In the first 13 verses
of Luke's Gospel, in the eleventh chapter, he has amassed some significant
instruction by our Lord on the subject of prayer. Luke, the physician, is regarded as one of
the Gospel writers that brings out the humanity of Jesus Christ. Many consider the key thought in his Gospel
to be found in Luke 19:10 (ESV), "10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost." "Luke includes more than the other
Gospels about women, children, the home, the Holy Spirit, prayer, and praise."[1]
The flow of Luke's Gospel starts with
events recording the preparatory time before the arrival of the Christ through
to Jesus' presentation at the Temple (1:5–2:52). He emphasizes Jesus'
presentation to His public ministry (3:1–4:13) through to Christ's ministry in
Galilee (4:14–9:50) and then to Perea (9:51–19:27). The Peraean area is a
"region east of the Jordan River and south of Galilee that factors
prominently in the ministries of John the Baptist and Jesus."[2] "Perea is not mentioned
by name in the New Testament—referred to instead as “beyond the Jordan” (Matt
4:15, 25; 19:1; Mark 3:8; 10:1; John 1:28; 3:26; 10:40)."[3]
"Jews traveling from Galilee to
Jerusalem usually traveled along a longer route through Perea to circumvent
Samaria."[4] Luke records Christ ministry
as He is travelling this route on to Jerusalem where He will suffer and die (9:51–62). After sending out the Seventy (10:1–24),
Christ is Himself spending time in prayer and responds to a question by the Disciples:
“Now
Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his
disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.”” (Luke 11:1, ESV)
It is then that Luke records Christ's
answer by giving a pattern of praying.
We call this today, The Lord's Prayer (11:2-4). Having stated that prototype for prayer, we
read:
“And he said to them, “Which of you who
has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three
loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to
set before him’; and he will answer from within, ‘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’? I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because
he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him
whatever he needs.” (Luke 11:5–8, ESV)
Probably not a situation we can all relate
to, but one we can certainly comprehend, we find a neighbor needing bread for
the arrival of another friend who will be staying over. Surprisingly this neighbor says, "Don't
bother me." But the needy neighbor
keeps bothering him until his need is met.
Christ's comment on the situation is that "because of his impudence
he will rise and give."
"Because of his ἀναίδεια [pronounced an·ah·ee·die·ah/][5]
– because of his impudence, nerve, audacity, shamelessness, cheekiness,
etc.," Jesus says, "He will rise and give." Now expositors tend to land in one of two
camps with this shameless, bold example:
1. Some see this as a counter-example[6]. In other words: this is how humans normally
respond, but this is not what you would expect from your Father in heaven; or
2. Some see this as a direct example[7]. God responds to shameless, impudent, relentless
requests.
Which is it? Those who would hold to the second viewpoint
rest their case primarily on the immediate context and in particular the appeal
of Christ that follows. “And I tell you,
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.” (Luke 11:9–10, ESV). A study of the verbs in
this appeal will readily reveal that Jesus is call His Disciples to "keep-on
asking, keep-on knocking, keep-on seeking." The verbs are present, active
and imperative. This would support the
"persist theory". Further,
Luke 18:1-8 seems to support that option.
But as noted by Walter L. Leifeld, he writes, "But
since the larger context, especially vv. 10, 13, as well as the rest of
Scripture, teaches God's eagerness to hear and grant our requests, the meaning
persistence has little in its favor."[8]
Perhaps there is a third option that is not
often mentioned. As noted above the word anaideia not only means persistence; it
can also mean shameless. Leifeld
mentions this idea in his commentary, but I differ from Leifeld as to whose
shame we are talking about. He writes,
"The parable would thus mean that just as the man in bed would respond so
as not to incur shame (for having refused the needs of a visitor to his
community), so God will always do what is honorable and consistent with his
character."8
It is the needy neighbor who shows no
shame, not the sleeping friend. This
strikes me was incredibly consistent with New Testament teaching. We note the familiar verse from the Book of
Hebrews: “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that
we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16,
ESV); and again “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the
holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for
us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great
priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full
assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and
our bodies washed with pure water.” (Hebrews 10:19–22, ESV)
James, the brother of Jesus, is referring
to a different Christian experience in his letter, but note what he writes, “If
any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without
reproach, and it will be given him.” (James 1:5, ESV). Notice that James is moved to encourage the
readers that in making one's request to God, God gives generously (ἁπλῶς – liberally) and without ὀνειδίζω ("finding
fault" (NIV); or ("rebuke" (NLT); or "condescension"
(The Message). " He neither displays
reluctance to release His gifts, nor humiliates the needy petitioners."[9]
If my interpretation is correct, why are we
encouraged to go to our Lord in prayer, boldly and shamelessly? What is it in us that sometimes lacks
confidence? Why might a petitioner be
too ashamed to ask? I think that the
writer in the Hebrews epistle would want us to know that our sin is no reason
not to ask. Indeed we can confidently
expect mercy. Nor would he want us to
believe that our inabilities and inherent weakness should preclude us from
asking. We can expect grace.
