you ask, you do not receive, because you
ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on
your pleasures.”
There is a balance here that only
God totally understands. While we should seek to depend upon
God more-and-more, asking for His will to be done in all
areas of our lives, we should come into His presence with
boldness because of what God has done for us in Christ.
Hebrews 4:16 says, “Let us then approach the throne of grace
with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace
to help us in our time of need.”
Now let’s look at Luke 11:5, where
Jesus tells His disciples this parable. “Then He said to
them, ‘suppose one of you has a friend and he goes to him at
midnight and says, friend lend me three loaves of bread,
because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me and I
have nothing to set before him. Then the one inside answers,
don’t bother me the door is already locked, and my children
are with me in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ I
tell you though he will not get up and give him the bread
because he is his friend yet because of the man’s boldness
he will get up and give him as much as he needs.”
First of all, Jesus gives us this
parable to let us know, that we should not be passive or
timid in our prayer life. While we should ask for His will
to be done in all of our prayers, we should not have an
attitude of resignation or defeat, as though saying “Thy
will” is always an act of fate. Our prayer life should be
vibrant and alive, realizing that God is our best friend.
At that time and in that culture,
hospitality was a critical issue. It was unthinkable for a
man not to have bread to set before a guest. Because people
in Bible times, lived in a semi-nomadic culture, strangers
often stopped for lodging at the homes of people they did
not know. Please with me at Genises19:1-3, “The two angels
arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the
gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet
them and bowed down with his face to the ground. ‘My lords,’
he said, “please turn aside to your servant’s house. You can
wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way
early in the morning.’ ‘No,’ they answered, ‘we will spend
the night in the square.’ But he insisted so strongly that
they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared a
meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate.”
Hospitality is a virtue that should
carry over into Christianity. Or to put it even more
strongly, hospitality is COMMANDED of believers in the New
Testament. To see this in Scripture, look with me at Hebrews
13:2 - “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so
doing, some people have entertained angels without knowing
it.”
It is essential that we learn from
the Biblical teaching and recover this lost art of
hospitality. People have never felt more alone than in the
twenty-first century, and it is our job to reach out to
others with God’s love.
Also in that day, the houses of the
poor people were mainly one room. While they slept on
different straw mats, they were huddled together for warmth.
Usually sleeping on a raised platform, they were elevated
above the animals in this way, who also slept in the house.
Though in the daytime people were
welcome to come inside the houses for refreshment, at
midnight it was a different story. Many times the door to
the house would have a bar across it with a primitive wooden
lock.
Can you imagine how difficult it
would have been to climb over children and animals? The man
in the house would have had to disturb his entire family,
not to mention the animals. To say the least, this would
have been a major ordeal.
Just as the host-to-be in Verse 5 &
forward must have knocked frantically on his neighbor’s
door, asking and pleading for help, we are to follow this
example of boldness in prayer. Like the man needing bread,
we are to continually come to God until we get a clear
answer. On the other hand, this parable does not teach that
God in any way has to be manipulated through persistence
until I get my needs met. The purpose of prayer is never to
put my will above God’s.
Jesus reinforces the concepts which
He is teaching in this way in Verse 8: “So I say to you; ask
and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock
and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks
receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the
door will be opened. Which of you fathers, if your son asks
for a fish will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for
an egg will give him a scorpion? If you then though you are
evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much
more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to
those who ask him.” When discussing these Verses, we will
talk about three concepts.
First of all, Jesus is showing forth the Goodness of God. To
paraphrase Him, He is saying if you who have an evil nature
can give good gifts to your children, can you imagine how
good God is? I want to destroy any false concepts that we
have about God, The Bible says that Satan is a liar, and he
wants to lie to you concerning the goodness of God.
Second, the ideas of knocking,
seeking and asking tend to be concepts that build on one
another. In other words, they are expressing the same idea
in different ways. There is a concept in Jewish thought,
called “parallelism.” Parallelism compares and contrasts
ideas. This seems to be what Jesus was doing. An example of
this type of thought can be found in Amos 1:3 - “this is
what the Lord says, for three sins of Damascus, even for
four, I will not turn back My wrath. Because she threshed
Gilead with sledges having iron teeth.”
