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| Chapter 11 |
| Bible Text | Notes and Thoughts |
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1 ¶ And it came to pass that as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, one of His disciples said unto Him, "Lord, teach us to pray as John also taught his disciples." 2 And He said unto them, "When ye pray, say: Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in Heaven, so on earth. 3 Give us day by day our daily bread. 4 And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." 5 And He said unto them, "Which of you shall have a friend and shall go unto him at midnight and say unto him, ’Friend, lend me three loaves, 6 for a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7 and he from within shall answer and say, ’Trouble me not; the door is now shut and my children are with me in bed, and I cannot rise and give to thee’? 8 I say unto you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth. 9 And I say unto you: ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. 10 For every one that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. 11 "If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? 12 Or if he shall ask for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?" 14 ¶ And He was casting out a devil, and it was dumb. And it came to pass when the devil had gone out, the dumb one spoke; and the people wondered. 15 But some of them said, "He casteth out devils through Beelzebub, the chief of the devils." 16 And others, testing Him, sought from Him a sign from Heaven. 17 But He, knowing their thoughts, said unto them, "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house divided against a house falleth. 18 If Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand--because ye say that I cast out devils through Beelzebub? 19 And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore shall they be your judges. 20 But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, doubt not the Kingdom of God is come upon you. 21 When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace. 22 But when one stronger than he shall come upon him and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armor wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils. 23 He that is not with Me, is against Me; and he that gathereth not with Me, scattereth. 24 "When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, ’I will return unto my house whence I came out.’ 25 And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished. 26 Then he goeth and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first." 27 ¶ And it came to pass, as He spoke these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice and said unto Him, "Blessed is the womb that bore Thee and the breasts which Thou hast sucked." 28 But He said, "Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the Word of God and keep it." 29 ¶ And when the people were gathered thick together, He began to say, "This is an evil generation. They seek a sign, and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonah the prophet. 30 For as Jonah was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of Man be to this generation. 31 The queen of the south shall rise up in the Judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the utmost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, a greater than Solomon is here. 32 The men of Nineveh shall rise up in the Judgment with this generation and shall condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, a greater than Jonah is here. 33 "No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they that come in may see the light. 34 The light of the body is the eye. Therefore, when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light. But when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness. 35 Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness. 36 If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light." 37 ¶ And as He spoke, a certain Pharisee besought Him to dine with him. And He went in and sat down to meat. 38 And when the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that He had not first washed before dinner. 39 And the Lord said unto him, "Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter, but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness. 40 Ye fools! Did not He that made that which is without, make that which is within also? 41 But rather give alms of such things as ye have; and behold, all things are clean unto you. 42 "But woe unto you, Pharisees! For ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God. These ought ye to have done, and not left the other undone. 43 Woe unto you, Pharisees! For ye love the uppermost seats in the synagogues and greetings in the markets. 44 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them." 45 Then answered one of the lawyers and said unto Him, "Master, thus saying, thou reproachest us also." 46 And He said, "Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! For ye laden men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers. 47 Woe unto you! For ye build the sepulchers of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. 48 Truly ye bear witness that ye allow the deeds of your fathers; for they indeed killed them, and ye build their sepulchers. 49 "Therefore also said the wisdom of God: ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay 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 unto the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the temple. Verily I say unto you, it shall be required of this generation. 52 Woe unto you, lawyers! For ye have taken away the key of knowledge. Ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in, ye hindered." 53 And as He said these things unto them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to press Him vehemently and to provoke Him to speak of many things, 54 lying in wait for Him and seeking to catch something out of His mouth, that they might accuse Him. |
