Luke 11

Lu 11:1-13.

THE

DISCIPLES

TAUGHT TO

PRAY.

1. one, &c.--struck with either the matter or the manner of our Lord's

prayers.

as John, &c.--From this reference to John, it is possible that

disciple had not heard the Sermon on the Mount. Nothing of John's

inner teaching (to his own disciples) has been preserved to us, but

we may be sure he never taught his disciples to say, "Our Father."

2-4. (See on

Mt 6:9-13).

3. day by day, &c.--an extension of the petition in Matthew for

"this day's" supply, to every successive day's necessities. The

closing doxology, wanting here, is wanting also in all the best and most

ancient copies of Matthew's Gospel. Perhaps our Lord purposely left

that part open: and as the grand Jewish doxologies were ever

resounding, and passed immediately and naturally, in all their hallowed

familiarity into the Christian Church, probably this prayer was never

used in the Christian assemblies but in its present form, as we find it

in Matthew, while in Luke it has been allowed to stand as originally

uttered.

5-8. at midnight . . . for a friend is come--The heat in warm countries

makes evening preferable to-day for travelling; but "midnight" is

everywhere a most unseasonable hour of call, and for that very

reason it is here selected.

7. Trouble me not--the trouble making him insensible both to the

urgency of the case and the claims of friendship.

I cannot--without exertion which he would not make.

8. importunity--The word is a strong one--"shamelessness"; persisting

in the face of all that seemed reasonable, and refusing to take a

denial.

as many, &c.--His reluctance once overcome, all the claims of

friendship and necessity are felt to the full. The sense is obvious: If

the churlish and self-indulgent--deaf both to friendship and

necessity--can after a positive refusal, be won over, by sheer

persistency, to do all that is needed, how much more may the same

determined perseverance in prayer be expected to prevail with Him whose

very nature is "rich unto all that call upon Him"

(Ro 10:12).

9-13. (See on

Mt 7:7-11.)

13. the Holy Spirit--in Matthew

(Mt 7:11),

"good gifts"; the former, the Gift of gifts descending on the Church

through Christ, and comprehending the latter.

Lu 11:14-36.

BLIND AND

DUMB

DEMONIAC

HEALED--CHARGE OF

BEING IN

LEAGUE WITH

HELL, AND

REPLY--DEMAND OF A

SIGN, AND

REPLY.

(See on

Mt 12:22-45.)

14. dumb--blind also

(Mt 12:22).

20. the finger of God--"the Spirit of God"

(Mt 12:28);

the former figuratively denoting the power of God, the latter

the living Personal Agent in every exercise of it.

21, 22. strong man--meaning Satan.

armed--pointing to all the subtle and varied methods by which he

wields his dark power over men.

keepeth--"guardeth."

his palace--man whether viewed more largely or in individual

souls--how significant of what men are to Satan!

in peace--undisturbed, secure in his possession.

22. a stronger than he--Christ: Glorious title, in relation to

Satan!

come upon him and overcome him--sublimely expressing the Redeemer's

approach, as the Seed of the woman, to bruise the Serpent's head.

taketh from him all his armour--"his panoply," "his complete armor."

Vain would be the victory, were not the means of regaining his lost

power wrested from him. It is this that completes the triumph and

ensures the final overthrow of his kingdom. The parable that immediately

follows

(Lu 11:24-26)

is just the reverse of this. (See on

Mt 12:43-45.)

In the one case, Satan is dislodged by Christ, and so finds, in

all future assaults, the house preoccupied; in the other, he

merely goes out and comes in again, finding the house "EMPTY"

(Mt 12:44)

of any rival, and all ready to welcome him back. This explains the

important saying that comes in between the two parables

(Lu 11:23).

Neutrality in religion there is none. The absence of positive

attachment to Christ involves hostility to Him.

23. gathereth . . . scattereth--referring probably to gleaners. The

meaning seems to be, Whatever in religion is disconnected from Christ

comes to nothing.

27, 28. as he spake these things, a . . . woman of the

company--of the multitude, the crowd. A charming little incident

and profoundly instructive. With true womanly feeling, she envies the

mother of such a wonderful Teacher. Well, and higher and better than

she had said as much before her

(Lu 1:28, 42);

and our Lord is far from condemning it. He only holds up--as

"blessed rather"--the hearers and keepers of God's word; in

other words, the humblest real saint of God. (See on

Mt 12:49, 50.)

How utterly alien is this sentiment from the teaching of the Church of

Rome, which would excommunicate any one of its members who dared to

talk in the spirit of this glorious saying! (Also see on

Mt 12:43.)