Third, Jesus talked about giving the Holy Spirit to those
who ask. When you understand this, it is really an exciting
concept. The Holy Spirit was sent to be our helper and
guide. Please look with me at John 16:13, “But when He the
Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. He
will not speak on his own; He will speak only what He hears
and He will tell you what is yet to come.”
Now, we will look at the fulfillment
of the prayer of Moses in Numbers 11:29 - “But Moses
replied, are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all of the
Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put His
Spirit on them.” Forty days after the ascension of Jesus, on
the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was given to the
church. In order to see this look at Acts 2:3-4, “they saw
what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to
rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy
Spirit and began to speak in other tongues (languages) as
the Spirit enabled them.” I come back to the birth of the
church where the Holy Spirit was given because in the Old
Testament, the Holy Spirit was only given to certain
individuals. One of those Biblical characters was Moses,
whose prayer we have seen above.
Now please look with me at the next
verses, commencing with Verse 14. ”Jesus was driving out a
demon that was mute. When the demon left the man who had
been mute, he spoke and the crowd was amazed. But some of
them said, ‘by Beelzebub, the prince of demons He is driving
out demons.” Others tested Him by asking for a sign from
heaven” (Luke 14-16). Just as a little aside, it is
interesting that in Matthew 12:22, the man is also recorded
as being blind: “Then they brought Him a demon-possessed man
who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he
could both talk and see.”
Before examining the rest of this
passage, let’s look at the background. After driving out the
demon, Jesus faced three reactions that are recorded. First,
Scripture tells us that the crowd was amazed because Jesus
drove out the demon that was mute. Crowds are often
changeable. Many times, their fickle nature can be seen as
they run after the latest super hero. This is what Jesus was
to many of them. They had seen Him multiply the fish and
bread etc, and they wanted a free ride.
That is why Jesus put His trust in
only a few close friends. Please look with me at 1 Samuel
10:26 as an example - ”Saul also went to his home in Gibeah,
accompanied by valiant men whose hearts God had touched.”
It is important not only that you be
careful about who you trust, but it is also important that
you keep godly company. Psalm 119:63 says, ”I am a friend to
all who fear You, to all who follow Your precepts.”
Secondly, some people accused Jesus
of casting out Satan by the power of Satan. Be equally
careful of people who stir-up trouble or try and get you to
doubt God. This in itself is blasphemous, so, in what may
seem to be a more sophisticated way, people are still
attributing Gods power to Satan. While we will come back to
this accusation in a few verses, there is an interesting
scripture in proverbs 10:32 - “The lips of the righteous
know what is fitting, but in the mouth of the wicked is only
what is perverse.”
Thirdly, when we talk about seeking
a “sign,” I would like to go from the general to the
specific. This is what we call in sales the funnel method,
because it starts with a wide view of the topic at hand, and
gets narrower as we study it.
A general application of this is
that people are always seeking a sign from God. If this gets
out of control, it can be dangerous. For example when I was
growing up, the preachers that I was associated with, put a
lot of emphasis on Bible prophecy. While these preachers and
teachers kept a fairly balanced perspective, some people
have gone off the deep end and stopped living because they
felt that the Lord’s coming was so near.
I can’t say it too emphatically - be
careful of seeking a sign from God. Learn to put your trust
in God and seek Him. In this light, look at Jeremiah 29:13 -
“You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your
heart.” Also, look at Hebrews 11:6 - “And without faith it
is impossible to please God because anyone who comes to Him
must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who
earnestly seek Him.”
So let’s take a look at how Jesus
answers these critical voices in Luke 11:17-20. “Jesus knew
their thoughts and said to them: “Any kingdom divided
against itself will be ruined, And a house divided against
itself will fall. If Satan is divided against himself, how
can his kingdom stand? I say this because you claim that I
drive out demons by Beelzebub. Now if I drive out demons by
Beelzebub, by whom do your followers drive them out? So then
they will be your judges. But if I drive out demons by the
finger of God, then the Kingdom of God has come to you.”
It is interesting that so many times
when people tried to accuse Jesus, Scripture says that He
Knew what they were thinking. One example of this can be
found in Mark 2:8 - “Immediately Jesus knew in His spirit
that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and
He said to them, ‘Why are you thinking these things?’”
