Bible Study: Luke, Chapter Eleven
Posted by Dion Todd November 26th, 2017 6,820 Views 0 Comments
Transcript: Today we are going to continue our interactive Bible study and we are going to cover Luke Chapter 11. After the meeting today, or sometime this week, please take the matching quiz at the end of this Bible study. Thanks to all that have taken last week’s quiz. Let’s get started:
Luke Chapter 11 beginning in verse 1 reading from the World English Bible: When he finished praying in a certain place, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples.”
Jesus prayed a lot, and apparently His prayers were different than the other religious people of the day, like the priests, the scribes, and the pharisees. Something about the way Jesus prayed made them want to learn how themselves, as John the Baptizer had taught his disciples. On this particular day, the disciples stood there while Jesus prayed and when He was done, a disciple asked Him to teach them how to pray. It is worth noting that in scripture, Jesus never taught His disciples how to preach, but only to pray. This same prayer is recorded in Matthew 6:9-13, but with small differences so it is not a ritual or an exact formula, but more of a guide.
Long-winded prayers were considered the way to go during this time. The pharisees prayed long, elaborate prayers with lots of big words, while Jesus kept it short, simple, and sweet. I have learned over the years that elaborate prayers are usually meant to impress those listening, and we cannot impress God with our knowledge.
I share a story sometimes about when I was painting a house for an older southern belle, and she invited me in to have lunch with her. After I took off my hat and we sat down, she said a blessing over the food, and I had never heard such words before. This was a plain, simple woman in every way that worked in the garden, but when she bowed her head and began praying, she suddenly transformed into a squire from King Arthur’s court and she began to speak speak in King James English. Her voice transformed and she sounded like a TV preacher. Then she opened her eyes, smiled at me, and her normal spirit returned.
Religion loves long elaborate rituals and prayer. But Jesus and all of scriptures teach us the opposite. A common Jewish prayer of the day began with: “Blessed, praised, and glorified, exalted, and honored, magnified and lauded be the name of the Holy One.” Yet the prayer that Jesus taught His disciples is simple, short, and powerful.
Let's looks at a few scriptures about that:
Matthew 23:14 (NKJV) — Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.
Matthew 6:5 (NKJV) — And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.
Matthew 6:7 (NKJV) — And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.
Ecclesiastes 6:11 (NIV) “The more the words, the less the meaning, and how does that profit anyone?”
Ecclesiastes 5:2–3 (NKJV) — …God is in heaven, and you on earth; Therefore let your words be few. For a dream comes through much activity, And a fool’s voice is known by his many words.
2 He said to them, “When you pray, say, ‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
Jesus teaches us in the model prayer that we are to come to God as a Father in heaven. It was very unusual for the Jews of that day to call God “Father” because that was considered too intimate, and there is no evidence of anyone before Jesus addressing God like this. He also said “Our Father” and not “My Father”.
Hallowed means set apart. It is to say that there is no one like God, He is completely unique. Hallowed be Your name means God’s whole character, His whole person, is set apart from everyone else. His name, kingdom and will come first in the prayer and have top priority.
If God’s will was done on earth as it is in heaven, murder, shootings, violence, abuse, would all be things of the past. This is a simple but powerful way to pray over all of that and more. “May Your will be done on earth” covers all of that, in one short sentence.
3 Give us day by day our daily bread.
Jesus tells us literally to pray for our daily provisions. Many spiritualize this verse and have a hard time believing that Jesus would talk about something as simple as bread, but that is exactly what it means. Jesus knew what it was like to have 5,000 people there with nothing to eat. He understood human needs. Now God may provide through “Mana from heaven” and many other forms of bread, but this literally means “Don’t be afraid to ask God for your needs.” I have seen God become involved in the little things in our life when we took the time to ask Him. There is nothing too small to pray over. Also, this is a prayer for daily bread, not a warehouse of bread at once. “The prayer is for our needs, not our greeds, and He knows the difference. It tells us to take life one day at a time.
4 Forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
Jesus spoke of sin as a debt, and that we are to ask for forgiveness. He also made it a requirement that we forgive others, in order to be forgiven. As far as I know, there is nothing in scripture that tells us that we are forgiven without asking Him.
