Bible Study series: Luke 11:5-13. Many times for the same need! You have to persist in your request, being grateful to God for even allowing you to enter his throne room to receive mercy and grace and help in your time of need.
Friendly greetings and a warm welcome to this Bible study! I write to learn, so let’s learn together.
I also translate to learn. The translations are mine, unless otherwise noted. If you would like to see many others, please click here:
In the next link to the original chapter, I comment more and offer the Greek text. At the bottom you will find a “Summary and Conclusion” section geared toward discipleship. Check it out!
In this post, links are provided for further study.
Let’s begin.
Scripture: Luke 11:5-13
5 He also said to them: “Who of you has a friend and goes to him in the middle of the night and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, 6 since my friend has traveled and arrived at my place, and I don’t have anything I can lay out for him!’ 7 And the other man answered from inside and told him, ‘Don’t bother me! The door is already shut and my children are in bed! I’m unable to get up and give you anything!’” 8 I tell you that if he does not get up to give him anything because he is his friend, then at least he will get up and give him as much as he needs because of his shameless audacity!”
9 I also tell you, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who seeks receives; and the one who seeks will find, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 11 Your son asks for a fish, and which father among you will give him a snake instead of a fish 12 or asks for an egg, and give him a scorpion? 13 If then you, though you are bad, know to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:5-13)
Comments:
So what is a parable?
Literally, the word parable (parabolē in Greek) combines para– (pronounced pah-rah and means “alongside”) and bolē (pronounced boh-lay and means “put” or even “throw”). Therefore, a parable puts two or more images or ideas alongside each other to produce a clear truth. It is a story or narrative or short comparison that reveals the kingdom of God and the right way to live in it and the Father’s ways of dealing with humanity and his divine plan expressed in his kingdom and life generally. The Shorter Lexicon says that the Greek word parabolē can sometimes be translated as “symbol,” “type,” “figure,” and “illustration,” the latter term being virtually synonymous with parable. Here you must see yourself in the parable.
5-7:
This is an illustration of opposites or contrast. The churlish neighbor is unlike your generous, heavenly Father. The Greek construction says that we should conclude that the neighbor is unreasonable and should not act the way he is described in the illustration, like this:
Churlish Neighbor ≠ Generous Heavenly Father
Further, Jesus is making the point that boldness and persistence will win in prayer. Why do we need to keep praying? That requires a long, complicated answer. Here it is, too briefly laid out: (1) wait for circumstances to align, which takes time; (2) learn the differences between the heavenly realm and the earthly realm, to know how things work; you have to learn how the two realms work; (3) fight to bring down the heavenly kingdom on earth; (4) break Satanic interference; (5) develop our character to wait; (6) stop our desperation and whining and anxiety; (7) cultivate calm, confident faith and trust in our loving Father; (8) develop our intimacy with the Father by continuous prayer and fellowship with him; (9) have persistent, persevering faith; (10) enjoy community involvement; (11) have the deepest joy and appreciation for the Father and his answer, when the answer at long last comes. Let’s not get spoiled with instant gratification. (12) Surrender our desires to God, to check them in at the door. Are really praying in his will or our own? Surrender yours to him.
“The hearer of the parable is not to imagine himself as the man in bed but as the visitor” (Liefeld and Pao, p. 207).
Now let’s look at Jesus’s illustration itself.
It feels like the subject in this illustration is you, but it is your friend who goes to his neighbor. But if we tweak things a little bit, you are the one who goes to the neighbor because you have an unexpected midnight visitor. You can see yourself in the illustration.
And the custom of the day demanded that your friend take care of the traveler, who was probably walking, not riding on a mount (but we don’t know for sure). But the visitor is unexpected, and your friend does not have enough food to lay out for him, so he has to go to his neighbor for help. Three loaves of bread could have easily fed one man, but apparently the unplanned visitor was going to stay a while. The verses are silent as to whether the traveler was with other friends, which happened more often than a lone traveler. But let’s not get distracted away from the main point of the story (v. 8), by details that are not provided for us.
“children are in bed”: it literally reads, “The children are in bed with me” “or my children are with me in bed.” The NET translator and commentator on Luke points out that when Jesus taught, the family slept in the same room, but in different beds. I add: in the pioneer days in America, they hung a blanket between the girls and the boys and the parents who owned a one room house.
