Chapter 11
(2021 - The reading plan this year is in chapter order, where in the chronological plan, Luke 11 comes much earlier.)
I note that in the chronological Bible, Luke 11 comes before Luke 9 and 10. In my Harmony, it does not. The Harmony seems to use Mark as the "base", and then links the other gospels to the Mark Chronology. Even so, Luke 9-11 occur in order in the Harmony.
This chapter opens with the disciples asking Jesus to teach them to pray as John taught his disciples. Surely there is an implication here of a memorized prayer that John had taught. I noticed also that Jesus is asked this right after he himself has prayed. Luke gives us a shorter summary of the lesson than Matthew does. Luke only touches on addressing our prayers to God and according to His will, about our daily needs, and about forgiving others.
Luke tells us more about what prayer does than about how to pray. Jesus talks about the neighbor knocking on the door in the night, wanting to borrow bread for his unexpected friend who has arrived, and for whom he is unprepared. The point is that the needy neighbor will keep pestering his friend until he gets what he needs. So we are to "pester" God with our own prayers.
11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? [Luk 11:11-12 ESV]
Then Jesus talks about how much "better" God is at responding to prayers than men are. Even men, who are evil, don't respond with cruelty to those they love. God gives better answers than we can even ask for.
2021 - Or maybe the point of this part is that men don't give "anti-gifts" to those they love. They don't give snakes when fish were requested, nor scorpions for eggs. It does not say that men always give the gift requested, it says men don't get it so wrong as to be cruel and mean. Even men don't do this. There is nothing here about men saying no, as God sometimes says no. The point is that gifts from God will never be mean, even though the answer might be no. Whatever the answer, it will be better for us than men would give.
Possible FB post here.
2024 - Or maybe this is meant to be a refutation of the way Greek and Roman gods were said to behave. Their gifts were capricious in nature, sometimes cruel, sometimes meant to do more harm than good to the petitioner. Even men do not give gifts in this way, and God gives even better gifts.
Jesus casts out a demon that had kept a man mute, and then the man speaks. "The people marveled". Apparently the man had never spoken. But some said this was done by the power of Satan. Others keep quiet to test him, seeking a sign?
MSB says this was all about the "fake" exorcists that existed at this time, with the approval of the doubters. Jesus didn't have a "permit" from the Pharisees to throw out demons - and they were the ones dispensing God's power. Therefore, he must be casting them out on some other authority. Jesus demolishes their reasoning with the divided kingdom analogy. Why would Satan permit such a thing? And if they are wrong, then their rejection of Jesus is tantamount to rejecting the kingdom. Then Jesus tells them that a real exorcist must be more powerful than the demon he is trying to throw out. Jesus is saying that the exorcisms he performs are genuine because he is stronger than they are. Greater than they are. Then in vs 23, he challenges the detractors to choose - with the consequences of their choice clearly laid out.
2021 - This verse: 21 When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe; 22 but when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoil. [Luk 11:21-22 ESV]
There is no implication here at all that guarding your house against robbers is wrong. This is stated as the most obvious thing in the world to do. You protect what is yours...but you can still be overcome.
Is there a post here?
Then Jesus continues with the part about the unclean spirit going out, but later returning with seven others, making the latter situation far worse than the former. MSB says this is what would happen with the fake exorcists. The demon they "cast out" would return after a while. This is because the fake exorcists had no power to keep the demon away, nothing to fill the open house, and keep it guarded from such a return. Maybe the fakes had enough power to insist that the demon leave, but lacked the power to lock the door behind it. Jesus' eviction notice stayed in force.
2024 - If the above is correct, then this is another difference in the whole "demonology" situation at that time. First, there were demons possessing people, and this was recognized by those around them. Oh, Jack has a demon that makes him cut himself might be something they would have said. We don't do that in our culture. We say Oh, Jack hears voices telling him to cut himself. Then from this passage, we see that in Jesus' day there were already people who could truly make the demon leave...they just couldn't make the demon stay away. So are our psychiatrists really exorcists? Does lithium make a body uninhabitable by demons in some way? Or is it just truly that there are no longer any demons running around with the power to possess because Jesus is not in charge? And mental illness is really only mental illness?