Prayer. Matt 6:9-13. This situation is recorded by Matthew and Luke, neither record when the event happened, through Matthew included it as part of the Sermon on the Mount, whether these were two separate occasions we are not told but there is some indication that they were. Note that the original words used by Jesus would have been in Aramaic but by the time Matthew and Luke wrote their Gospels the prayer would have been in use by Jew and Gentile believers. The disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, It is obvious that the following prayer should be used as a model and pattern for all time, He is teaching what sort of prayer would be acceptable to God. In the Matthew version the record includes warnings about "vain repetitions" (repeating the same words) or pray in a hypocritical manner (like an actor with no meaning). However, the record in Luke comes as a question from a disciple who has just seen Jesus praying, and He starts with the words "When ye pray, say:" indicating that on this occasion this is not just an example prayer. The version recorded by Luke is shorter than that of Matthew but the contents are basically the same. Jesus did not mean it to be said in a parrot-like fashion, formally or mechanically without meaning from the heart. Note that He also said "you pray," This prayer could not have ever been prayed by Jesus, He would have referred to "My Father," not "Our Father", neither would He pray for forgiveness, Jesus was the perfect sinless Son of God, who became sin for Mankind in His sacrifice, but never sinned. v2 "Our Father," Jesus used a child’s word for father, also used in Rom 8:15. It would have been used as part of the family circle, a sign of family love and affection. It also gives an indication in the correct attitude as we approach the Father in prayer. "hallowed be Thy name," the first part of the prayer is to have and give honour and reverence to God, we must have the correct attitude, we are talking to a divine, almighty, omnipotent (all powerful), omniscience (knows all things), pure and holy God. We must honour, worship and acknowledge His holiness. "Thy Kingdom come." We must be willing to submit to the complete rule of God in all matters. It is interesting to note that Jesus told us to pray for the coming of God’s kingdom, it obviously was not present, but also it is a request for His divine rule to become part of the worshippers life. See 1 Cor 15:20-28. "Thy will be done, as in Heaven, so on earth." The will of God in heaven is accepted by the angelic beings without question or objection, the prayer is asking for the same obedience by the worshiper. The prayer has been concerned with the glory of God, now the prayer requests concern the believer. v3 "Give us day by day our daily bread." The Greek words used by Luke indicates to keep giving us our daily needs. v4 "forgive us our sins," is a confession, admitting we have sinned, and a request for forgiveness. We are admitting to being sinners who need the love and divine grace of God. "For we also forgive every one that is indebted to us." We can receive forgiveness only through the grace of God, but we are only able to request for forgiveness if we are free from any anger or revenge for others treatment of us, we are free from hypocrisy and false attitude to others, only when we have forgiven others can we ask forgiveness through the grace of God. "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." A sincere prayer not to sin again after forgiveness, a better way of saying this is "Do not lead us to be tested," God never tempts a believer or non believer to do evil, James 1:13. v5-10 The story of the demanding friend. This story told by Jesus is to show that there will always be an answer to prayer, Jesus has compared a prayer to God on the same level as a request to a friend, the prayer is as to a friend. "Midnight," In New Testament times it was very rare for normal people to be out at midnight, it would have been very dangerous to travel at this time due to the risk of robbers etc. "An old friend of mine, who is on a long journey, has just arrived here." Any one who had been travelling all day and now arrives at this late hour would have been very tired and hungry. Jewish hospitality insisted that this person was cared for. v7 The homes found at that time would not have had separate bedrooms, the father would have locked the door and beds/mats unrolled onto the floor of the house, for the family. Often the father and mother would have had to climb over the children to open the door, hence the words "Trouble me not; the door is now shut and my children are with me in bed, and I cannot rise and give to thee." v8 The continual knocking on the door would cause the householder more problems by disturbing the family, he would therefore get up to supply the needs of the friend. If a human friend will respond to a demanding friend, how much will God respond, without demand from the person. Note, there may be a delay in the response, be prepared to wait. Compare Luke 18:1-8. v9 Jesus tells the believers to "ask" for what you need, "seek" for what you cannot understand or know about. "Knock" so that any problems can be located and removed. v10 Jesus promised a complete answer, with no rejection. v11-13 By comparing the behaviour of a human father, Jesus shows that God is a father who will give His gifts not because a person keeps asking but because He loves His creation, His children. A human father will not give anything evil but will show and act with love, how much more will God respond with love? v14-23 Opposition to Jesus. Matt 12:22-37. v14,15 Jesus heals a man who was dumb and controlled by a demon, Jesus removes the demon and restored the ability of the dumb man to speak. This caused the people to wonder as to who this man was. But without thinking the Pharisees accused Jesus that His power must come from the Devil. The name Beelzebub is a name used for Satan, it means "head or master of the house." In 2 Kings 1:1-4 the god of Ekron had the name of Beelzebul, "the lord of the flies," one of the Philistine gods, this appears to have been changed to Beelzebub. v16 Others demanded a sign from heaven when they had just been witnesses of one. v17-19 Jesus