1 John 1:9 (NKJV) — If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
4…Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’
Temptation here means testing, and God does not tempt men to do evil. Temptation is lot like fishing with a lure. The problem is not that the lure is bad, it is that the fish is hungry for it. James wrote that God does not tempt us, and Paul wrote that God would always provide a way out. In my own life, I can say that has always been the case. God would provide a way out, though I did not always choose to take His advice. We are free to wallow in the mud till our heart’s content.
James 1:13 (NKJV) — Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.
1 Corinthians 10:13 (NKJV) — No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
“Deliver us from evil”: Jesus delivered people from evil spirits repeatedly in His ministry. To me, this is asking God to deliver us from the things that bind us. Continuing on:
5 He said to them, “Which of you, if you go to a friend at midnight, and tell him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, 6 for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him,’ 7 and he from within will answer and say, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I can’t get up and give it to you’? 8 I tell you, although he will not rise and give it to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence, he will get up and give him as many as he needs.
It took a lot of boldness for the man in the story to go ask his friend in the middle of the night; he really wanted and needed that bread. God often waits for our passionate persistence in prayer. It isn’t that God is reluctant and needs to be persuaded. Our persistence doesn’t change God; it changes us, developing in us a heart and passion for what God wants. Most of the time in our lives, when change finally comes, it is because we have changed.
9 “I tell you, keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep seeking, and you will find. Keep knocking, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks finds. To him who knocks it will be opened.
It is not that God is reluctant to answer prayer, it is usually us. See if we pray and God does not respond immediately, there is a tendency to lose faith in God’s existence or that He loves us. “If He really loved us… He would blah blah blah…” Persisting in prayer is an act of faith in itself. It is saying that we know He is there and that He loves us. All three verbs are continuous; we are told to keep on asking, seeking and knocking. Too many times, we send “wishes” to heaven instead of prayer.
11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he won’t give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, he won’t give him a scorpion, will he? 13 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?”
When our children ask us for something good, we would never give them something evil. We can be sure that our heavenly Father will take care of us, and that He will not give us anything harmful. To sum this up, if you pray for the Father to give you the Holy Spirit, He will not give you an evil one. You will receive His Holy Spirit.
14 He was casting out a demon, and it was mute. When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke; and the multitudes marveled. 15 But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of the demons.”
The Jews in Jesus’ day had their own exorcists, who tried to cast demons out of people. But they believed that they had to make the demon reveal his name, or they had no authority over the demon to cast it out. This person was mute and could not speak, so they thought that it was impossible to deliver them.
Jesus cast the evil spirit out, and they were amazed because He cast the demon out without learning its name. Some of them, who were probably jealous, resulted to slander and said that Jesus cast the spirit out by beelzebub, which may mean: “lord of the flies.” In a nutshell, they accused Jesus of casting the demon out by using the power of satan. They could not deny that Jesus had power, so they sought to discredit Him. Isn’t it amazing how nice highly religious people can be?
16 Others, testing him, sought from him a sign from heaven. 17 But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation. A house divided against itself falls. 18 If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul. 19 But if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. 20 But if I by God’s finger cast out demons, then God’s Kingdom has come to you.
Jesus may have used the gift of the “Word of Knowledge” here, He suddenly knew their thoughts. Then He asked them that if He cast out devils using satan’s kingdom, then how were they casting them out? By accusing Him, they were condemning themselves. The display of deliverance power was a sure sign that God’s kingdom was advancing, and satan’s kingdom was getting weaker - The kingdom of God had come to them.
Luke uses the term “Finger of God”, which if you search the Bible 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).
21 “When the strong man, fully armed, guards his own dwelling, his goods are safe. 22 But when someone stronger attacks him and overcomes him, he takes from him his whole armor in which he trusted, and divides his plunder.
I have heard a variety of teachings on this, but to me, the strong man represents the devil guarding those that he has taken captive. The Holy Spirit comes in and overcomes him, because the power of God is stronger than the power of satan. Paul wrote in Colossians 2:15 that Jesus disarmed principalities and powers, that He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.
