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Luke Chapter 11

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Luke 11 Outline:
11:1-4 Jesus teaches His disciples to pray.
11:5-8 The friend at midnight.
11:9-13 Asking and giving.
11:14-26 Jesus and the evil spirits.
11:27-28 True blessedness.
11:29-32 The sign of Jonah.
11:33-36 The light that is in you.
11:37-41 True cleansing.
11:42-44 Woe to the pharisees.
11:45-54 Woe to the lawyers.

Fun Facts:
— Word for word, Luke wrote more of the New Testament than Paul.
— Luke is the largest book in the New Testament, and Luke chapter 1 is the longest chapter.

Study Notes:
Teach us how to pray: The disciples were impressed with something about the way that Jesus prayed, and one of His disciples asked Him to teach them to pray like John taught his disciples. The prayer that Jesus taught is a corporate prayer with “our” and “us.”

Jesus began His prayer with the Aramaic word “Abba”, meaning Father or Dad. Jesus showed a intimacy with God like a child speaking to his parent, while the Jews treated God as distant. “Hallowed” means “Made Holy” or “Reverenced.” The word sums up a persons whole character and all that was known about them, not just their name, though it included that as well. It is a prayer that ‘God shall be God, that man shall not whittle God down to a manageable size and shape’ (Melinsky).

Thy Kingdom Come: was the constant subject of the teachings of Jesus. The kingdom of God is near you. A measure of the kingdom exists in the lives of people who submit to God's will, but the fullness of the kingdom will be when the entire world is submitted to God's will on earth, as it is in heaven. This we are instructed to pray for.

Our daily bread: continual short-term dependence on God for our needs. It is never “set and forget.” The further your plans extend into the future, the more worry will fill it. Today is enough to worry to about and has enough trouble of its own.

Forgive us our sins: An unforgiving heart is not in a a condition that can accept forgiveness. If we hold unforgiveness against others, we will also hold ourselves in bondage. Also Jesus said: “but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” (Matthew 6:14). That is clear, to the point, and scary.

Temptation and deliverance: James wrote “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire” (James 1:12–14).

God does not tempt us so it is not God that leads us into temptation. We are tempted by what is inside of us. It is like fishing. You can cast a line into the water all day, but you will catch nothing until you find a fish that is hungry. The problem is not with the bait, but that the fish is hungry for it and goes after it.

Deliver us from the evil one to me means deliverance from the same evil spirits that Jesus cast out. Unfortunately they did not ascend with Jesus and are still here inhabiting people today just as then. We just don’t talk about it. I have encountered them and have seen little old ladies in church fall to the floor screaming when someone mentioned the “Blood of Jesus.” When you feel an anger so hot that it almost takes you over, guess who that is…

The persistent neighbor: Jesus continued on with a parable about persistent neighbor asking for bread. The one who had the bread was apparently a poor man living in a one room house where the family slept on one platform together, because his children were with him in bed. He could not get up with disturbing the whole family. The neighbor, however, was persistent and would not go away, nor would he let his friend go back to sleep. Finally he got up and gave him what he asked.

The meaning is that prayer must be persistent. If we do not want what we are asking for enough to be persistent, we do not want it very much. We must not play at prayer, but when we do not receive the answer immediately, stay after it. We must keep on praying, keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking.

People ought not to think of God as unwilling to give. He is always ready to give good gifts to his people, but it is important that they do their part by asking. Jesus does not say and does not mean that, if we pray, we will always get exactly what we ask for. After all, ‘No’ is just as definite an answer as ‘Yes’. He is saying that true prayer is neither unheard nor unheeded. It is always answered in the way God sees is best. (Leon Morris, Luke: An Introduction and Commentary)

The evil spirits: An intricate part of the ministry of Jesus was casting out evil spirits. Time and time again Jesus dealt with evil spirits and when he sent out His disciples, they dealt with them (Luke 10:20), as did the apostles later (Acts 16:18). Often the people with the spirits were sick or disabled in some way. In this verse the man was mute and could not speak, but when Jesus cast out the evil spirit, the man spoke freely.

No one doubted that Jesus had power over the evil spirits, even his enemies. Though they did try and discredit Him by saying that He worked for the devil instead of using the power of God. The scribes and pharisees used the name “beelzebub” meaning “Lord of the Flies.” Jesus explained that a house divided against itself cannot stand, and satan will not cast out satan. It is good versus evil, not good versus good and evil versus evil.

Luke uses the term “Finger of God.” This term first appears in Exodus 8:19 when Aaron turned the dust into gnats and the Egyptian magicians could not. The ten commandments were also written by the “Finger of God” (Ex 31:18).

The strong man to me represents the devil guarding those that he has taken captive, but the power of God comes in and overcomes him, because the power of God is stronger. “Don’t be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:21).

The kingdom of God is not beautiful words, but the overthrow of evil and rooting it out of our lives completely. There is no neutrality in this after you know about the kingdom. You either help gather the sheep into the fold or you help scatter them.

Some theology: We are are a three part being, with a spirit, a soul, and a body. Our spirit comes from God and will return to Him (Eccl 12:7). It is the “breath of life” that God breathed into Adam (Gen 2:7). Our soul is our mind, will and emotions. They live inside of a body, which is like a house.

