1Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. 2So He said to them, When you pray, say: Our Father in Heaven, Holy is Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. 3Give us day by day our bread sufficient for the day. 4And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil. 5And He said to them, Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, Friend, lend me three loaves; 6for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him; 7and he will answer from within and say, Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you. 8I say to you, Though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as much as he needs. 9So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 11If a son asks for bread from any father among you, he will not give him a stone, will he? Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a serpent instead of a fish, will he? 12Or if he asks for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? 13If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him. 14And He was casting out a demon, and it was mute. So it was, when the demon had gone out, that the mute spoke; and the multitudes marveled. 15But some of them said, He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons. 16Others, testing Him, sought from Him a sign from Heaven. 17But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them: Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls. 18If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? Because you say I cast out demons by Beelzebub. 19And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. 20But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 21When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own dwelling, his goods are at peace. 22But when one stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils. 23He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters. 24When an unclean spirit goes out from a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, I will return to my house from which I came out. 25And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order. 26Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. 27And it happened, as He spoke these things, that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which You sucked! 28But He said, No; rather, blessed are those who hear the Word of God and keep it. 29And while the crowds were thickly gathered together, He began to say, This is an evil generation. It seeks a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. 30For as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation. 31The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, one greater than Solomon is here. 32The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, one greater than Jonah is here. 33No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a secret place or under a basket, but on a lampstand, that those who come in may see the light. 34The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is sound, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is evil, your body also is full of darkness. 35Therefore take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness. 36If then your whole body is full of light, having no dark part, all will be full of light, as when the shining of a lamp gives you light. 37And as He spoke, a certain Pharisee asked Him to dine with him. So He went in and sat down to eat. 38And when the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that He had not first washed before dinner. 39And the Lord said to him, Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of robbery and wickedness. 40Foolish ones! Did not He who made the outside make the inside also? 41But rather give alms from what is within; and behold, all things are clean to you. 42But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and all kinds of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without neglecting those. 43Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the chief seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces. 44Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like graves which are not seen, and the men who walk over them are not aware of them. 45Then one of the lawyers answered and said to Him, Teacher, by saying these things You also insult us. 46And He said, Woe to you also, lawyers! For you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. 47Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. 48Therefore, you bear witness that you approve of the deeds of your fathers; for they indeed killed them, and you build their tombs. 49Therefore also the wisdom of God said, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute, 50that the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required from this generation, 51from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the temple. Yes, I say to you, it shall be required from this generation. 52Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter in yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering. 53And as He said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to quarrel with Him forcefully, and to cross-examine Him about many things, 54lying in wait for Him, and seeking to catch Him in something He might say, in order to accuse Him.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 THE DISCIPLES TAUGHT TO PRAY. (
Luke 11:1-
Luke 11:13)
one, &c.--struck with either the matter or the manner of our Lord's prayers.
as John, &c.--From this reference to John, it is possible that disciple had not heard the Sermon on the Mount. Nothing of John's inner teaching (to his own disciples) has been preserved to us, but we may be sure he never taught his disciples to say, "Our Father."
2 (See on
Matt 6:9-
Matt 6:13).
3 day by day, &c.--an extension of the petition in Matthew for "this day's" supply, to every successive day's necessities. The closing doxology, wanting here, is wanting also in all the best and most ancient copies of Matthew's Gospel. Perhaps our Lord purposely left that part open: and as the grand Jewish doxologies were ever resounding, and passed immediately and naturally, in all their hallowed familiarity into the Christian Church, probably this prayer was never used in the Christian assemblies but in its present form, as we find it in Matthew, while in Luke it has been allowed to stand as originally uttered.
5 at midnight . . . for a friend is come--The heat in warm countries makes evening preferable to-day for travelling; but "midnight" is everywhere a most unseasonable hour of call, and for that very reason it is here selected.
7 Trouble me not--the trouble making him insensible both to the urgency of the case and the claims of friendship.
I cannot--without exertion which he would not make.