Romans 12:21 tells us: “Don’t be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Can we let ourselves be overcome with evil? Apparently so. The kingdom of God is not just beautiful words, but the overthrow of evil and rooting it out of our lives completely. It is supposed to change us.
23 “He that is not with me is against me. He who doesn’t gather with me scatters.
There is no sitting on the fence in this conflict. To be undecided, is to be decided for no one can serve two masters. We are on team Jesus, or against Him.
24 The unclean spirit, when he has gone out of the man, passes through dry places, seeking rest, and finding none, he says, ‘I will turn back to my house from which I came out.’ 25 When he returns, he finds it swept and put in order. 26 Then he goes, and takes seven other spirits more evil than himself, and they enter in and dwell there. The last state of that man becomes worse than the first.”
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, and mixture of them all. The spirit that left the man in Luke 11:24 says “I will return to my house.” He called that man his home and he had lived there. At the end of the story, the demon 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 could find none. The demons once begged Jesus to send them into the herd of pigs, rather than be without a home (Matthew 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. But they can be oppressed, be led by it, become friends with it, and begin to cooperate with evil spirits. They can be ridden about as mounts by the enemy. The end result is them acting a lot like that evil spirit would. It may even speak hurtful things out of their mouth. Deliverance is real, and it still happens today. I have been delivered from a few myself, and I have seen evil spirits come out of some well-dressed people in church. The people still marvel and say: “What new teaching is this” 2,000 years after Jesus kick started the deliverance ministry.
If an evil spirit is an alcoholic, then it needs a body to drink through. 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 express itself 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 adamantly refuse to, he will eventually move onto someone that will. The empty house needs to be filled with the Holy Spirit. The demon in the story returned and found the house empty. An abandoned house, soon becomes a crack house, and all the evil in the area will move into it for shelter.
Solomon wrote in Proverbs 25:28 (NKJV) — “Whoever has no rule over his own spirit Is like a city broken down, without walls.” demons come and go as they please. They will use you as a safe house. It is not perfect, but better than being on the street and you will do until something better comes along. Draw close to Jesus, and demons will draw away from you.
27 It came to pass, as he said these things, a certain woman out of the multitude lifted up her voice, and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts which nursed you!” 28 But he said, “On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God, and keep it.”
A woman in the crowd basically said: , “Jesus, You are so wonderful, Your mother must be a very blessed woman.” While not dishonoring His mother Mary, Jesus said that those who hear the word of God and keep it, are more blessed than her.
29 When the multitudes were gathering together to him, he began to say, “This is an evil generation. It seeks after a sign. No sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah, the prophet.30 For even as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so the Son of Man will also be to this generation.
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.
31 The Queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and will condemn them: for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, one greater than Solomon is here. 32 The men of Nineveh will stand up in the judgment with this generation, and will condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, one greater than Jonah is here.
The queen of Sheba, is the queen of the South that came to see Solomon in 1 Kings 10. When she saw the great works that God did for and through Solomon, she praised the God of Israel. She didn’t say, “eh… I don’t know. Show me a little more and maybe I’ll believe.”
We long to see the power of God manifest in our lives, I certainly do. But we should never get too caught up in the signs. Jesus did miracle after miracle, even raising the dead, but most of the people still were not convinced. As we just read, when Jesus cast out an evil spirit and the mute man began to speak, they said He used the power of the devil. Yet here they wanted to see more signs.
33 “No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, that those who come in may see the light. 34 The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore when your eye is good, your whole body is also full of light; but when it is evil, your body also is full of darkness. 35 Therefore see whether the light that is in you isn’t darkness. 36 If therefore your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly full of light, as when the lamp with its bright shining gives you light.”
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. As we walk with Jesus, we will hopefully, carry more and more of His light.
37 Now as he spoke, a certain Pharisee asked him to dine with him. He went in, and sat at the table. 38 When the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that he had not first washed himself before dinner.
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, the container that it was to be poured from, the duration it should be poured, and how high the pitcher should be held when pouring over the hands, and it required washing each hand several times each up to the elbow, before a meal. The Pharisees condemned Jesus for not practicing this elaborate hand washing like they did, the “tradition of the elders.”
