Luke11
New King James Version
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, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.
3Give us day by day our daily bread.
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 one.”
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 many as he needs.
9“So 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, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish?
12Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?
13If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your 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, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.
21When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace.
22But when a 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.
24“When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’
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 nursed You!”
28But He said, “More than that, 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 indeed a 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 indeed a greater than Jonah is here.
33“No 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 good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, 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 part dark, the whole body will be full of light, as when the bright 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.
38When the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that He had not first washed before dinner.
39Then the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness.
40Foolish ones! Did not He who made the outside make the inside also?
41But rather give alms of such things as you have; then indeed all things are clean to you.
42“But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.
43Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best 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 reproach us also.”
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.
48In fact, you bear witness that you approve the deeds of your fathers; for they indeed killed them, and you build their tombs.
49Therefore the wisdom of God also 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 of 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 of this generation.
52“Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered.”
53And as He said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to assail Him vehemently, and to cross-examine Him about many things,
54lying in wait for Him, and seeking to catch Him in something He might say, that they might accuse Him.
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