Then your friend’s neighbor is churlish and irritated. The neighbor said that the door is locked and all the children is in bed. “So go away! I’m unable to get up to give you anything!” How would you respond if you were the seeker? You should be shameless in your asking. The implication is that you ask again. That’s why other translations in v. 8 say “persistence.”
8:
This verse is the central point to the illustration. If your churlish neighbor does not immediately lend you three loaves of bread because he is your friend, then he will lend them because of your extra-boldness or shamelessness. The reasoning goes from the minor (churlish neighbor) to the major (Generous Father).
The Generous Father ∞> Churlish neighbor
The Father is infinitely greater than / better than the churlish neighbor.
The symbol ∞ means “infinity.”
“shameless audacity”: The NIV correctly and insightfully translates the term like that. It is the noun that appears only here in the NT. The Shorter Lexicon says “persistence,” but the Greek noun should literally be translated as shamelessness and audacity. This part of the world was shame-and-honor based. Sometimes you have to be shameless and extra-bold and audacious when you pray. So the theological point is that God is much more generous than the stingy neighbor who has three loaves, and God likes bold prayer. He will quickly “get up” and give you as much as you need. You must break down your accustomed way of approaching God in prayer and go bold (John 14:13-14). He is not contemptuous or churlish towards your prayers for your needs. He is generous and willing to give whatever you need—much more than three loaves of bread. However, you must pray according to his will and keep within his will by obeying his commands and living in the Spirit, as opposed to your own self-centered mind (1 John 3:22-24).
To repeat the main message so far, your generous heavenly Father will answer your prayers because he is your friend. The lesson is that he wants you to pray boldly and shamelessly, not with shyness and false humility. “Oh, I don’t want to bother God with my puny needs and requests. He’s too busy running the universe.” No. God, who is your friend, is never too busy to answer your smallest need and request. A woman, unknown to me, emailed me and said her friend was being drawn into Islam, so what should the emailer do? I told her to pray that God would open her eyes to the truth in Christ. She replied, “Can I do that?” Yes! Go bold or go home!
God, who is your friend, loves “shameless,” bold, audacious, “go-for-it” prayers.
Garland:
The point of the parable moves from the lesser to the greater. If a friend grants your request in the middle of the night, even though he is asleep and tempted to put you off with the weakest of excuses, he will respond out of a desire to keep his name from shame if not from friendship. How much more readily, then, will a loving God respond to prayer? But the parable also ties into the first petition of the Lord’s Prayer for God to sanctify his name. God also has a name and reputation to preserve, who makes makes a name for himself by redeeming his people and doing great and awesome things for them (2 Sam 7:23). (comment on v. 8).
Bock adds a great insight: “The point of comparison is not between the neighbor and God but between the petitioner and the disciple. God’s response stands in contrast to the neighbor’s begrudging help as 11:9-13 will make clear in contrasting humans and God … Answer to prayer is not wrung out of the Father with much effort like water from a towel. He gives willingly (11:9-13). Disciples are to make their request boldly to God. They have access to God and are to make use of it” (p. 1060). (But I think it is also about the generous God contrasted with the reluctant neighbor.)
Liefeld and Pao offer two interpretations. First, the parable contrasts the way God answers prayer. If so, if the host in bed is pressed hard enough and will answer reluctantly, God will answer speedily and more graciously. The second one: If the man abed answers to avoid shame in an honor-and-shame culture, then God will be consistent and honorable in his character and answer our prayers graciously (comment on v. 8).
9-10:
Now Jesus expands on how to persist in prayer. The commands or imperatives to ask, seek, knock are in the present tense in Greek, so we must keep on asking, keep on seeking, and keep on knocking. And then the answer will be given, the discovery will come, and the door will be opened. So now it is clear why most translations have “persistence” instead of shamelessness, and if that’s what you prefer, then go for it. But I prefer not to miss the clear intent of Jesus that we should pray boldly and shamelessly—and persistently!
“ask”: In the Greek language before (and during) the NT was written, the verb could even mean “demand.” But caution must be used. It is not a good idea to demand from God anything. Demanding that God jumps through your hoops to answer your request demonstrates lack of faith, not full faith. Prayers of faith should be calm and confident, not pushy and shrill. He loves you and is not reluctant to give good, God-approved gifts to those who ask (v. 13; Matt. 7:11). Finally, in the larger Greek world, the verb could mean “crave.” I like that. We need to crave the good things of God and God himself most of all.