Our body is a container, a house. It contains our spirit. It can contain the Holy Spirit. It can contain evil spirits. It can contain several of them at once. The spirit that left the man in Luke 11:24 says “I will return to my house.” He called it his home and lived there. At the end of the story, he had brought seven more spirits more wicked than himself, and all eight lived in “his house.” The evil spirits lived inside of the man. Jesus often cast them “out of the man.” Spirits do not like being outside of a body, this one walked through dry places seeking rest, but finding none. The demons once begged Jesus to send them into the herd of pigs rather than be without a home (Matt 8:31).

Deliverance is nothing to be ashamed of and Christians are never “possessed” by evil spirits. Possession refers to ownership and a Christian cannot be owned by the devil. They can, however, be oppressed, be led by it, become friends with it, and begin to cooperate with evil spirits. The end result is them acting a lot like that evil spirit. Deliverance is real, it still happens today, I have been delivered from a few myself and I have seen evil spirits come out of well dressed people in church. The people still marvel and say “what new teaching is this” 2,000 years after Jesus kickstarted the deliverance ministry.

If an evil spirit is an alcoholic, then it needs a body to drink. If it is a perverted spirit, it needs a body to use for that. If it is a spirit of hate, or anger, or jealousy, then it needs a body to operate through. How do you get rid of it? Well one way is by following what James said: “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7).

There is a certain amount of self-centeredness and unfaithfulness in the kingdom of evil. If a spirit wants to drink, but you will refuse to, he will eventually move onto someone that will. The empty house needs to be filled with the Holy Spirit. An abandoned house, soon becomes a crack house and all the evil in the area will move into it. It is not perfect, but better than being on the street and will work until something better comes along.

The sign of the prophet Jonah: As Jonah was in the great fish and reappeared after three days, Jesus would be dead and reappear on the third day. Though the people of Nineveh repented after hearing the preaching of Jonah, these people would not repent at the preaching of Jesus which was greater. Therefore, the people of Nineveh would even condemn this generation.

The light that is within you: The function of a light is to shine. No one lights a lamp and then tries to hide it. The idea that your body can be full of light, having no part dark tells me that your body could have light in some areas, and darkness in others. We are a work in progress and it is not all or nothing. You did not accomplish everything when you first accepted Jesus. What about the take up your cross and follow Me? It was only the beginning of a journey.

Eating at the Pharisees house: The Pharisees like the one in this scripture were a strict religious sect that followed the written law of Moses, but also an oral law called the “oral Torah.” They believed the written law was incomplete and so unwritten traditions were debated, refined, and expanded on. Rules were created to prevent Jews from breaking the law, and then that became taught alongside the law. This was passed down through the generations as the word from God.

They developed an extremely elaborate tradition for hand washing from a single verse, Leviticus 15:11, which spoke of washing your hands after a bodily discharge, which I happen to agree with. Soon they had laws about the purity and color of the water, what it was to be poured from, how it was to be poured over the hands, and required washing each hand several times each up to the elbow.

The Pharisees condemned Jesus for not practicing this hand washing, the “tradition of the elders.” Jesus knew the word of God, He was the word of God (John 1:1). When Jesus had to face satan, His weapon was “It is written.” The Word is our weapon and is only as powerful as your knowledge of the Word. Jesus who knew the word better than anyone called these pharisees hypocrites, actors. Jesus’ point was that no amount of external washing would make them clean for their defilement came from the inside, and besides, what they were teaching was “not written.”

You insult us also: One of the lawyers answered him, “Teacher, in saying this you insult us also.” (Luke 11:45). It is not clear why the lawyer (scribe) thought that the words of Jesus were not meant to apply to him. Maybe no one ever talked to them like that before. But Jesus went on to make it very clear that He was talking about them and added on much more.

Jesus said that they loaded men with burdens that were difficult to carry and would not lift one finger to help them. Think of the hand washing rules above. The scribes and pharisees had institutionalized religion and made it a massive set of rules that no one could bear. When true messengers of God came along, instead of listening to them, they killed them.

They listened intently and asked Jesus trick questions so they might have something to accuse Him of or catch Him in something that He said. They hated the pure word of God because like looking in a mirror, it revealed who they really were. They were not the saved and sanctified religious leaders they thought, but naked, blind and poor. 

Study Questions: (if your answers are very long, you may want to type them first in something like Word or Notepad, which doesn't require an Internet connection, then copy and paste (Ctrl-A to select, Ctrl-C to copy, Ctrl-V to paste), to prevent mishaps. Also, there is a 3K character limit, so if they are super long, feel free to post more than once, and just answer a couple of questions at a time. You are also welcome to post any questions you may have. We look forward to your thoughts!)

1. In Luke 11:1, Jesus taught His disciples how to pray. In what ways can we be sure we keep a consistent prayer life?

2. Jesus said, “If you 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!” In what ways has God shown His goodness in your life?

3. When Jesus cast the demon of muteness from a man, there were those who accused him of doing the work of Beelzebul, the prince of demons. We can likewise expect criticisms when we step out to witness and do His work. What are ways that can we strengthen ourselves to stand against such attacks?

4. In Luke 11:28, Jesus said that those who “hear the Word of God and keep it” are blessed. In what ways has God spoken to you and how might we improve our spiritual ears?

5. Jesus said, in Luke 11:33, to put our light on a stand for people to see, rather than hide it. What are some ways that we can let this light, e.g., the wisdom, knowledge, gifts, and abilities, that God has given us, shine and glorify our Lord?