8 importunity--The word is a strong one--"shamelessness"; persisting in the face of all that seemed reasonable, and refusing to take a denial.
as many, &c.--His reluctance once overcome, all the claims of friendship and necessity are felt to the full. The sense is obvious: If the churlish and self-indulgent--deaf both to friendship and necessity--can after a positive refusal, be won over, by sheer persistency, to do all that is needed, how much more may the same determined perseverance in prayer be expected to prevail with Him whose very nature is "rich unto all that call upon Him" (
Rom 10:12).
9 (See on
Matt 7:7-
Matt 7:11.)
13 the Holy Spirit--in Matthew (
Matt 7:11), "good gifts"; the former, the Gift of gifts descending on the Church through Christ, and comprehending the latter.
14 BLIND AND DUMB DEMONIAC HEALED--CHARGE OF BEING IN LEAGUE WITH HELL, AND REPLY--DEMAND OF A SIGN, AND REPLY. (Luke 11:14-36)
dumb--blind also (
Matt 12:22).
20 the finger of God--"the Spirit of God" (
Matt 12:28); the former figuratively denoting the power of God, the latter the living Personal Agent in every exercise of it.
21 strong man--meaning Satan.
armed--pointing to all the subtle and varied methods by which he wields his dark power over men.
keepeth--"guardeth."
his palace--man whether viewed more largely or in individual souls--how significant of what men are to Satan!
in peace--undisturbed, secure in his possession.
22 a stronger than he--Christ: Glorious title, in relation to Satan!
come upon him and overcome him--sublimely expressing the Redeemer's approach, as the Seed of the woman, to bruise the Serpent's head.
taketh from him all his armour--"his panoply," "his complete armor." Vain would be the victory, were not the means of regaining his lost power wrested from him. It is this that completes the triumph and ensures the final overthrow of his kingdom. The parable that immediately follows (
Luke 11:24-
Luke 11:26) is just the reverse of this. (See on
Matt 12:43-
Matt 12:45.) In the one case, Satan is dislodged by Christ, and so finds, in all future assaults, the house preoccupied; in the other, he merely goes out and comes in again, finding the house "EMPTY" (
Matt 12:44) of any rival, and all ready to welcome him back. This explains the important saying that comes in between the two parables (
Luke 11:23). Neutrality in religion there is none. The absence of positive attachment to Christ involves hostility to Him.
23 gathereth . . . scattereth--referring probably to gleaners. The meaning seems to be, Whatever in religion is disconnected from Christ comes to nothing.
27 as he spake these things, a . . . woman of the company--of the multitude, the crowd. A charming little incident and profoundly instructive. With true womanly feeling, she envies the mother of such a wonderful Teacher. Well, and higher and better than she had said as much before her (
Luke 1:28,
Luke 1:42); and our Lord is far from condemning it. He only holds up--as "blessed rather"--the hearers and keepers of God's word; in other words, the humblest real saint of God. (See on
Matt 12:49-
Matt 12:50.) How utterly alien is this sentiment from the teaching of the Church of Rome, which would excommunicate any one of its members who dared to talk in the spirit of this glorious saying! (Also see on
Matt 12:43.)
29 (See on
Matt 12:39-
Matt 12:42.)
33 (See on
Matt 5:14-
Matt 5:16;
Matt 6:22-
Matt 6:23.) But
Luke 11:36 here is peculiarly vivid, expressing what pure, beautiful, broad perceptions the clarity of the inward eye imparts.
38 DENUNCIATION OF THE PHARISEES. (Luke 11:37-54)
marvelled, &c.--(See
Mark 7:2-
Mark 7:4).
39 cup and platter--remarkable example of our Lord's way of drawing the most striking illustrations of great truths from the most familiar objects and incidents of life.
ravening--rapacity.