We just don't know - or at least I don't - what demon possession in those days was really about. It could be that we still have possession going on, but we interpret it as other things. It never occurs to us that some behavior is caused by demons. Maybe that's what serial killers and active shooters are motivated by? The demons today have better tools to use for evil than they had in those days, or their tactics have shifted with the times. I don't see any reason to believe that they have stopped what they were doing.
2024 - But maybe they hide now. They want to be anonymous for some reason?
The resurrection defeated death. All power was given to Jesus - and that even before he died. Perhaps Satan had a free reign on earth before Jesus arrived, since no one had the power to keep the demons away, (2024 - there was no one able to overcome the "strong man" until Jesus arrived) but after his resurrection, restrictions were placed on what the demons could do? I have no idea. I've not heard of a book on the subject that I would read. Wow...actually did just find a John MacArthur sermon called "Demons and Magic" online. Both audio and text. Bookmarked it. (Later....watched this sermon. It was from the 70's. Didn't really address the questions I had.)
Note also that these verses - 14-26 - correspond to previously read verses, Matt 12:22-45 and Mark 3:19-30. But this Chronological Bible I am reading moves this later. I do notice also, however, that In the Harmony, Luke 11 is many sections later than the accounts in Matt and Mark. So neither of these puts Luke's account with the other two synoptics. In both, the Luke account comes later. BUT, the accounts are very similar, both in the demon being cast out, those present attributing it to Beelzebub, and Jesus' answer to these. The part about the demon returning after a time is in two of these places. The Harmony puts the Luke account by itself. The clear implication is that the Harmony believes these to be two separate occasions. In Harmony's Mark account Jesus is hard pressed by the crowd, and his "friends" come to get him, saying he is out of his head. The account does not talk about any demon being cast out But it does recount the Pharisees saying that Jesus is casting out demons by Beelzebub. In Matthew, (Remember that both Matthew and Mark were written before Luke), the demon cast out is both blind and dumb. The one in Luke is only said to be dumb. So possibly a different demon. Matthew, in chapter 12, does not mention the crowd around the house, nor even a house.
In all three accounts, when accused of casting out demons by Beelzebub, Jesus' first reply is that a house divided against itself cannot stand. But there are variances...but even with the Harmony sitting here I can't get a clear picture. THIS IS A GOOD STUDY, these three passages. They can be printed out, in order, and laid side by side and the wording matched or NOT-matched as the case may be. The Harmony puts Luke 11 way down the line from the Matt and Mark passages. The Chronological Bible puts Luke 11 well down the line from the Matt and Mark accounts also. Matt 12 and Mark 3, though, were read the same day in the Chronological. So...back tracking some...Both the Harmony and the Chronological agree that the Luke 11 account takes place later than the Mark and Matthew accounts - though much that is the same is discussed!!!! Where the Harmony and the Chronological disagree is in putting Luke 11 before Luke 9 and 10. The Chronological does this, the Harmony does not.
2022 - These verses:
21 When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe; 22 but when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoil. [Luk 11:21-22 ESV]. These seem to be driving home the point in another way that Jesus is not casting out demons by Beelzebub. Satan is, I think, the strong man here. Satan wishes to maintain his hold on the world, and is armored up and standing guard over his kingdom on earth. BUT, Jesus is now on earth, and the stronger, and is about to kick Satan out of his palace, and take to himself those whom he has chosen. The spoil are those who would have been lost had not Christ come into the world. That is us he's talking about.
Never noticed these verses before:
27 As he said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, "Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!" 28 But he said, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!" [Luk 11:27-28 ESV]
Jesus says those who follow him of their own will are more blessed than the woman chosen to bear and nurse him. He uses "rather", not saying that Mary is not blessed, but that others are equally blessed. It is not a contest, and Mary is the same as all others in this. She is not "special". She was chosen, as all who come to God are chosen.
The sign of Jonah. It seems that the majority of those who came to see and hear Jesus were there to see the miracles. They had no real belief in him, nor did they care about the kingdom aspects of his message. They were there for a show, for a spectacle. Very jaded and worldly. Jesus says that Nineveh and Sheba had better attitudes, and had their hearts changed by far less, than what these people are seeing, and yet the crowds weren't changing. They were unaffected in their souls. Like those who go and see magicians? They wanted to be thrilled and amazed, but they already know that they are seeing tricks and not real magic. These people were seeing the power of God, and put it in the same category with the fake exorcists maybe?