Sometimes, we think that we have
sins that are hidden from God. But just like then, Jesus
knows what you are thinking about. Thought is extremely
important, and they can make or break a person.
Paul says about this in Philippians
4:8, “Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble,
whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely,
whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or
praiseworthy - think about such things. And the God of peace
will be with you.”
In Luke 11:19, we see Jesus
answering the question about casting-out demons by
Beelzebub, but before getting into this, I want to give you
some background. Beelzebub was a disgusting name.
“Beelzebub” means “god of the high place.” A “high place” in
the Old Testament was a place where false gods were
worshiped. One example of this can be found in 1 Kings 11:7,
“On a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for
Chemosh the detestable god of Moab, and for Moloch the
horrible god of the Ammonites.” Making a sarcastic
statement, the Jews may have changed the name of Chemosh to
Beelzebub, which meant “lord of the flies” or “god of
filth.” In the time of Jesus the name Beelzebub had become
equated with Satan.
Also it is interesting to note that
Jesus wasn’t the only one of His day who claimed to drive
out demons. The noted historian Josephus has this to say:
“God also enabled Solomon to learn that skill which expelled
demons, which is a science useful and sanative to me. He
composed such incantations also by which distempers are
alleviated. And he left behind him the manner of using
exorcisms, by which they drive away demons, so that they
never return; and this method of cure is of great force unto
this day; for I have seen a certain man of my own country,
whose name was Eleazar, releasing people that were demonical
in the presence of Vespasian, and his sons, and his
captains, and the whole multitude of his soldiers.”
Luke also makes mention of
non-Christian exorcists in Acts 19:13-15, “Some Jews who
went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the
name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed.
They would say, “in the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches, I
command you to come out.” Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish
chief priest were doing this. One day the evil spirit
answered them, “Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who
are you?”
Lastly in Verse 20, we see Jesus
making reference to the finger of God. The finger of God was
similar to the phrase “hand” of God. They were both used to
make reference to God’s mighty power. See Exodus 32:11 -
“But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God. 'O Lord he
said, why should Your anger burn against Your people, whom
You brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty
hand.’”
Now look with me to see what the
Bible says about the “finger” of God. Exodus 31:18 says,
“When the Lord finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, He
gave him the two tablets of the testimony, the tablets of
stone inscribed by the finger of God.” Perhaps Jesus was
also making reference to the hardness of heart, which God’s
finger couldn’t remove without violating man’s free will.
”The magicians said to Pharaoh, ‘This is the finger of God.’
But pharaoh’s heart was hard and he would not listen, just
as the Lord had said.”
Now, let’s let Jesus illustrate what
He has been saying, in the next five verses, starting with
Luke 11:21 - “When a strong man fully armed, guards his own
house, his possessions are safe. But when someone stronger
attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which
the man trusted and divides up the spoils. He who is not
with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me,
scatters. When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes
through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then
it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it
arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order.
Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than
itself, and they go in and live there. And the final
condition of that man is worst then the first.”
There are four things that we must
consider in this parable. First, the strong man in this
story is Satan. While Satan is a strong foe who we can never
resist in our own strength, James 4; 7, tells us how to do
this, “Submit yourselves then to God. Resist the devil, and
he will flee from you.”
The stronger man, however, is God
himself. When we accept Christ into our lives, the strong
man (Satan) is overpowered, and the Holy Spirit comes to
live within us. John 4:4, makes this very clear - “You dear
children, are from God and have overcome them, because the
one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the
world.”
Secondly, I recently wrote a
devotional, called, “The Reality of Neutrality.” The reason
I mention that is because I quoted verse 23 of Luke 11.
Here, Jesus is simply saying that there is no middle ground.
Either you are for or against Him.
There are many things that are
tempting out there in the world, but you have to resist the
strong man (Satan) by yielding to God. You have to let one
who is stronger fight your battles. In other words, you have
to take a stand, all the while yielding to God.
Thirdly, we see the restlessness of
Satan. He is not a passive foe, but he is seeking to
deceive. Like I said above, but it bears repeating, you have
to take a stand. I once heard a saying: “he who doesn’t take
a stand, will fall for anything.” 1 Peter 5:8-9, says, “Be
self controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls
around like a roaring lion looking for some one to devour.
Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know
that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the
same kind of sufferings.”
Fourthly, Re-read verses 24-26 in
Luke 11 - don’t play with Satan. After Satan’s restless
journey, he returns to see if he can come back into his old
abode. Jesus tells us that if there is a vacuum in that
person’s life, that the last state of that person is worst
than the first.
In concluding this subject, I would
say, in Christ, we CAN resist the devil, but without Christ,
we are no match for him. Yield your life to Jesus Christ,
and fill your mind with God’s Word.
In Luke 11:27-28, we read, ”As Jesus
was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out,
‘Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.’
He replied, ‘Blessed rather are those who hear the Word of
God and obey it.’”
Now, let’s look at each verse
separately. Verse 27 seems to be one of the first or
actually THE first instance of Mary worship. I believe that
many times, in not wanting to worship Mary, Protestants have
gone too far the other way. “What do I mean?” you might ask?
Well, simply this: While we are commanded to worship God
alone, we need to give Mary a place in our hearts as an
example that we look to as to what a woman and a mother is
supposed to be.
Without going into all of that,
compare these two Scriptures. Exodus 34:14 says, “Do not
worship any other god, for the Lord whose name is jealous,
is a jealous God.” Secondly, look at Luke 1:48, where Mary
says, “For he has been mindful of the humble state of His
servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed.”
In Luke 11:29-32, we read the
following, “As the crowds increased, Jesus said, ‘this is a
wicked generation. It asks for a miraculous sign, but none
will be given it except the sign of Jonah. For as Jonah was
a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to
this generation. The queen of the south will rise at the
judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them;
for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to
Solomon’s wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here.
The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this
generation and condemn it; for they repented at the
preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here.”
Again, Jesus is reprimanding the
crowds for seeking a sign. Now, however, He brings in three
key figures. These are Jonah, the queen of the south, and
the men of Nineveh. Let’s look at each one, so we can really
understand what Jesus is saying.
Jonah was an interesting character,
but in contrast to Jesus, he did NOT want to go on the
mission to which he was assigned. Compare these verses:
Jonah 1:3 says, “but Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed
for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship
bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard
and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.” Contrast
that with Jesus’ words in Luke 22:42, “Father if you are
willing, take this cup from Me; yet not My will but Yours be
done.”
Also when it comes to Jonah, Matthew
12:40 records Jesus as giving more detail than Luke does.
This verse may shed further light on the subject: “For as
Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge
fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights
in the heart of the earth.”
By being in a great fish, Jonah
foretold the resurrection of Christ.
Now look with me at the Queen of the
south, who Jesus said would rise in judgment. The Queen of
the south or Queen of Sheba is found in 1 Kings Chapter 10.
The first verse of that Chapter says, “When the Queen of
Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon and his relation to
the name of the Lord, she came to test him with hard
questions.” While they are very different persons, the Queen
of Sheba in some ways reminds me of Ruth. They both came
from foreign lands and both turned to the true and living
God. Maybe one thing that Jesus meant here in Luke then was
that while the people of His day were raised with the
knowledge of God, they rejected Him for the most part.
However, these women of the Old Testament, though both
foreigners, accepted Him.
Thirdly, we come to the men of
Nineveh. Jesus not only said that these men repented, in
contrast to most of the people to whom He spoke, but He told
the crowds that He was greater than Jonah who had brought
the message of repentance. Are you running from God today
like Jonah? Do you accept the Lord Jesus?
Luke 11:33-36, is pretty
self-explanatory, so read it with me please, and then we
will make a few comments: ”No one lights a lamp and puts it
in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead
he puts it on its stand, so that those who come in may see
the light. Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes
are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when
they are bad, your body also is full of darkness. See to it,
then that the light with in you is not darkness. Therefore
if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark,
it will be completely lighted, as when the light of a lamp
shines on you.
Jesus is simply talking about focus
here. Is your eye focused on the darkness of the world, or,
is it focused on Christ the light of the world? Keeping our
focus on Christ is extremely important, and it will
determine how we live our lives.
