Luke11
New Living Translation
1Once Jesus was in a certain place praying. As he finished, one of his disciples came to him and said, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
2Jesus said, “This is how you should pray: “Father, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon.
3Give us each day the food we need,
4and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. And don’t let us yield to temptation.”
5Then, teaching them more about prayer, he used this story: “Suppose you went to a friend’s house at midnight, wanting to borrow three loaves of bread. You say to him,
6‘A friend of mine has just arrived for a visit, and I have nothing for him to eat.’
7And suppose he calls out from his bedroom, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is locked for the night, and my family and I are all in bed. I can’t help you.’
8But I tell you this—though he won’t do it for friendship’s sake, if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence.
9“And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.
10For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.
11“You fathers—if your children ask for a fish, do you give them a snake instead?
12Or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a scorpion? Of course not!
13So if you sinful people 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.”
14One day Jesus cast out a demon from a man who couldn’t speak, and when the demon was gone, the man began to speak. The crowds were amazed,
15but some of them said, “No wonder he can cast out demons. He gets his power from Satan, the prince of demons.”
16Others, trying to test Jesus, demanded that he show them a miraculous sign from heaven to prove his authority.
17He knew their thoughts, so he said, “Any kingdom divided by civil war is doomed. A family splintered by feuding will fall apart.
18You say I am empowered by Satan. But if Satan is divided and fighting against himself, how can his kingdom survive?
19And if I am empowered by Satan, what about your own exorcists? They cast out demons, too, so they will condemn you for what you have said.
20But if I am casting out demons by the power of God, then the Kingdom of God has arrived among you.
21For when a strong man is fully armed and guards his palace, his possessions are safe—
22until someone even stronger attacks and overpowers him, strips him of his weapons, and carries off his belongings.
23“Anyone who isn’t with me opposes me, and anyone who isn’t working with me is actually working against me.
24“When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, searching for rest. But when it finds none, it says, ‘I will return to the person I came from.’
25So it returns and finds that its former home is all swept and in order.
26Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before.”
27As he was speaking, a woman in the crowd called out, “God bless your mother—the womb from which you came, and the breasts that nursed you!”
28Jesus replied, “But even more blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice.”
29As the crowd pressed in on Jesus, he said, “This evil generation keeps asking me to show them a miraculous sign. But the only sign I will give them is the sign of Jonah.
30What happened to him was a sign to the people of Nineveh that God had sent him. What happens to the Son of Man will be a sign to these people that he was sent by God.
31“The queen of Sheba will stand up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, for she came from a distant land to hear the wisdom of Solomon. Now someone greater than Solomon is here—but you refuse to listen.
32The people of Nineveh will also stand up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, for they repented of their sins at the preaching of Jonah. Now someone greater than Jonah is here—but you refuse to repent.
33“No one lights a lamp and then hides it or puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where its light can be seen by all who enter the house.
34“Your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is filled with light. But when it is unhealthy, your body is filled with darkness.
35Make sure that the light you think you have is not actually darkness.
36If you are filled with light, with no dark corners, then your whole life will be radiant, as though a floodlight were filling you with light.”
37As Jesus was speaking, one of the Pharisees invited him home for a meal. So he went in and took his place at the table.
38His host was amazed to see that he sat down to eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony required by Jewish custom.
39Then the Lord said to him, “You Pharisees are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and wickedness!
40Fools! Didn’t God make the inside as well as the outside?
41So clean the inside by giving gifts to the poor, and you will be clean all over.
42“What sorrow awaits you Pharisees! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore justice and the love of God. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.
43“What sorrow awaits you Pharisees! For you love to sit in the seats of honor in the synagogues and receive respectful greetings as you walk in the marketplaces.
44Yes, what sorrow awaits you! For you are like hidden graves in a field. People walk over them without knowing the corruption they are stepping on.”
45“Teacher,” said an expert in religious law, “you have insulted us, too, in what you just said.”
46“Yes,” said Jesus, “what sorrow also awaits you experts in religious law! For you crush people with unbearable religious demands, and you never lift a finger to ease the burden.
47What sorrow awaits you! For you build monuments for the prophets your own ancestors killed long ago.
48But in fact, you stand as witnesses who agree with what your ancestors did. They killed the prophets, and you join in their crime by building the monuments!
49This is what God in his wisdom said about you: ‘I will send prophets and apostles to them, but they will kill some and persecute the others.’
50“As a result, this generation will be held responsible for the murder of all God’s prophets from the creation of the world—
51from the murder of Abel to the murder of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, it will certainly be charged against this generation.
52“What sorrow awaits you experts in religious law! For you remove the key to knowledge from the people. You don’t enter the Kingdom yourselves, and you prevent others from entering.”
53As Jesus was leaving, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees became hostile and tried to provoke him with many questions.
54They wanted to trap him into saying something they could use against 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