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A model prayer
1 Then it happened, when He finished praying in a certain place, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples.” 2 So He said to them: “Whenever you pray, say:
Our Father who is in the heavens,
your name must be reverenced.* The verbs are Imperative, not Subjunctive, which is why I render ‘must’ rather than ‘may’.
Your Kingdom must come.
Your will must be done on earth as it is in heaven.† Why ‘must’? I take the point to be that we are not trying to overcome any reluctance on God's part; we are declaring our personal commitment to these things. When I declare that God's Kingdom must come, I am agreeing to whatever part I am supposed to have in bringing it about.
3 Give us day by day our daily bread.
4 Also, forgive us our sins,
because we also forgive everyone indebted to us.
And, do not lead us into testing,
but deliver us from the malignant one.”‡ Most modern versions, following a mere 1% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, seriously truncate this prayer by omitting: “Our … who is in the heavens … Your will must be done on earth as it is in heaven … but deliver us from the malignant one.” Some versions, like NIV and NASB, have a footnote saying that “some manuscripts” add this material. How can any honest person use ‘some’ to refer to 99% (1,600 X 16)? ‘The malignant one’ refers to Satan.
A request at midnight
5 Then He said to them: “Who among you will have a friend and go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, 6 because a friend has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7 and he will answer from within and say, ‘Don't bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give to you?’ 8 I say to you, even if he will not get up and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as many as he needs.
9 “So I say to you: ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 Because everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.§ I take it that the Lord is speaking generically here; He is not promising a 100% success rate. 11 And which father among you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if* Just four known Greek manuscripts (0.2%), of objectively inferior quality, demonstrably so, omit “bread will give him a stone? Or if” (to be followed by NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). a fish, will he give him a snake instead of a fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will he give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”† Does this apply to true believers who have the indwelling Holy Spirit? Did this ‘rule’ change at Pentecost? If not, how does it apply to us today? Since ‘ask’ is in the present tense, perhaps it was occasion by occasion.
A divided house
14 Then He was casting out a demon, and it was mute. As a result, when the demon had gone out the mute spoke! And the crowds marveled. 15 But some of them said, “It's by Beelzebul,‡ The familiar spelling ‘Beelzebub’ was presumably brought over from the Latin, since all the Greek manuscripts have ‘Beelzebul’ (with variations). the ruler of the demons, that he casts out demons.” 16 While others kept asking Him for a sign from heaven, testing.
17 But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against itself falls. 18 So if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand?—since you say I cast out demons by Beelzebul! 19 Further, if I am casting out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out?§ I find this question to be intriguing. Jesus is evidently saying that their sons do indeed cast out demons, so why don't they also censure their sons? Or is the implication that Satan's servants can appear to be casting out demons? Therefore they will be your judges. 20 But if I cast out demons by the finger of God, surely the Kingdom of God has come upon you.
21 “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own dwelling, his possessions are safe. 22 But when someone stronger than he attacks, he overcomes him, takes away all his armor in which he trusted, and distributes his spoils.
23 “He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.* Notice that the Lord does not allow for neutrality; either you are for Him, or against Him. Even what we do is not neutral; if we are not gathering, we are scattering.
An empty house
24 “Whenever an unclean spirit goes out from a man,† The Lord does not say why the spirit left. If it had been expelled by someone who knew how to send it to the Abyss, it could not come back. it passes through waterless places seeking rest; and not finding any it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came out.’ 25 And coming it finds it swept and put in order. 26 Then it goes and picks up seven other spirits, more malignant than itself, and they go in and live there; so the last state of that man becomes worse than the first.”‡ Although we certainly have the authority to expel demons from people, if the person we help does not then commit himself to Jesus, he remains an empty house, vulnerable to something worse. We need to deal fairly with people, explaining what is involved.
True blessedness
27 And then, as He was saying these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts that you sucked!” 28 But He said, “More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and obey it!”§ Since the Text declares the Virgin Mary to be blessed, Jesus was not denying that blessedness. To hear and obey God's Word is even more blessed. The basic meaning of the verb I translated ‘obey’ is to guard or protect. I wonder if there is a special blessing for those who defend God's Word.
Jonah is a sign
29 Now as the crowds were increasing, He began to say: “This is a malignant generation. It keeps wanting a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 30 Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of the Man be to this generation. 31 The queen of the South will be raised up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and she will condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and indeed a greater than Solomon is here. 32 The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation, and they will condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.* Notice that Jesus declares Himself to be greater than Solomon and Jonah (a king and a prophet). Notice also that He declares the historicity of the book of Jonah.