Jesus talks about the eye as the lamp of the body. If the eye is "good", it lets in the light. There is plenty of light. For the people Jesus is addressing, He is the light, and the power of God is daily demonstrated to confirm who He is. Yet their eyes are bad, and don't let the light in. Their "insides" are not illuminated in their souls, because the light is stopped at the eye, and doesn't come in and light the whole body - complete salvation. Not quite...MSB note says that the point is that the problem isn't with what they are seeing, but with the eyes that see it. They see, but do not perceive. They don't believe that the miracles are divine evidence of the Messiah, and so they miss the person - the Messiah and the truth that he brings - though it is right in front of them. Because their eyes are the problem. MSB says the metaphor in 34 is different than the metaphor about the basket. That first one - which was also in Matt 8, is that there is sufficient truth here to light the whole house, and Jesus is NOT trying to hide it or give it only to the elite disciples. The light is on a stand, for ALL to see and understand. Hmm...even Gentiles can see this light.
2022 - Though I am only 30 pages into "The Christology of the New Testament", I can make a case that Jesus is also talking here about who he is in terms of Jewish belief at the time. He is trying to tell them that the miracles - predicted in Joel - are proof that this is the time Joel was speaking about. He is the one who was to come. The evidence - no...the PROOF...of who he was was right there before them, and if they would only accept that proof, then the light would enter and they would be changed. But their "eyes are bad" and they are not seeing correctly but shutting out the light, and so missing the whole point of who Jesus really is.
Look at this verse:
20 But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. [Luk 11:20 ESV]. This verse is directly connecting the reappearance of "a prophet", perhaps "the prophet" with the prophesy of Joel and others that when this starts up again, it means the end is here. We explain that the events of Revelation did not immediately appear because the Age of the Gentiles had yet to play out. Israel had to receive justice for killing all the prophets, as we see later in this chapter. So the kingdom was offered, the price was paid, but things did not progress to the time of the end - to the 70th week if you will - because besides the events of the Babylonian captivity and 70 AD, the Jews have to suffer, as it turns out for thousands of years, before the promises can be fulfilled. Can we say that since the Jews did not "earn" the promises - the conditional promises - they instead have to pay the consequences before the promises are fulfilled. Hmm...think of this in binary. God made provisional promises to Israel about the land and their place in the world among the nations and the throne of David and so on. These conditional promises were along the lines of "If you are faithful, if you take the faithful route, then all will go well and you will receive. BUT, if you choose the other way, and decide NOT to obey and not to be faithful, then there will be all these punishments and lots of darkness and mistreatment by the world, and once the just punishment is absorbed, once the time has been served, then the promises will be received. Looked at this way, the appearance of Jesus, offering the Kingdom, and restoring the faith, and doing the miracles that signal the end - the Millennial fulfillment of the promises - offered Israel an end to the suffering started at the Babylonian captivity from which they had not yet recovered. But their rejection of Christ - "the prophet" foretold, stopped (there has to be a better word than stopped) the progression to fulfillment of the Millennial and in fact brought on another sequence of punishment on Israel, worse that anything they'd previously endured - because they rejected the Son this time, not just the messengers and servants of the owner of the vineyard.
Could this be right? Is this the way to think about that appearance of prophets and miracles and why it was cut short? Hmm...but it continued, it expanded even with the coming of the Holy Spirit in Acts! They'd rejected Christ, why did the miracles get another entrance into the world? A different kingdom? A Gentile Kingdom? Hmm. If the first part of this is right, then there should be a parallel with the church. Least I think there should.
Along the same line, vss 29-32. A greater than Solomon, a greater than Jonah is here. A great prophet, The one who was to come. Jesus is telling them to open their eyes and ears and understanding and see that he is the prophet to prepare them for the kingdom of God, if they will only see and listen and understand. This makes John the forerunner of the Messiah, the forerunner of "THE Prophet". Oh my! Is this why Mohammad called himself the Prophet? To try and insinuate himself into Jewish theology? Is that the kind of deception Satan was going for when he elevated Mohammad to success and power and spread his "teaching"? I have never heard Islam characterized in this way, but it does make some sense. Enough sense to explore further.
This next section is titled "Woes to the Pharisees and Lawyers", and comes right after the lessons of Jonah, the Queen of Sheba, and the bad eyes. Jesus has already contrasted his audiences' refusal to believe what they see - they doubt their own eyes - and has told them the fault is not what they see but the eyes that see it! Oh my! Posted this on FB today.
