This week I'm studying Luke 11 for an upcoming sermon, and I thought I'd bring you in on the process with some things I've learned from a close reading of the text. When looking at any passage of Scripture, it is always best to first read the context, or all the material surrounding a passage. This prevents you from taking your own meaning into a verse, constricting your conclusions to only that which fits best with the surrounding material of a passage. We must also never miss the "warp and woof" of the passage, its flow and its landmarks, by which I mean the larger movements which intimate deep meanings. I cannot cover everything fascinating and important in chapter 11, but we will still see much to edify us. Luke 11 begins with the Lord prayer; a tiny group of Jesus's disciples gather around after seeing Jesus pray, and they ask him how they should pray, which seems like a wonderful use of their time with Jesus. It is their humility in asking and learning from Jesus which sets the theme for the rest of chapter, as we'll see. Let's take a look at some textual elements which help us understand Luke 11 better.
There are two fascinating structural elements to Luke 11, the tremendous increase of the crowd, and the simultaneous decrease in the manner of humility; let's examine this. First, as chapter 11 goes on you will notice that the group surrounding Jesus increases from a few people to a crowd of thousands. Jesus starts with only his tiny group of disciples (11:1), but by v14 a small crowd has joined to watch and listen to his ministry. By verse 29, "the crowds were increasing," and many recognized that Jesus was special and ought to be listened to (Lk 11:14, 27), much like the disciples had come to listen to him and humbly request his teaching. Jesus further encourages the people in their search, confirming that his wisdom is worth seeking out by elevating himself even beyond Solomon (v31). However, he cautions against those demanding signs (11:29-32). What we must notice here is the difference between demanding signs from Jesus (which is to demand that he authenticate himself before them) and the contrasting approach of simply coming under his tutelage as the disciples had earlier. Remember that for later. Finally, by the end of chapter 11, thousands of people had now amassed to see Jesus ! So many in fact that "they began to trample one another" (12:1). You can imagine perhaps the thrill of getting to see Jesus speak, perhaps stepping on some toes as you crane your neck and turn your ear to catch just a bit of his ministry. There were so many people there that the Greek word μυριάδων is used, from which we get our word "myriad," meaning many thousands. These are likely people that had heard his teaching, perhaps even second or third hand from others, and just had to come and see him. However, as the size of the crowd had increased, so too had their humility decreased over the same period. We turn to this second structural element now.
Second, humility among the crowd goes from a high point with the disciples, to an incredibly low point with the Pharisees and lawyers (or better, "law-teachers") at the end of chapter 11. You see, more followers had not translated to more disciples for Jesus, for there surely is a wrong way to follow Christ. The disciples simply watched Jesus pray, and asked him to teach them, expressing their need for instruction, their very need for the presence of Christ himself in their lives. The growing crowd, by contrast, came to Jesus with demands that he authenticate himself to their liking (11:16) in order "to test him," and trying even to "catch him in his words" (11:53). In fact, the Pharisees and lawyers were outraged at Jesus that he wouldn't submit to their cultural façade of moral cleanliness, nor would he give them the respect they demanded from all people and thought they truly earned. From the beginning to the end of chapter 11, characters have gone from respecting Jesus as the true master on whom we must depend, to the lawyers attempt to subjugate him under their own imagined moral and spiritual authority. Here, we must notice that Jesus's manner has also changed across the length of the chapter, parallel with the level of sincere humility of his audience. To the disciples, Jesus grants their request with gentle instruction, leading them along with truth and light. For the growing crowd seeking to test him, Jesus calls them an "evil generation," and for the Pharisees and lawyers, Jesus's fiery words include calling them "fools," pronouncing multiple "woes" upon them, and holding them responsible for the very blood of all the prophets killed in the past (vv 43, 45, 51)! Here there is much to consider in our own manner of life, in the respect we demand from others, and in the way Jesus desires for us to approach him.
But what does all this mean? I wouldn't be a preacher if I couldn't land the plane! Here is the meaning: in that we see Jesus beginning with instruction on the Lord's prayer, a "daily" prayer of humble dependence upon the Father for all our daily needs, from bread to holiness (11:2-4), we must therefore act according to his example. We must not deceive ourselves, as the Pharisees and lawyers did, that we have become anything in ourselves, but that we depend upon God for every morsel of sustenance and holiness that we would have for our own. How can we depart from the Source and still hope to have our canteen be filled (Jn 7:37-38)? We are not so sufficient as we suppose ourselves to be. Don't take my word for it, look at God's word below.
2 Cor. 3:5 "We are not sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God." 2 Cor. 12:9 "But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me." 2 Corinthians 9:8 "And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work."
As dependent creatures, who have left no place for personal pride or self-sufficiency, we may now kneel, and drink freely from the Fount. What this practically means is that we must take our humble dependence purposefully into our daily lives, relying on prayer, the reading and preaching of God's words, and the fellowship of the saints in the body of Christ, each member playing its part in passing on the witness of the blood of Christ to one another. There is a reason why preaching is offered, communion is offered, prayer is offered, on the Lords day, and this is because we are needful things, dependent upon God for our life, our breath, our very being, and all the movements thereof. We must therefore make it our habit to come to Christ with prayer and devotion as often as we have need, and Christian, know that this means we come to him for every moment (1 Thes 5:16-17). In so doing we reject the proud way of the Pharisees and law teachers who held themselves up in high esteem, but we release our grasp and are therefore held in the hand of Another, and given all honor and all sufficiency as a consequence of our bond with Christ. This belongs to you Christian, as surely as you belong to Him. Embrace these daily habits in humility, as they are surely gifts for your life and growth, and to be without them is to whither.