39 The Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the platter, but your inward part is full of extortion and wickedness. 40 You foolish ones, didn’t he who made the outside make the inside also? 41 But give for gifts to the needy those things which are within, and behold, all things will be clean to you. 42 But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, but you bypass justice and God’s love. You ought to have done these, and not to have left the other undone.
43 Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seats in the synagogues, and the greetings in the marketplaces. 44 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like hidden graves, and the men who walk over them don’t know it.”
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 who ever lived on earth, 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, the hand washing that they were teaching was “not written” in the law of God.
45 One of the lawyers answered him, “Teacher, in saying this you insult us also.” 46 He said, “Woe to you lawyers also! For you load men with burdens that are difficult to carry, and you yourselves won’t even lift one finger to help carry those burdens. 47 Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. 48 So you testify and consent to the works of your fathers. For they killed them, and you build their tombs. 49 Therefore also the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send to them prophets and apostles; and some of them they will kill and persecute, 50 that the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zachariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary.’ Yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation. 52 Woe to you lawyers! For you took away the key of knowledge. You didn’t enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in, you hindered.”
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 then added on much more.
Jesus said that they loaded men with burdens that were difficult to carry, and that they 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. Then when true messengers of God came along with a simple message, instead of listening to them, they killed them.
53 As he said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be terribly angry, and to draw many things out of him; 54 lying in wait for him, and seeking to catch him in something he might say, that they might accuse him.
From here on we begin to see a lot of the religious leaders turn hostile towards Jesus. They became “terribly angry” at Him. 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 pretended to be, but naked, blind and poor. It was the blind, leading the blind. The problem was that they were leading God’s sheep away from Him, instead of to Him.
1. Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished praying, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as _____ also taught his disciples.”
2. Jesus said to them, “When you pray, say, ‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your _____ come. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
3. Jesus told us to pray: “Give us day by day our daily _____.”
4. Jesus said: Forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. Bring us not into _____, but deliver us from the evil one.’ ”
5. Jesus said to them, “Which of you, if you go to a friend at midnight, and tell him, ‘Friend, lend me _____ loaves of bread, for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him.
6. Jesus said: I tell you, keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep seeking, and you will find. Keep _____, and it will be opened to you.
7. Which of you fathers, if your son asks for bread, will give him a _____?
8. “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he won’t give him a _____ instead of a fish, will he?
9. Or if he asks for an egg, he won’t give him a _____, 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?”
10. Jesus was casting out a demon, and it was mute. When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke; and the multitudes marveled. But some of them said, “He casts out demons by _____, the prince of the demons.”
11. But Jesus, knowing their _____, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation. A house divided against itself falls.
12. The unclean spirit, when he has gone out of the man, passes through dry places, seeking rest, and finding none, he says, ‘I will turn back to my _____ from which I came out.
13. When the evil spirit returns, he finds it swept and put in order. Then he goes, and takes _____ other spirits more evil than himself, and they enter in and dwell there. The last state of that man becomes worse than the first.
14. It came to pass, as he said these things, a certain woman out of the multitude lifted up her voice, and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts which nursed you!” But Jesus said, “On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the _____ of God, and keep it.”
15. When the multitudes were gathering together to him, he began to say, “This is an evil generation. It seeks after a sign. No sign will be given to it but the sign of _____, the prophet.
16. No sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah, the prophet. For even as Jonah became a sign to the _____, so the Son of Man will also be to this generation.
17. The Queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and will condemn them: for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of _Solomon_; and behold, one greater than _____ is here.
18. Now as Jesus spoke, a certain _____ asked him to dine with him. He went in, and sat at the table. When the _Pharisee_ saw it, he marveled that he had not first washed himself before dinner.
19. Jesus said: Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seats in the synagogues, and the greetings in the marketplaces. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like hidden _____, and the men who walk over them don’t know it.”
20. I will send to them prophets and apostles; and some of them they will kill and persecute, that the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; from the blood of _____ to the blood of Zachariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary.