THE GOSPEL
ACCORDING TO
LUKE
Commentary by DAVID BROWN
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CHAPTER 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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