Background

Luke chapter 11 verses 1 to 4 - It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples." And he said to them, "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 also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation. "

Luke chapter 11 verses 5 to 28 - Then he (Jesus) said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to him at midnight and says to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him'; and from inside he answers and says, 'Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.' "I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs. "So I say to 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 he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened. Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? If you then, being evil, 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?"

And he was casting out a demon, and it was mute; when the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke; and the crowds were amazed. But some of them said, "He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons." Others, to test him, were demanding of him a sign from heaven. But he knew their thoughts and said to them, "Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and a house divided against itself falls. If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul. And if I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? So they will be your judges. But if I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are undisturbed. But when someone stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him, he takes away from him all his armor on which he had relied and distributes his plunder. He who is not with me is against me; and he who does not gather with me, scatters. When the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and not finding any, it says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.' And when it comes, it finds it swept and put in order. Then it goes and takes along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first." While Jesus was saying these things, one of the women in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, "Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts at which you nursed." But he said, "On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it."

When asked by his disciples how to pray, Jesus replied by what is known as ‘the Lord’s prayer’ that is regularly recited. However, the various phrases were probably meant as a list of topics that helpfully indicate the types of themes to bring to God the Father as part of the conversation with Him (Luke chapter 11 verses 1 to 4).

There is potentially an issue of separation, between the sacred and profane, illustrated by clean and unclean, godliness and sin. This is resolved through the sanctification of the cross bringing us into the presence of the Father (Romans chapter 1 verse 4). Therefore there in an ongoing atmosphere of forgiveness (Luke chapter 11 verse 4).

‘What is the Kingdom?’ is the theme behind these studies. This prayer is calling on the Father to complete the programme. Currently there is a clash of kingdoms (verses 17 to 20). It is bringing what will be in the future closer to the present.

In our relationships - Forgiveness is the driver for change (Matthew chapter 5 verses 23 to 25). There needs to be an atmosphere of forgiveness.

God allows things to happen, He lets things go on in the world. Sometimes His involvement and influence is deliberately minimal. Therefore the wording is not preserve us from temptation but deliverance, ‘don’t let it get into us’, ‘don’t let us follow it’ (Luke chapter 22 verses 28 to 30).

Luke then includes other passages that are mainly found in the book of Matthew in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew chapters 5 to 7 with the extended passage on prayer in chapter 6).

The first parable is about being persistent even when it is inconvenient (chapter 11 verses 5 to 8).

The second parable underlines this (verses 11 to 13). A father will want the best for his child.

Luke gives us the answer (verse 13). Whatever the question.

Later in his book, Luke uses a similar parable but here he is focusing on not losing faith (chapter 18 verses 1 to 8). Persistence is important when it comes to prayer as answers build faith.

Hearing the Holy Spirit is important as God wants us to ask according to His will (1 John chapter 5 verses 13 to 15).

Jesus uses the opportunity to explain that there is a clash between the devil and those who want to rule and God’s kingdom and that there is no division in the Kingdom of God (Luke 11 verses 14 to 28).

Part of the Kingdom of God being established is the removal of the demonic (verse 20).

Here Luke focuses on the crowds response. Later (from verse 37 on) he turns to that of the religious.

The crowds responded in three ways -

There were those who were amazed (verse 14). They knew that Jesus had done something to the dumb man that had resulted in him being able to speak in front of them. To Jesus, this was part of normal life and he does not get caught up in the excitement. When a woman expresses that she wished that her children were able to do such things, Jesus instead encouraged the people to hear what God is saying and put it into practice (verses 27 to 28).

It is important to be able to carry out this work without getting carried away with it, whether it is casting out demons, healings or miracles.

Secondly there were those who tried to explain it away by blaming Satan (verse 15). They referred to Beelzebub, a name that was a local Canaanite god Baal-zebub, meaning ‘lord of the high place’ ( see 2 Kings chapter 1 verses 2 to 6). Jesus equates this god to Satan (verse 18). The idea that this casting out of a demon was down to Satan was just a daft argument.

The rest wanted more proof and asked for a sign (verse 16).

There is debate about how Luke structured his book and there are hints that indicate parallels with the book of Deuteronomy. This passage seems to follow that of Deuteronomy chapter 9. Verses 1 to 4, where God gives them victory over wickedness expressed by the nations can be seen to be similar. In the Old Testament, there is a battle against wickedness, the way of life in the nations. In the New Testament the warfare is spiritual against the demonic and Satan (Ephesians chapter 6 verse12). Deuteronomy chapter 9 verse 10 mentions the finger of God spoken by Jesus as the way he cast out the demon (Luke chapter 11 verse 20). Deuteronomy chapter 10 refers to possessing the land (verses 10,11). Jesus wants us to possess the Kingdom of God.

Luke chapter 11 verses 29 to 36 - As the crowds were increasing, he (Jesus) began to say, "This generation is a wicked generation; it seeks for a sign, and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah. For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. The Queen of the South will rise up with the men of this generation at the judgment and condemn them, because 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 stand up with this generation at the judgment and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.

No one, after lighting a lamp, puts it away in a cellar nor under a basket, but on the lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light. The eye is the lamp of your body; when your eye is clear, your whole body also is full of light; but when it is bad, your body also is full of darkness. Then watch out that the light in you is not darkness. If therefore your whole body is full of light, with no dark part in it, it will be wholly illumined, as when the lamp illumines you with its rays."

Signs

Jesus has already addressed this issue at the start of his ministry (Luke chapter 4 verses 9 to 12 - see ‘A sign’ ).

Here he uses the examples of Jonah and the Queen of Sheba (Luke chapter 11 verses 29 to 36).

Signs are signposts that give directions to a destination. There are many journeys in the bible, Abraham moving his family from Ur to form the nation of Israel, about 800 miles (Genesis chapter 12 verses 1 to 4); the Children of Israel travelling to the land through the wilderness, 200 miles (Deuteronomy chapters 8,9); Jesus travelled about 50 miles to Jerusalem (Luke chapter 9 verse 51).

The important aspect was that each had a clear vision of the destination (Hebrews chapter 11 verses 8 to 10; Deuteronomy chapter 8 verses 7 to 10, chapter 9 verse 1). Each took longer than going directly from A to B as there were lessons to learn on the way, but their lives were dominated by the destination.

The sign of Jonah is a clear reference to Jesus and his death and resurrection, just as being eaten by a whale and released alive after three days (Matthew chapter 12 verses 38 to 42), the Queen of Sheba recognised that Solomon had something special and went to meet him (1 Kings chapter 10 verses 1 to 10) whereas Jesus has something more important and he was there to be experienced.

Signs are something that accompany God’s word to confirm His purpose (Cain Genesis chapter 4 verse 15; Israel Exodus chapter 3, 12 verse 13).

Some people are helped by having a sign (John chapter 3 verse 2, 6 verses 14 to 26). Jesus as a sign gets positive and negative responses (Luke chapter 2 verse 34).

Signs today need to be a confirmation of God’s word expressed in a person (Romans chapter 15 verses 18,19).