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The Gospels · New Testament

Luke 11

Luke 11: a pattern for prayer, the Beelzebub charge and woes at a Pharisee's table

General context

A disciple asks to be taught to pray as John taught his disciples, and Jesus gives the words beginning Our Father which art in heaven. He follows with the friend who knocks at midnight, the sayings about asking, seeking and knocking, and the comparison of a father who would not give a stone for bread. After a dumb devil is cast out, some say he casts out devils through Beelzebub and others seek a sign from heaven. He answers that a kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, asks by whom their own sons cast devils out, and speaks of a strong man overcome by a stronger, then of an unclean spirit returning with seven others. A woman in the crowd calls his mother blessed, and he answers that those who hear and keep the word of God are blessed. He calls the generation evil, promises only the sign of Jonas, and says the queen of the south and the men of Nineve shall rise up in the judgment and condemn this generation. Sayings about the candle and the eye follow. Dining with a Pharisee who marvels that he did not wash, he speaks woes against the Pharisees over tithing herbs, seats and greetings, and then against the lawyers over burdens, the sepulchres of the prophets and the key of knowledge. The scribes and Pharisees then lie in wait for him.

Cited passages: Luke 11:1, Luke 11:2, Luke 11:3, Luke 11:4, Luke 11:5, Luke 11:8, Luke 11:9, Luke 11:11, Luke 11:13, Luke 11:14, Luke 11:15, Luke 11:16, Luke 11:17, Luke 11:19, Luke 11:21, Luke 11:22, Luke 11:24, Luke 11:26, Luke 11:27, Luke 11:28, Luke 11:29, Luke 11:31, Luke 11:32, Luke 11:33, Luke 11:34, Luke 11:37, Luke 11:38, Luke 11:39, Luke 11:42, Luke 11:43, Luke 11:46, Luke 11:47, Luke 11:52, Luke 11:53, Luke 11:54

Luke 11 (KJV)

1And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.

2And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.

3Give us day by day our daily bread.

4And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.

5And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves;

6For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him?

7And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee.

8I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.

9And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

10For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

11If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?

12Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?

13If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

14And he was casting out a devil, and it was dumb. And it came to pass, when the devil was gone out, the dumb spake; and the people wondered.

15But some of them said, He casteth out devils through Beelzebub the chief of the devils.

16And others, tempting him, sought of him a sign from heaven.

17But he, knowing their thoughts, said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house divided against a house falleth.

18If Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? because ye say that I cast out devils through Beelzebub.

19And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your sons cast them out? therefore shall they be your judges.

20But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you.

21When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace:

22But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils.

23He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth.

24When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out.

25And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished.

26Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first.

27And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked.

28But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.

29And when the people were gathered thick together, he began to say, This is an evil generation: they seek a sign; and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet.

30For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation.

31The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and condemn them: for she came from the utmost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.

32The men of Nineve shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.

33No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light.

34The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness.

35Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness.

36If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light.

37And as he spake, a certain Pharisee besought him to dine with him: and he went in, and sat down to meat.

38And when the Pharisee saw it, he marvelled that he had not first washed before dinner.

39And the Lord said unto him, Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness.

40Ye fools, did not he that made that which is without make that which is within also?

41But rather give alms of such things as ye have; and, behold, all things are clean unto you.

42But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

43Woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye love the uppermost seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets.

44Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them.

45Then answered one of the lawyers, and said unto him, Master, thus saying thou reproachest us also.

46And he said, Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers.

47Woe unto you! for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.

48Truly ye bear witness that ye allow the deeds of your fathers: for they indeed killed them, and ye build their sepulchres.

49Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay 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 unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation.

52Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered.

53And as he said these things unto them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to urge him vehemently, and to provoke him to speak of many things:

54Laying wait for him, and seeking to catch something out of his mouth, that they might accuse him.

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Historical context

The prayer is given as an answer to a request, and the request compares it with what John taught his disciples. The charge about Beelzebub, whom the speakers call the chief of the devils, is spoken by some of the people, and the reply, including the phrase the finger of God, belongs to Jesus. The comparisons drawn from earlier scripture are named without retelling: the sign of Jonas the prophet, the queen of the south who came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and the men of Nineve who repented at the preaching of Jonas. The Zacharias named at the end, which perished between the altar and the temple, is placed in a sequence beginning with the blood of Abel, and the text here does not identify him with the priest Zacharias of the first chapter or explain further who he was. The Pharisee who invites him is unnamed, as is the woman who calls out from the crowd, and the place of the meal is not given.

Cited passages: Luke 11:1, Luke 11:15, Luke 11:18, Luke 11:20, Luke 11:29, Luke 11:31, Luke 11:32, Luke 11:37, Luke 11:51, Luke 11:27, Luke 1:5

Literary context

The chapter moves from asking to refusing to hear. Prayer is taught first, and the two illustrations that follow argue from the lesser to the greater, a reluctant friend who yields to importunity and a human father who gives bread rather than a stone. The accusation about Beelzebub is answered with the accusers' own practice turned back on them, by whom do your sons cast them out? Light imagery ties the middle of the chapter together, the candle not hidden and the eye that makes the body full of light or darkness, and it sits beside the demand for a sign, which is refused. The table scene reverses hospitality. The host's private surprise about washing draws a reply about the outside of the cup, and the woes then run in two sets, the first addressed to Pharisees and the second to lawyers after one of them objects that the rebuke touches them too.

Cited passages: Luke 11:1, Luke 11:8, Luke 11:11, Luke 11:13, Luke 11:19, Luke 11:29, Luke 11:33, Luke 11:34, Luke 11:35, Luke 11:38, Luke 11:39, Luke 11:42, Luke 11:45, Luke 11:46, Luke 11:52, Luke 11:54

Key moments

  1. Lord, teach us to pray (Luke 11:1). A disciple asks after watching him pray in a certain place.
  2. The friend at midnight (Luke 11:5). He illustrates asking with a neighbour woken for three loaves.
  3. The Beelzebub charge (Luke 11:15). Some in the crowd say he casts out devils by the chief of devils.
  4. A house divided (Luke 11:17). He answers that a divided kingdom is brought to desolation.
  5. Only the sign of Jonas (Luke 11:29). He refuses the demand for a sign from heaven.
  6. The outside of the cup (Luke 11:39). He answers the Pharisee's surprise about unwashed hands.
  7. The key of knowledge (Luke 11:52). He tells the lawyers they hindered those who were entering in.

For reflection

A woman praises the mother who bore him, and the answer moves the blessing to those who hear the word of God and keep it. What is being redirected in that reply?

People in this chapter

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