29-32. (See on

Mt 12:39-42.)

33-36. (See on

Mt 5:14-16;

Mt 6:22, 23.)

But

Lu 11:36

here is peculiarly vivid, expressing what pure, beautiful, broad

perceptions the clarity of the inward eye imparts.

Lu 11:37-54.

DENUNCIATION OF THE

PHARISEES.

38. marvelled, &c.--(See

Mr 7:2-4).

39-41. cup and platter--remarkable example of our Lord's way of drawing

the most striking illustrations of great truths from the most familiar

objects and incidents of life.

ravening--rapacity.

40. that which is without, &c.--that is, He to whom belongs the outer

life, and right to demand its subjection to Himself--is the inner man

less His?

41. give alms . . . and . . . all . . . clean--a principle of immense

value. As the greed of these hypocrites was one of the most prominent

features of their character

(Lu 16:14;

Mt 23:14),

our Lord bids them exemplify the opposite character, and then their

outside, ruled by this, would be beautiful in the eye of God,

and their meals would be eaten with clean hands, though never so fouled

with the business of this worky world. (See

Ec 9:7).

42. mint . . . rue, &c.--rounding on

Le 27:30,

which they interpreted rigidly. Our Lord purposely names the most

trifling products of the earth, as examples of what they punctiliously

exacted the tenth of.

judgment and the love of God--in

Mt 23:25,

"judgment, mercy, and faith." The reference is to

Mic 6:6-8,

whose third element of all acceptable religion, "walking humbly with

God," comprehends both "love" and "faith." (See on

Mr 12:29;

Mr 12:32, 33).

The same tendency to merge greater duties

in less besets us still, but it is the characteristic of hypocrites.

these ought ye, &c.--There is no need for one set of duties to

jostle out another; but of the greater, our Lord says, "Ye

ought to have done" them; of the lesser, only "ye ought

not to leave them undone."

43. uppermost seats--(See on

Lu 14:7-11).

greetings--(See on

Mt 23:7-10).

44. appear not, &c.--As one might unconsciously walk over a grave

concealed from view, and thus contract ceremonial defilement, so the

plausible exterior of the Pharisees kept people from perceiving the

pollution they contracted from coming in contact with such corrupt

characters. (See

Ps 5:9;

Ro 3:13;

a different illustration from

Mt 23:27).

46. burdens grievous, &c.--referring not so much to the irksomeness

of the legal rites (though they were irksome,

Ac 15:10),

as to the heartless rigor with which they were enforced, and by men of

shameless inconsistency.

47, 48. ye build, &c.--Out of pretended respect and honor, they

repaired and beautified the sepulchres of the prophets, and with whining

hypocrisy said, "If we had been in the days of our fathers, we should

not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets," while

all the time they "were witnesses to themselves that they were the

children of them that killed the prophets"

(Mt 23:29, 30);

convicting themselves daily of as exact a resemblance in spirit and

character to the very classes over whose deeds they pretended to mourn,

as child to parent.

49-51. said the wisdom, &c.--a remarkable variation of the words in

Mt 23:34,

"Behold I SEND." As there seems plainly an

allusion to ancient warnings of what God would do with so incorrigible

a people, so here Christ, stepping majestically into the place of God,

so to speak, says, "Now I am going to carry all that out." Could

this be other than the Lord of Israel in the flesh?

50. all . . . required of this generation--As it was

only in the last generation of them that "the iniquity of the Amorites

was full"

(Ge 15:16),

and then the abominations of ages were at once completely and awfully

avenged, so the iniquity of Israel was allowed to accumulate from age

to age till in that generation it came to the full, and the whole

collected vengeance of Heaven broke at once over its devoted head. In

the first French Revolution the same awful principle was exemplified,

and Christendom has not done with it yet.

prophets--in the New Testament sense

(Mt 23:34;

see

1Co 12:28).

51. blood of Zacharias--Probably the allusion is not to any recent

murder, but to

2Ch 24:20-22,

as the last recorded and most suitable case for illustration.

And as Zacharias' last words were, "The Lord require it," so

they are warned that "of that generation it should be

required."

52. key of knowledge--not the key to open knowledge, but

knowledge, the only key to open heaven. In

Mt 23:13,

they are accused of shutting heaven; here of taking away the

key, which was worse. A right knowledge of God's Word is eternal

life

(Joh 17:3);

but this they took away from the people, substituting for it their

wretched traditions.

53, 54. Exceedingly vivid and affecting. They were stung to the

quick--and can we wonder?--yet had not materials for the charge they

were preparing against Him.

provoke him, &c.--"to harass Him with questions."

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