Frameworks:
Luke's Gospel, chapter 11
For
preliminaries see chapter 1
v.1-13
Jesus' Teaching on Prayer
v.14-28
Jesus and Beelzebul
v.29-32
The Sign of Jonah
v.33-36
The Lamp of the Body
v.37-54
Woes on the Pharisees and the Experts in the Law
v.1-13
Jesus' Teaching on Prayer
v.1
(the
disciples ask Jesus to teach them to pray) 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.”
v.2
(start with
speaking to Father in heaven) He
said to them, “When you pray, say: “‘Father, hallowed be your
name, your kingdom come.
v.3
(ask Him to
provide your daily needs) Give
us each day our daily bread.
v.4
(ask Him to
forgive your wrongs) Forgive
us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against
us. And lead us not into temptation.'”
v.5,6
(now think of
a friend you know who you ask at midnight to help you) Then
Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to
him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread;
a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food
to offer him.'
v.7
(initially he
will refuse because it is midnight) And
suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don't bother me. The door is
already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can't get
up and give you anything.'
v.8
(but he will
help you because of your boldness) I
tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread
because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity
he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.
v.9
(so keep asking
God and you will get) “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.
v.10
(as long as
you keep on you will get) For
everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the
one who knocks, the door will be opened.
v.11,12
(if your son
asks for fish you wouldn't give him a snake or something else
unpleasant) “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?
v.13
(so if you give
your children like this, how much will your heavenly Father give
you His Spirit) 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!”
v.14-28
Jesus and Beelzebul
v.14
(one day Jesus
was delivering a demoniac) Jesus
was driving out a demon that was mute. When the demon left, the
man who had been mute spoke, and the crowd was amazed.
v.15 (but
‘the opposition' said it was by the prince of demons he did it)
But
some of them said, “By Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he is
driving out demons.”
v.16
(others asked
for a sign from heaven ) Others
tested him by asking for a sign from heaven.
v.17
(that's silly,
a kingdom or household that attacks itself will soon fall)
Jesus
knew their thoughts and said to them: “Any kingdom divided against
itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will
fall.
v.18
(similarly Satan
and his dominion) If
Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? I
say this because you claim that I drive out demons by Beelzebul.
v.19
(so if I'm delivering
people by Satan, how are you doing it?) Now
if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your followers
drive them out? So then, they will be your judges.
v.20
(but if I do
it it's God's rule being expressed) But
if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of
God has come upon you.
v.21
(if a strong
man guards his house, it's safe) “When
a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions
are safe.
v.22
(but a stronger
person can overpower him) But
when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away
the armour in which the man trusted and divides up his plunder.
v.23
(anyone not
for me is against me) “Whoever
is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with
me scatters.
v.24-26
(if an evil
spirit is cast out, unless the person gets cleaned up, more evil
spirits will come back to take possession) “When
an impure spirit comes out of a person, 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 person is worse than the first.”
v.27 (a
woman praisaed him) As
Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out,
“Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.”
v.28
(he said, more
important is he who obeys) He
replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and
obey it.”
v.29-32
The Sign of Jonah
v.29
(Jesus said
the only sign they would get is that of Jonah) As
the crowds increased, Jesus said, “This is a wicked generation.
It asks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign
of Jonah.
v.30
(as Jonah was
a sign, so will he be) For
as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of
Man be to this generation.
v.31
(the Queen of
Sheba [1 Kings 10] will condemn this generation because a greater
wisdom is here than that she came seeking in Solomon) The
Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the people of
this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of
the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom; and now something greater
than Solomon is here.
v.32
(This Nineveh
that repented will judge this generation) 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 something greater than Jonah is here.
v.33-36
The Lamp of the Body
v.33
(light is put
where it can be seen) “No
one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden,
or under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, so that those
who come in may see the light.
v.34
(your eyes let
light into your body) Your
eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are healthy, your
whole body also is full of light. But when they are unhealthy,
your body also is full of darkness.
v.35
(make sure then
you have true light in you) See
to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness.
v.36
(real light
will expel all darkness) Therefore,
if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it
will be just as full of light as when a lamp shines its light
on you.”
v.37-54
Woes on the Pharisees and the Experts in the Law
v.37
(a Pharisee
invited Jesus to a meal) When
Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with
him; so he went in and reclined at the table.
v.38
(but Jesus didn't
wash before eating) But
the Pharisee was surprised when he noticed that Jesus did not
first wash before the meal.
v.39
(Jesus picked
up on his concern; you people worry too much about the outside
but not what you're like inside) 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.
v.40
(God made both
inside and outside and is concerned with both) You
foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the
inside also?
v.41
(check out your
inner attitudes, measure your generosity) But
now as for what is inside you—be generous to the poor, and everything
will be clean for you.
v.42
(woe 1: focus
on tithing but ignore justice) “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 without
leaving the former undone.
v.43
(woe 2: your
pride loves prominence) “Woe
to you Pharisees, because you love the most important seats in
the synagogues and respectful greetings in the marketplaces.
v.44
(woe 3: you
are like unmarked graves, corrupt on the inside) “Woe
to you, because you are like unmarked graves, which people walk
over without knowing it.”
v.45
(a lawyer picks
him up on these things) One
of the experts in the law answered him, “Teacher, when you say
these things, you insult us also.”
v.46
(woe 4: you
lawyers burden people without helping them) J
esus
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.
v.47
(woe 5: you
set up memorials but it was you who killed God's representatives)
“Woe
to you, because you build tombs for the prophets, and it was your
ancestors who killed them.
v.48
(you approve
your ancestors) So
you testify that you approve of what your ancestors did; they
killed the prophets, and you build their tombs.
v.49
(just like God
said you would) 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.'
v.50,51
(so you'll be
held responsible for all the righteous people killed from beginning
to end of the Old Testament) 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.
v.52
(woe 6: you've
failed to teach God's people properly) “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.”
v.53,54
(but they ganged
up against him) When
Jesus went outside, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law
began to oppose him fiercely and to besiege him with questions,
waiting to catch him in something he might say.