Luke11
New International Version
1One 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.”
2He said to them, “When you pray, say: “‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come.
3Give us each day our daily bread.
4Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.’”
5Then 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;
6a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’
7And 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.’
8I 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.
9“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.
10For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
11“Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead?
12Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?
13If 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!”
14Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute. When the demon left, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowd was amazed.
15But some of them said, “By Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he is driving out demons.”
16Others tested him by asking for a sign from heaven.
17Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them: “Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall.
18If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? I say this because you claim that I drive out demons by Beelzebul.
19Now if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your followers drive them out? So then, they will be your judges.
20But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
21“When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe.
22But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up his plunder.
23“Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.
24“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.’
25When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order.
26Then 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.”
27As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.”
28He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
29As 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.
30For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation.
31The 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.
32The 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.
33“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.
34Your 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.
35See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness.
36Therefore, 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.”
37When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him; so he went in and reclined at the table.
38But the Pharisee was surprised when he noticed that Jesus did not first wash before the meal.
39Then 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.
40You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also?
41But now as for what is inside you—be generous to the poor, and everything will be clean for you.
42“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.
43“Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the most important seats in the synagogues and respectful greetings in the marketplaces.
44“Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves, which people walk over without knowing it.”
45One of the experts in the law answered him, “Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us also.”
46Jesus 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.
47“Woe to you, because you build tombs for the prophets, and it was your ancestors who killed them.
48So you testify that you approve of what your ancestors did; they killed the prophets, and you build their tombs.
49Because 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.’
50Therefore this generation will be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the beginning of the world,
51from 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.
52“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.”
53When Jesus went outside, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law began to oppose him fiercely and to besiege him with questions,
54waiting to catch him in something he might say.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Luke 11.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: The disciples taught to pray. (1–4). Christ encourages being earnest in prayer. (5–13). Christ casts out a devil, The blasphemy of the Pharisees. (14–26). True happiness. (27, 28). Christ reproves the Jews. (29–36). He reproves the Pharisees. (37–54).
vv1-4
“Lord, teach us to pray,” is a good prayer, and a very needful one, for Jesus Christ only can teach us, by his word and Spirit, how to pray. Lord, teach me what it is to pray; Lord, stir up and quicken me to the duty; Lord, direct me what to pray for; teach me what I should say. Christ taught them a prayer, much the same that he had given before in his sermon upon the mount. There are some differences in the words of the Lord's prayer in Matthew and in Luke, but they are of no moment. Let us in our requests, both for others and for ourselves, come to our heavenly Father, confiding in his power and goodness.
vv5-13
Christ encourages fervency and constancy in prayer. We must come for what we need, as a man does to his neighbour or friend, who is kind to him. We must come for bread; for that which is needful. If God does not answer our prayers speedily, yet he will in due time, if we continue to pray. Observe what to pray for; we must ask for the Holy Spirit, not only as necessary in order to our praying well, but as all spiritual blessings are included in that one. For by the influences of the Holy Spirit we are brought to know God and ourselves, to repent, believe in, and love Christ, and so are made comfortable in this world, and meet for happiness in the next. All these blessings our heavenly Father is more ready to bestow on every one that asks for them, than an indulgent parent is to give food to a hungry child. And this is the advantage of the prayer of faith, that it quiets and establishes the heart in God.
vv14-26
Christ's thus casting out the devils, was really the destroying of their power. The heart of every unconverted sinner is the devil's palace, where he dwells, and where he rules. There is a kind of peace in the heart of an unconverted soul, while the devil, as a strong man armed, keeps it. The sinner is secure, has no doubt concerning the goodness of his state, nor any dread of the judgment to come. But observe the wonderful change made in conversion. The conversion of a soul to God, is Christ's victory over the devil and his power in that soul, restoring the soul to its liberty, and recovering his own interest in it and power over it. All the endowments of mind of body are now employed for Christ. Here is the condition of a hypocrite. The house is swept from common sins, by a forced confession, as Pharaoh's; by a feigned contrition, as Ahab's; or by a partial reformation, as Herod's. The house is swept, but it is not washed; the heart is not made holy. Sweeping takes off only the loose dirt, while the sin that besets the sinner, the beloved sin, is untouched. The house is garnished with common gifts and graces. It is not furnished with any true grace; it is all paint and varnish, not real nor lasting. It was never given up to Christ, nor dwelt in by the Spirit. Let us take heed of resting in that which a man may have, and yet come short of heaven. The wicked spirits enter in without any difficulty; they are welcomed, and they dwell there; there they work, there they rule. From such an awful state let all earnestly pray to be delivered.
Key Words
αὐτός (autós): the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other persons
προσεύχομαι (proseúchomai): to pray to God, i.e. supplicate, worship
ἐν (en): "in," at, (up-)on, by, etc.
τὶς (tìs): some or any person or object
τόπος (tópos): a spot (general in space, but limited by occupancy; whereas G5561 (χώρα) is a large but participle locality), i.e. location (as a position, home, tract, etc.); figuratively, condition, opportunity; specially, a scabbard
ὡς (hōs): which how, i.e. in that manner (very variously used, as follows)
παύω (paúō): to stop (transitively or intransitively), i.e. restrain, quit, desist, come to an end
μαθητής (mathētḗs): a learner, i.e. pupil
ἔπω (épō): to speak or say (by word or writing)
πρός (prós): a preposition of direction; forward to, i.e. toward (with the genitive case, the side of, i.e. pertaining to; with the dative case, by the side of, i.e. near to; usually with the accusative case, the place, time, occasion, or respect, which is the destination of the relation, i.e. whither or for which it is predicated)
Cross References
Luke 11Direct parallel in the Sermon on the Mount teaching the model disciples' prayer.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole, JFB
Parallel discourse regarding the returning unclean spirit and the danger of empty reformation.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole, JFB
Parallel showing the Father giving good gifts, which Luke specifies as the Holy Spirit.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Parallel account of Christ casting out a dumb and blind demon, provoking accusation.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Parable of the unjust judge exemplifying persistence and importunity in prayer.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The Egyptian magicians recognize the 'finger of God' casting out plagues, matching Jesus' imagery.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Jonah's three days in the whale's belly as the prophetic sign given to Nineveh.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole
Historical account of the Queen of the South visiting Solomon to hear his wisdom.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole
Parallel woe on the scribes tithing mint and anise while neglecting weightier matters.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole
The angel Gabriel's pronouncement of blessing on Mary, echoing the woman's praise.
Supported by JFB
The repentance of the Ninevites under Jonah's preaching, condemning Christ's generation.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Parallel woe concerning building the sepulchres of the prophets whom their fathers killed.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The blood of Abel crying out from the ground, the first martyr named by Christ.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Agur's prayer to be fed with 'food convenient for me', reflecting daily bread.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Verbatim parallel: 'He that is not with me is against me'.
Supported by Matthew Poole