3. The relation of disciples to God the Father 11:1-13

Jesus continued to point out the disciple's proper relationships. Having explained their relation to their neighbors (10:25-37) and to Himself (10:38-42) He now instructed them on their relation to their heavenly Father. This pericope, as the former one, clarifies the meaning of the first commandment (10:27).

This whole section consists of teaching on prayer. Luke presented prayer as a major subject in which Jesus instructed His disciples whereas in Matthew prayer instruction is incidental to other themes. The teaching in the present section of this Gospel gives help to disciples who need to learn how to pray and encouragement that God will hear and answer their prayers. The disciples' request for instruction on how to pray (v. 1) resulted in Jesus giving them a pattern prayer (vv. 2-4). He then gave them a parable that illustrates God's willingness to answer (vv. 5-8), a promise that God would answer (v. 9), and further assurance showing God's readiness to answer their prayers (vv. 10-13).

 The Lord's Prayer 11:1-4 (cf. Matt. 6:9-13)

Luke's record of Jesus' teaching the Lord's Prayer differs significantly enough from Matthew's account that we can safely conclude that Jesus gave similar teaching on separate occasions. This repetition illustrates the importance that Jesus attached to this subject.

11:1 This verse gives the setting for the teaching that follows. This is the fifth time that Luke referred to Jesus praying (3:21; 5:16; 6:12; 9:18, 28; cf. 22:32, 40-44; 23:46). It was apparently Jesus' frequent praying that alerted His disciples to its importance and made them feel their need for His help in their praying. This is the only time the Gospel writers recorded that someone asked Jesus for teaching, another indication of the importance of this instruction. The disciples did not ask for instruction on the subject of prayer. They wanted help praying. Evidently they wanted Jesus to give them a prayer that they could use that would be appropriate in view of their distinctive relationship to God as believers in Jesus. Other Jewish groups, such as John's disciples, had their own distinctive prayers.²⁸⁰

11:2 Jesus' introduction to this prayer implied that He intended the disciples to repeat it verbatim. His introduction to the teaching that Matthew reported implied that He was giving them a model or sample prayer (Matt. 6:9). "Whenever"(Gr. hoten) implies that they would pray this prayer frequently.

Jesus first focused attention on the person of God. The term "Father"(Gr. pater, Aramaic abba) is both an intimate and a respectful title. By using it the disciples were expressing the relationship that they enjoyed with God because of their relationship with Jesus (cf. John 20:17; Rom. 8:14-17; Gal. 4:6). The closeness of their relationship with Jesus is apparent in that they could now address God as their Father as Jesus addressed God as His Father (cf. 10:21). This does not mean, of course, that disciples enjoy exactly the same relationship that the Son of God enjoys with the Father.

"The use of the intimate form was the amazing new thing that Jesus wished to teach his disciples, initiating them into the same close relationship with the father that he enjoyed . . ."²⁸¹

Two sets of petitions follow. Two petitions relate to God's cosmic purposes and three to the disciples' personal needs.

The clause "hallowed be your name"means "may everyone regard your name as holy"(cf. Lev. 22:32; Ps. 79:9; 111:9; Isa. 29:33). God's name is essentially the sum of His attributes, and effectively it is His reputation among people. This petition is as much an expression of worship as it is a petition. It asks God to act so people will regard Him as holy, to cause situations in which they will reverence and obey Him rather than blaspheming and sinning against Him.

"The aorist tense here suggests that a specific time of fulfillment is in mind. This may be the coming of the kingdom."²⁸²

This view finds support in the recurrence of the aorist tense and a specific reference to the kingdom in the second petition. However the first petition is also for the honor of God's name generally. The coming of the kingdom is a desirable condition because it will result in universal blessing as well as great honor for God. If the messianic kingdom had already begun, as some scholars affirm, this prayer would hardly be necessary. This second petition addresses God's program.

This was a typically Jewish prayer so far except for the addition of "Father."Both petitions were concerns of the Jews as they anticipated the arrival of the messianic kingdom.

11:3 The third petition, the first one in the second group of petitions, deals with the disciples' provisions. The parallel request in Matthew has the aorist tense indicating a simple act of giving (Matt. 6:11), but this one has the present tense suggesting a continuing daily provision. The ideas are complementary rather than contradictory.