So there is no reason why the Christian
cannot shamelessly and confidently approach his or her Lord in prayer, as one
who is desperately in need. Jesus says,
“And I tell you, 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.” (Luke
11:9–10, ESV).
The Christ teaches us using another earthly
example[10]. He says that if a ordinary father, who is
sinfully human, desirous of giving good gifts to his children, how much more
will our perfect, holy, loving heavenly Father seek to do more than we can
imagine. Why did Jesus, in His answer, exclaim,
"How much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who
ask him?” [11] When Matthew heard that
phrase he recorded the words of Jesus to be “. . . how much more will your Father who is in
heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:11, ESV). Why would Luke specify the Holy Spirit
instead of just repeating "good things"? Was Luke looking ahead to his corollary Gospel in Acts when the Holy Spirit would be poured out? Is it
that "Luke considers all the good gifts of God to men to be caught up in
the matchless gift of the Holy Spirit?"[12]
Whatever Luke's reason, to me, at least for
now, it is uncertain as to why. But the
point of the passage is clear; of that there is no doubt. As Darrel L. Bock
writes, "At the foundation of all discipleship is trust in the Father's
goodness. He loves to provide for all our spiritual needs."[13]
We are invited then to pray. Prayer is an expectation by the Father (“And
he said to them, “When you pray, say . . ..” (Luke 11:2a, ESV). We are to pray confidently, boldly and
without fear of reprisal or rebuke. We
are to pray expectantly that our Father will never withhold what is good. Calvin wrote:
“We ought to contemplate providence not as
curious and fickle persons are wont to do but as a ground of confidence and
excitement to prayer. When he informs us that the hairs of our head are all numbered
it is not to encourage trivial speculations but to instruct us to depend on the
fatherly care of God which is exercised over these frail bodies.”[14]
[1] Hindson, E. E., & Kroll, W. M. (Eds.).
(1994). KJV Bible Commentary (p.
2007). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
[2] Smith, J. M. (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015).
Perea. In J. D. Barry, D. Bomar, D. R. Brown, R. Klippenstein, D. Mangum, C.
Sinclair Wolcott, … W. Widder (Eds.), The
Lexham Bible Dictionary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[3] Ibid,
[4] Ibid,
[5] Strong, J. (1995). Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Woodside Bible Fellowship.
[6] "This parable is probably trying to
show a contrast between God and the friend who eventually opened the door. God
is more than a friend, and will certainly grant our needs much more readily
than the man who had gone to bed." - Hindson, E. E., & Kroll, W. M.
(Eds.). (1994). KJV Bible Commentary
(p. 2038). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
[7] "As in the case of the friend
requesting bread, Jesus instructs His disciples to make their requests before
God persistently." - Barry, J. D.,
Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Mangum, D., & Whitehead, M. M. (2012). Faithlife Study Bible (Lk 11:8).
Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.
[8] Expositor's Bible Commentary, The, Pradis
CD-ROM:Luke/Exposition of Luke/V. Teaching and Travels Toward Jerusalem
(9:51-19:44)/B. Teachings (10:25-11:13)/3. Teaching on prayer (11:1-13), Book
Version: 4.0.2
[9] Hindson, E. E., & Kroll, W. M. (Eds.).
(1994). KJV Bible Commentary (p.
2586). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
[10] “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 11:11–13, ESV)
[11] The
Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2001). (Lk 11:13). Wheaton: Standard
Bible Society.
[12] Criswell, W. A., Patterson, P., Clendenen,
E. R., Akin, D. L., Chamberlin, M., Patterson, D. K., & Pogue, J. (Eds.).
(1991). Believer’s Study Bible
(electronic ed., Lk 11:13). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
[13] https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/IVP-NT/Luke/Discipleship-Looking-Our-Jesus
[14] http://calvinquotes.com/tag/prayer/#sthash.JkGQRnd3.dpuf
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