2022 - Are the eyes here being used as a metaphor for understanding? For thinking about what they see in relation to the scripture available to them? It is almost like Jesus is saying their minds do not correctly process the information before them. They aren't making the right connections. There is nothing "wrong" with the truth as it is presented to them. It is clear what these events mean. There is nothing wrong with what is "behind the eyes". They have souls and they can be saved by acceptance of what they see. There is nothing wrong with the outside, and nothing prohibitive about the inside. But the eye - or maybe the mind - is in between. This "in between" is where the problem lies.
A Pharisee invites Jesus to dine with him, but is astonished (maybe appalled is a better word?) when Jesus doesn't wash before eating. Jesus uses this attitude to reveal just what is wrong with the Pharisees. He tells them that they are so very careful with appearances, with what they do before others, yet they give no thought at all to what goes on in their heads. He gives tithes as an example. The Pharisees are careful to tithe even the practically valueless common herbs that they grow, but they let injustice flourish all around them and do nothing. They leave the poor to their own devices rather than showing them the love of God. They are hypocrites. Shiny on the outside, filled with sewer.
Then a lawyer (scribe?) who is present gets offended because those who hear the condemnation of the Pharisees might think it applies to scribes also. Like us, this scribe is quick to jump on board the condemnation of others, but rather than examine himself, he wants to distinguish that he is not a Pharisee. He misses the bigger picture. Just the question shows how divisive his attitude is. Jesus answer is not subtle.
46 And he said, "Woe to you lawyers also! For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. [Luk 11:46 ESV]
To the heart of the matter. The scribes are aloof, looking only to the nuances and finding fault in the smallest matters, with no thought of the bigger picture. Little rules everywhere, making it impossible for "normal" people to get them all right, but making themselves "sinless" by their own standards. Rules that they can obey, but no one else can. Using religion to separate, rather than to unite.
Many MSB notes through here. Building tombs for the prophets was telling the lawyers that far from honoring the prophets who wrote the scriptures in their requirements for applying them, they are perverting them and rejecting them the same as their father's despised the actual prophets who wrote them, to the point of murder. They are so missing the point that they are making it impossible for people to even see the real point. They are a hindrance to the work of God, not a help, and this will be laid to their charge in that very generation.
I would previously have said this was about the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, and indeed I still think that is the visible part of this pronouncement. BUT, this is also about the setting aside of the covenants with Abraham, Moses, and David, to be trampled underfoot during the age of the Gentiles. In fact, look at the specifics of Jesus' words:
49 Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, 'I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,' 50 so that the blood of all the prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation, 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation. [Luk 11:49-51 ESV]
It isn't just Abraham, Moses, and David. It goes all the way back to Abel. Every covenant since the fall is about to be laid aside for the age of the Gentiles. Something completely new is about to happen. I think this is a reference to the church - a spiritual kingdom, a corporate kingdom, that cannot be seen or identified in the physical world. Unassailable by physical means, the church will endure. For longer than any previous covenant? Is that why He isn't here yet? Or different because after so long, after the ways of men without the indwelling Holy Spirit have so often resulted in ubiquitous sinfulness, something different is required? And this is the last thing. Once the Age of Gentiles, the church age, is over, the end will come.
This is a turning point. Luke says in part that "after that, they began to press him hard". They are trying to trap him in a violation of the Mosaic law, so they can condemn him thereby. Well...here is the whole thing:
53 As he went away from there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to press him hard and to provoke him to speak about many things, 54 lying in wait for him, to catch him in something he might say. [Luk 11:53-54 ESV]
MSB says the word translated "to catch" is used in Greek literature of hunting animals. This was their attitude. They wanted him hunted down and stopped.
2022 - Vss 49-52 seem to build the case that this is a critical time:
49 Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, 'I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,' 50 so that the blood of all the prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation, 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, 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 have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering." [Luk 11:49-52 ESV]
Can I say that the price had been paid, and the fulfilment of the promises was being offered, and if they were faithful, and turned to God truly, then the Millennial would come. But if they did not turn, then all the sins of all the generations from the beginning of the world would be laid on the Jews, and all this would have to be paid out, served, and endured before the fulfilment of the promises would be offered again. That generation, when Christ walked the earth as a man, was a "critical point" in the plan of God. Their rejection led to the church. The church is a completely different vehicle for the salvation of man.