40 that which is without, &c.--that is, He to whom belongs the outer life, and right to demand its subjection to Himself--is the inner man less His?
41 give alms . . . and . . . all . . . clean--a principle of immense value. As the greed of these hypocrites was one of the most prominent features of their character (
Luke 16:14;
Matt 23:14), our Lord bids them exemplify the opposite character, and then their outside, ruled by this, would be beautiful in the eye of God, and their meals would be eaten with clean hands, though never so fouled with the business of this worky world. (See
Eccl 9:7).
42 mint . . . rue, &c.--rounding on
Lev 27:30, which they interpreted rigidly. Our Lord purposely names the most trifling products of the earth, as examples of what they punctiliously exacted the tenth of.
judgment and the love of God--in
Matt 23:25, "judgment, mercy, and faith." The reference is to
Mic 6:6-
Mic 6:8, whose third element of all acceptable religion, "walking humbly with God," comprehends both "love" and "faith." (See on
Mark 12:29;
Mark 12:32-
Mark 12:33). The same tendency to merge greater duties in less besets us still, but it is the characteristic of hypocrites.
these ought ye, &c.--There is no need for one set of duties to jostle out another; but of the greater, our Lord says, "Ye ought to have done" them; of the lesser, only "ye ought not to leave them undone."
43 uppermost seats--(See on
Luke 14:7-
Luke 14:11).
greetings--(See on
Matt 23:7-
Matt 23:10).
44 appear not, &c.--As one might unconsciously walk over a grave concealed from view, and thus contract ceremonial defilement, so the plausible exterior of the Pharisees kept people from perceiving the pollution they contracted from coming in contact with such corrupt characters. (See
Ps 5:9;
Rom 3:13; a different illustration from
Matt 23:27).
46 burdens grievous, &c.--referring not so much to the irksomeness of the legal rites (though they were irksome,
Acts 15:10), as to the heartless rigor with which they were enforced, and by men of shameless inconsistency.
47 ye build, &c.--Out of pretended respect and honor, they repaired and beautified the sepulchres of the prophets, and with whining hypocrisy said, "If we had been in the days of our fathers, we should not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets," while all the time they "were witnesses to themselves that they were the children of them that killed the prophets" (
Matt 23:29-
Matt 23:30); convicting themselves daily of as exact a resemblance in spirit and character to the very classes over whose deeds they pretended to mourn, as child to parent.
49 said the wisdom, &c.--a remarkable variation of the words in
Matt 23:34, "Behold I SEND." As there seems plainly an allusion to ancient warnings of what God would do with so incorrigible a people, so here Christ, stepping majestically into the place of God, so to speak, says, "Now I am going to carry all that out." Could this be other than the Lord of Israel in the flesh?
50 all . . . required of this generation--As it was only in the last generation of them that "the iniquity of the Amorites was full" (
Gen 15:16), and then the abominations of ages were at once completely and awfully avenged, so the iniquity of Israel was allowed to accumulate from age to age till in that generation it came to the full, and the whole collected vengeance of Heaven broke at once over its devoted head. In the first French Revolution the same awful principle was exemplified, and Christendom has not done with it yet.
prophets--in the New Testament sense (
Matt 23:34; see
1Cor 12:28).
51 blood of Zacharias--Probably the allusion is not to any recent murder, but to
2Chr 24:20-22, as the last recorded and most suitable case for illustration. And as Zacharias' last words were, "The Lord require it," so they are warned that "of that generation it should be required."
52 key of knowledge--not the key to open knowledge, but knowledge, the only key to open heaven. In
Matt 23:13, they are accused of shutting heaven; here of taking away the key, which was worse. A right knowledge of God's Word is eternal life (
John 17:3); but this they took away from the people, substituting for it their wretched traditions.
53 Exceedingly vivid and affecting. They were stung to the quick--and can we wonder?--yet had not materials for the charge they were preparing against Him.
provoke him, &c.--"to harass Him with questions."
