The Savior for All: Teach Us to Pray
Luke 11 begins with one of the most important requests in the Gospels.
The disciples watch Jesus pray. They have lived their whole lives in a praying culture. They have prayed since childhood. But after watching Him pray, they ask Him:
"Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples."
What follows is the Lord's Prayer in Luke's shorter form, a parable on persistence, and a teaching on the Father's generosity. The chapter then turns sharp — confrontations with those who accuse Him of being in league with demons, warnings against the empty house, and the long woes against the Pharisees and lawyers.
The Savior for All teaches us how to pray to our generous Father — and then warns against the religion that has long prayers but cold hearts.
"Lord, teach us to pray"
In a certain place, Jesus is praying. When He finishes, one of His disciples says: "Lord, teach us to pray."
He says:
"When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation."
This is the Lord's Prayer in compressed form. Five petitions covering everything:
- The Father's name and Kingdom — His glory first.
- Daily bread — provision.
- Forgiveness — pardon, tied to our forgiving others.
- Protection from temptation — deliverance.
Prayer begins with the Father. Not with our list. Not with our anxiety. With Him.
The midnight friend
He tells them a parable. A man has a friend who comes to him at midnight, asking for three loaves of bread for an unexpected guest. The friend inside answers: "Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything."
But because of his shameless persistence, he will rise and give him whatever he needs.
The point is not that God is the reluctant friend. The point is that if persistence works on a sleepy neighbor, how much more on a generous Father.
"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened."
A Father who gives the Holy Spirit
"What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are 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!"
Luke's emphasis here is striking. Matthew has good things. Luke has the Holy Spirit.
The Father's greatest gift to His asking children is His own Spirit. The Savior teaches us to ask not just for things but for the very presence of God within us.
Casting out a demon
Jesus is casting out a demon that is mute. When the demon has gone out, the mute man speaks, and the people marvel. But some of them say:
"He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons."
Others, to test Him, keep seeking from Him a sign from heaven.
He answers:
"Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste. And if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand?"
If His casting out demons is by Beelzebul, then by whom do their sons cast them out? They will be the judges.
"But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you."
The strong man fully armed guards his palace, and his goods are safe. But when one stronger attacks him and overcomes him, he takes away his armor and divides his spoil.
The Savior for All is the Stronger One. He has invaded Satan's territory and is taking back what was stolen.
"Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters."
There is no neutrality with Christ.
The empty house
He warns about an unclean spirit that goes out of a person, wanders through waterless places, and finds no rest. It says: I will return to my house from which I came. When it comes, it finds the house swept and put in order. It brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there. The last state of that person is worse than the first.
Moral reform without Christ is dangerous. An empty house is open to occupation. Only when Christ fills the house is the soul truly safe.
"Blessed rather are those who hear"
A woman in the crowd raises her voice: "Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!"
He answers:
"Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!"
The Savior for All measures blessedness not by physical proximity to Him, but by hearing and keeping His Word. Mary is blessed not first because she bore Him, but because she believed (Luke 1:45).
The sign of Jonah
When the crowds increase, He says:
"This generation is an evil generation. It seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah."
Just as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation.
"The queen of the South will rise up at 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, something greater than Solomon is here. The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here."
A pagan queen will judge the religious establishment. A pagan city will judge the religious generation. Because they responded to less light, and the religious refuse the greatest Light.
The lamp of the body
"Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light."
If the eye is bad, the body is full of darkness. Examine what you fix your eyes on. What you behold transforms what you become.
Woes to the Pharisees
A Pharisee asks Him to dine with him. Jesus reclines at table. The Pharisee is astonished that He did not first wash before dinner.
The Lord says:
"Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You fools! Did not he who made the outside make the inside also?"
He pronounces three woes on Pharisees and three on the lawyers:
"Woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God."
"Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seat in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces."
"Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without knowing it."
A lawyer says: "Teacher, in saying these things you insult us also."
Jesus answers:
"Woe to you lawyers also! For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers."
"Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets whom your fathers killed."
"Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering."
The Savior for All confronts religion that makes life heavier for the people God came to save. As He leaves, the scribes and Pharisees begin to press hard against Him and to provoke Him to speak about many things, lying in wait to catch Him in something He might say.
Closing prayer
Father, teach us to pray. Hallow Your name in our mouths. Bring Your Kingdom. Give us our daily bread. Forgive our sins as we forgive others. Lead us not into temptation. Pour out Your Spirit on us who ask. And save us from religion that washes the outside of the cup and leaves the inside full of greed — empty houses ready for occupation by anything but You. Fill us with Yourself. In Jesus' name, amen.