points out the foolishness of their statements, If He did these by the power of Satan then Satan would be destroying and fighting himself. He also asked them by whose power they claimed to cast out demons. v20 By not accepting that Jesus was come with the power of God the Pharisees were joining the side of Satan. v21,22 Jesus is talking about Satan when He talks of a strong man, this man keeps control of his possessions until a far stronger comes, Jesus is showing His greater power by releasing men from the power of Satan. v23 "He that is not with Me, is against Me;" The man is deliberately against Jesus, if you are not helping bring souls to God, then you must be sending them away. v24-26 This miracle is an example of spiritual truth, when evil is removed then a gap or vacuum is left which must be filled with good things, these good things must have greater power or else the space will be filled again by evil and the situation will be worse than before. Only with the power of Jesus can we conquer Satan. v27,28 By calling for a blessing on the mother of Jesus this woman is saying how wonderful Jesus was. Jesus responded by saying He desires acceptance and obedience to His teaching, not compliments. v29-32 The sign of Jonah. Matt 12:39-42. Jonah had been given a task to take a warning message from God to evil Ninevites, he chose to run away and suffered the judgement of God, being swallowed by a large fish. The return of Jonah from death was an example of the coming Resurrection of Christ. This event was to be the sign that the Jews were asking for. v31 The Queen of the South was the ruler of Sheba, a country to the South near Arabia. To make this long journey from this place to meet Solomon showed how eager she was, "she came from the utmost parts of the earth." 1 Kings 10:1-10. Solomon had been given a special wisdom by God, now there was a greater than Solomon. So why were the people wanting to listen? v32 The message Jonah took to Nineveh made the people repent Jonah 3:5-9; Jonah 4:11, a greater messenger than Jonah was now here, Jesus, no one accepted Him. The queen and the people of Nineveh will judge this evil generation of Jews for their rejection. v33-38 The lighted candle. Matt 5:15,16; Mark 4:21,22 No one who has a light puts it in a place which no one can see or use, they put the light where it lights as much as possible, on a candlestick. This verse is an encouragement not to hide the light of God. The eye is the way light information from the world enters the mind of a person, if the eye is damaged in some way the information may not be correct, even a complete failure if the persons eye is blind. Jesus is saying that a believer must make sure that the "light," the information, they are accepting is the true light from God. v36 This verse suggests that a person full of the true light will shine on others. Because of the situation that Jesus was in, when He was making this statement, it is possible that He was also referring to Israel, they had been given the "light" by God but hidden it, or the light from Jesus was being rejected. These few verses are a warning against spiritual blindness to the truth. v37-44 The Pharisees hypocrisy, faking. In the gospel by Luke Jesus is more than once recorded as visiting the home of a Pharisee, Luke 7:36; Luke 14:1. Jesus often seems to deliberately act to cause a discussion. As He sits for the meal He does not wash His hands as was the normal action by the Pharisee, this action was not to do with hygiene but the removal of sinful defilement, make dirty by contact with Gentiles and other ‘sinners.’ See Mark 7:1-5. Jesus shows how much He is against their attitude and teaching, they were busy cleaning the outside of their bodies when the inner thoughts and attitude were full of dirty and sinful desires, they are like a man who washes the outside of a vessel, cup or plate and ignore the dirt inside. God made both the inside and outside of a person and expects both to be kept clean. v41 If a Pharisee was prepared to help the poor, not self centered, then the heart would be more in tune with God. v42 Jesus now gives further examples of the Pharisees failing, with warnings. They are so much concerned with the smallest religious detail, even tithing the herbs they had grown, yet failed to have any love for God and others. v43 The front seats in the synagogues were usually kept for the important visitors or members of the synagogue, they liked to always take these seats and be recognized, respected and greeted in the market place. v44 If a Jew had contact with a grave or dead person they were considered defiled, made dirty. This included a person stepping on a grave without realizing it was there was against the Law. It was a common practice to paint graves white so that they are very visible, Jesus was saying that the Pharisees were like hidden graves and making others dirty when they came into contact with them, breaking the Law by their attitude and teaching. v45-54 Lawyers are included. These lawyers would be experts in interpretation of religious scripture, not necessarily the laws of the country. These men were so concerned with how to interpret the law, loaded the people back with rules and regulations, this load is so much you are overloading and breaking their back, yet never interested in helping. v47-50 The previous generations of prophets and messengers, which were sent by God, your fathers preferred to disobeyed them or even been prepared to kill them instead of listen and obey. But now you are building monuments which are making your fathers more important and heroes because it is easier to build them up than obey the message. God will require judgement of this generation because of your attitude and your behaviour, starting at Abel right through to Zechariah. Lawyers, you have the knowledge, you are experts in the Law and are able to explain what is meant, yet all you do is prevent people understanding and obeying God. The religious leaders were now out to trick Jesus at every opportunity and so accuse Him in someway. |
Easy English Translation
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