A classic story about focus is found
in Matthew 14; 28-31, “Lord if it’s You,” Peter replied,
“tell me to come to You on the water.” “Come,” Jesus
replied. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the
water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he
was afraid and beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord save me!”
Immediately Jesus reached out His hand and caught him.”
Are you like Peter today, beginning
to sink? Refocus on The Lord! Call out to Him if things seem
overwhelming, and He will take your hand like He did
Peter's.
Jesus wasn’t the traditional dinner
guest. Please read Luke 11:37-44 – “When Jesus had finished
speaking; a Pharisee invited Him to eat with him; So He went
in and reclined at the table. But the Pharisee, noticing
that Jesus first did not wash before the meal, was
surprised. Then the Lord said to him, ‘Now then you
Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside
you are full of greed and wickedness. You foolish people!
Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also?
But give what is inside the dish to the poor, and everything
will be clean for you. Woe to you Pharisees because you give
God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden
herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You
should have practiced the latter with out leaving the former
undone. Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the most
important seats in the synagogues and greetings in the
market places. Woe to you because you are like unmarked
graves which men walk over with out knowing it.’”
When I was a child, I used to wonder
why Jesus didn’t wash His hands before eating. But as I
later discovered, this wasn’t about a lack of hygiene, but
the Pharisee was instead astonished that He didn’t follow
the ceremonial practices. We went in to these briefly in
another lesson, so I will not repeat myself. Suffice it to
say, that Jesus did not only look on the external, but He
looked on the heart. Read what God says about this in 1
Samuel 16:7, “But the Lord said to Samuel, “do not consider
his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The
Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at
the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
Jesus was saying that before these
religious leaders could do anything, they had to have a
change of heart. Read what God says in the Old Testament
that they were extremely familiar with: “I will give you a
new heart and put a new Spirit in you; I will remove from
you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I
will put My Spirit in you and move you to follow My decrees
and be careful to keep My laws.” Lastly look at what Jesus
had to say to the Pharisee who came to Him - ”In replied
Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the
Kingdom of God unless he is born again.”
Jesus told the Pharisees, they were
like unmarked graves, because they were spiritually dead.
They practiced all kinds of rules, but for their reward,
they looked to men’s praise rather than God’s grace. Are you
looking to your own works, or have you let Christ change
your heart?
Let’s look at some other dinner
guests who the Pharisee apparently invited - ”One of the
experts in the Law answered Him, ‘Teacher, When you say
these things, you insult us also.’ Jesus replied, ‘and you
experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down
with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will
not lift one finger to help them. Woe to you because you
build tombs for the prophets, and it was your forefathers
who killed them. So you testify that you approve of what
your forefathers did; they killed the prophets, and you
build their tombs. Because of this, God in His wisdom said,
“I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they
will kill and others they will persecute.’ Therefore this
generation will be held responsible for the blood of all the
prophets that has been shed since the beginning of the
world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who
was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes I tell
you this generation will be held responsible for it all. Woe
to you experts in the Law, because you have taken away the
key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you
have hindered those who were entering.’”
The experts in the Law would
interpret the Law to suit their needs, while making up rules
that were almost impossible to keep. They were putting on a
religious front to cover up what they were doing. Jesus said
that the memorials that they built witnessed to the fact
that their descendants had killed the Old Testament prophets
that God had sent. Because they rejected Him, Jesus said,
that generation would be held especially responsible.
Are you putting on any kind of a
religious front? If you are, there is a price to pay. If you
are doing this the cost might be guilt that is hard for you
to bear. In stead of creating your own burdens, listen to
what Jesus had to say: “Come to Me, all you who are weary
and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon
you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy
and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).
Finally, Jesus left, and this was
their response: ”When Jesus left there, the Pharisees and
teachers of the Law began to oppose Him fiercely and to
besiege Him with questions, waiting to catch Him in
something He might say. When we stop opposing God and start
trusting in Him, we will find the “rest” that Jesus spoke
about.
Thank you for reading this. Please
Join me next time for Luke 12.
Friday Study Ministries
The First Church On The Net
www.FridayStudy.org
www.FirstChurchOnTheNet.org
"While
we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8)
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