“seek”: It is used three times in vv. 29-31, so it is a key word here. It means, depending on the context: (1) “seek, look for, search for”; “investigate, examine, consider, deliberate”; (2) “try to obtain,” “desire to possess,” “strive for,” “aim at,” “desire,” “wish,” “ask for,” “request,” “demand.” Sometimes it can be translated as “try.” But I could have translated it as “pursue” “or “aim at” or “desire to obtain.” I chose the more traditional “seek.”
“knock”: and let’s finish with the clearest verb of the three, and it simply means “knock.” It is used only in Matt. 7:7-8; Luke 11:9-10; 12:36; 13:25; Acts 12:13, 16; Rev. 3:20. So it looks like Luke used it most often.
The two passive verb indicate the divine passive, which is an understated way of saying that God is the one who gives and opens.
11-12:
Now Jesus stays on the same teaching device of deliberately absurd contrasts or opposites. Imagine this absurd scenario. Your son or daughter asks you for a fish or an egg, would you as his or her father give either one a snake or scorpion? Of course not, even though you are bad! To do so is unthinkable! Absurd!
So once again,
Your Wise Heavenly Father ≠ bad fathers (you).
Or
Your Wise Heavenly Father ∞ > than bad fathers (you).
That means God is infinitely greater than you are. Jesus uses startling images here. An earthly father does not get confused like this. Jesus often uses such startling images (e.g. chopping off hands or gouging out yes, or a beam in your eye).
Even bad fathers will not give their children a snake or scorpion. Therefore, how much more will your wise and good heavenly Father give you good things, particularly the Holy Spirit. So the reasoning again goes from the minor (earthly, bad fathers) to the major (good and wise heavenly Father).
Some teachers say that the snake and scorpion symbolize demon spirits. That may be true, so people who want more of the Spirit do not have to fear that a demon will interfere with the asking, seeking, and knocking to receive the Holy Spirit. Your Father, who is your friend, will gladly give him to you.
13:
As for the asking, seeking, and knocking to receive the Spirit, some old-school Pentecostals teach that we must “tarry” (wait) to receive him, but this is exaggerated for most of us. I received the fullness of the Spirit instantly, the moment I was saved, both the baptism of the Spirit and salvation at the same time. It is true, however, that sometimes potential receivers allow their intellects get in their way. They suffer from the paralysis of analysis. For them, they have to keep on asking, seeking and knocking. They have to get desperate, desperately hungry, and even bypass their overactive intellect.
Before leaving this pericope (pronounced puh-RIH-coh-pea) or section, it should be noted that in Matthew’s version, Jesus broadens the final answer to many good gifts the heavenly Father will give those who ask, seek, knock; he does not confine the gift to the Holy Spirit (Matt. 7:7-11), as Luke does here. The difference is that Luke-Acts is very charismatic and Spirit-filled in outlook, and Luke focusses on the one gift of the Spirit—the most important good gift of all, because through the Spirit flows all the other good gifts originating from the Father. But let’s not press this too far, because Luke says Jesus expelled demons by the finger of God (v. 20), while Matthew says by the Spirit of God (12:28). Nonetheless, the whole sweep of Luke-Acts is very charismatic.
A little systematic theology: The Spirit is the third person of the Trinity, proceeds from the Father and Son. His commission from the Father is to cause people to be born again, empower them for service and distribute the gifts as the Father will to his Son’s church.
Here are some of my posts on a more formal doctrine of the Spirit (systematic theology):
The Spirit’s Deity and Divine Attributes
The Spirit in the Life of Christ
The Spirit in the Church and Believers
GrowApp for Luke 11:5-13
1. These illustrations are about opposites. Your Generous and Wise Father ≠ the Churlish Neighbor or You or Your Unwise Fathers. Study Heb. 4:16. Why should you come to the throne of grace? How do you do this and how often?
2. Which bold, audacious prayers have you prayed?
3. How long have you been asking, knocking, seeking for your answer? How do overcome your discouragement if the answer has not yet come?
RELATED
11. Eyewitness Testimony in Luke’s Gospel
3. Church Fathers and Luke’s Gospel
2. Archaeology and the Synoptic Gospels
1. The Historical Reliability of the Gospels: Introduction to Series
BIBLIOGRAPHY AND MORE
To see the bibliography, please click on this link and scroll down to the bottom. You will also find a “Summary and Conclusion” for discipleship.
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