Matthew's prayer also has "today"stressing the present need whereas Luke's prayer has "each day"pointing to the disciples' continuing need for God's supply. "Daily"(Gr. epiousion) not only means day by day but also carries the connotation of sufficient or necessary.²⁸³This idea may be primary in epiousionhere since "each day"has already expressed the idea of God providing day by day.

"Bread"(Gr. artos) frequently represents food generally and probably does here too (cf. 7:33; John 13:18; 2 Thess. 3:8). Thus it is improbable that Jesus meant that disciples should only request the barest necessities of life. The Jews in the wilderness learned to trust God for their food day by day (Exod. 16:4; Deut. 8:6). People in Jesus' day normally received their pay daily, so they understood this need too. It may be harder for us to remember that we are dependent on God for our daily sustenance since most of us do not live from hand to mouth so literally.

11:4 The fourth petition requests God's pardon. Luke used the simple word "sins"(Gr. hamartia) rather then the Jewish idiom "debts"(Gr. opheilemata) that Matthew employed. The believer in Jesus has already received forgiveness from the guilt of his or her sins (cf. 5:20; 7:47; Rom. 5:1; 8:1; Eph. 1:7). Therefore the forgiveness Jesus spoke of here is the forgiveness that is necessary for the maintenance of fellowship with the Father (cf. 1 John 1:5-10). A person's unwillingness to forgive others who have wronged him or her may indicate that he or she knows nothing of God's forgiveness (cf. 7:47). Conversely one's willingness to forgive other people shows that one recognizes his or her own need for forgiveness.

The fifth petition requests divine protection. This request does not imply that God might entice us into sin (cf. James 1:1-15). Nevertheless God does allow people to undergo temptation (Gr. peirasmos) in the sense of the testing of their faithfulness (4:1-12; cf. Deut. 6-8). This petition expresses the disciple's awareness of his or her need for God's help in avoiding excessive temptation and enduring all temptation. It is essentially a request for help in remaining faithful to God. The unusual reverse form of this petition is due to its being a figure of speech (i.e., litotes) in which the writer expressed a positive idea by stating its negative opposite.²⁸⁴This construction accentuates the contrast with the preceding fourth petition.

 The parable of the persistent friend 11:5-8

Having told His disciples what to pray, Jesus now gave them incentive to pray. He contrasted the character of God and the character of the reluctant neighbor (cf. v. 13; 18:1-8). This parable contains a very helpful and encouraging revelation of God's character (cf. 10:22). Understanding the character of God removes many of the problems we have with prayer.²⁸⁵This parable also encourages disciples to pray in spite of no immediate answers. It addresses the common feeling that prayer may be useless since God does not grant answers as one might expect Him to.

"The point of the parable is clearly not: Go on praying because God will eventually respond to importunity; rather it is: Go on praying because God responds graciously to the needs of his children."²⁸⁶

11:5-6 Hospitality was a sacred duty in the ancient Near East. When visitors arrived, the host would normally provide lodging under his roof and food to eat. The host in this parable did not have enough bread for his guest so he appealed to his neighbor for some. The fact that he came knocking on his friend's door at such a late hour as midnight indicates that this was an inconvenient time for the neighbor. Jesus did not explain why the man came so late, and the reason is irrelevant.

11:7-8 This unusual behavior of this "friend"is understandable since in the typical one-room Palestinian home the whole family, and even often the household animals, all slept near each other. In the parable the host's shameless persistence showed how strongly he regarded his friend's friendship. It shows how much he dared to ask and to expect from his friend. This persistence moved the friend to grant his request. The secret to the host's success was his persistence.

Jesus was contrasting, not comparing, God's attitude with the friend's attitude (vv. 9-13).²⁸⁷God's attitude toward His children is the opposite of the attitude of the friend toward his knocking neighbor. Jesus was not saying that persistence is unimportant. Indeed He taught its value elsewhere (18:1-8). His point here was that if persistence was effective with such a friend how much more eagerly will the heavenly Father respond when His children make requests of Him. God is more than the friend of disciples; He is their father.

 Encouragements to pray 11:9-13