Light inside the body
33 “No one, having lit a lamp, puts it in hiding or under a basket, but on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light. 34 The lamp of the body is the eye.† Of course we have two eyes, but the Text has “eye” in the singular. I take it that the reference is to the way we interpret what we see (which is our real ‘eye’)—two people, one pure and one vile, observing the same scene will give very different interpretations to it. ‘Malignant’ means aggressively evil. Someone with a malignant mind will give an evil interpretation to everything he sees, and in consequence his being will be filled with unrelenting darkness. See Titus 1:15. Therefore, whenever your ‘eye’ is good, your whole body is illuminated. But when it is malignant, your body also is darkened. 35 So see to it that the ‘light’ in you not be darkness. 36 If then your whole body is full of light, not having any part dark, the whole will be illuminated, as when the bright shining of a lamp gives you light.”
Jesus derides scribes and Pharisees
37 Now as He spoke, a certain Pharisee invited Him to eat with him. So He went in and reclined. 38 But the Pharisee, noticing that He did not first wash before the meal, was critical.‡ The leaders had already rejected Jesus and were planning to kill Him, so He knew this was not a friendly invitation. He accepted the invitation with the clear purpose to provoke a confrontation. 39 So the Lord said to him: “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but your inside is full of greed and malignancy. 40 Fools! Did not He who made the outside also make the inside? 41 Nevertheless, give what is possible as alms; then indeed all things are clean to you.§ At first glance this statement seems difficult, but because they were filled with greed, for them to give away as much as possible would represent a major change in their values. Zacchaeus offers a case in point: the Lord Himself declared that he was saved (Luke 19:8-9).
42 “But woe to you Pharisees! You tithe mint and rue and every herb, but you ignore justice and the love of God. These it was necessary to do, without leaving those undone. 43 Woe to you Pharisees! You love the best seat in the synagogues, and greetings in the marketplaces. 44 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!* Perhaps 1% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit “scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.) You are like unperceived graves, that people walk on without knowing it.”
Jesus derides lawyers
45 Then one of the lawyers reacted and said to him, “Teacher, by saying these things you insult us also!” 46 So He said: “Woe to you lawyers also!† Notice that Jesus makes no effort to conciliate them. You load men down with burdens hard to carry, but you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. 47 Woe to you! You restore the tombs of the prophets, it being your fathers who killed them. 48 Thereby you witness to and approve of the deeds of your fathers; because they indeed killed them, while you restore their tombs.‡ The context suggests ‘restore’ rather than ‘build’, since those prophets had been dead for centuries; if a grave had not been adequately marked, there would be no way of knowing where to build. 49 Also, because of this ‘the wisdom of God’§ In 1 Corinthians 1:24 Paul refers to Christ as ‘the wisdom of God’. In Matthew 23:34 Jesus said, “I send you prophets,” so here Jesus may be referring to Himself as ‘the wisdom of God’. said: ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,’ 50 so that the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation, 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah,* If the reference is to Zechariah the prophet, his death is not recorded in Scripture, but the temple was rebuilt in his day, so he could have died there. who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation!† Guilt accumulates. Often a subsequent generation pays. 52 Woe to you lawyers! You have taken away the key of knowledge;‡ Hosea 4:6 reads, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge … Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.” Notice the awful price paid by the children! Are today's ‘doctors of the law’ not guilty of the same thing? you yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering!”§ They were really perverse. If they did not want to go in themselves, that was their choice; but to try to stop others was really perverse!
53 Well when He had said these things to them,* Instead of “Well when He had said these things to them”, perhaps 1% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, read “and when He left there” (as in NIV, NASB, TEV, etc.) the scribes and the Pharisees began to urge Him on vehemently and to cross-examine Him about many things, 54 lying in wait for Him, trying to catch Him in something He might say, so that they might accuse Him.† Perhaps 1.5% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit “so that they might accuse Him” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.)

*11:2 The verbs are Imperative, not Subjunctive, which is why I render ‘must’ rather than ‘may’.

†11:2 Why ‘must’? I take the point to be that we are not trying to overcome any reluctance on God's part; we are declaring our personal commitment to these things. When I declare that God's Kingdom must come, I am agreeing to whatever part I am supposed to have in bringing it about.

‡11:4 Most modern versions, following a mere 1% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, seriously truncate this prayer by omitting: “Our … who is in the heavens … Your will must be done on earth as it is in heaven … but deliver us from the malignant one.” Some versions, like NIV and NASB, have a footnote saying that “some manuscripts” add this material. How can any honest person use ‘some’ to refer to 99% (1,600 X 16)? ‘The malignant one’ refers to Satan.

§11:10 I take it that the Lord is speaking generically here; He is not promising a 100% success rate.

*11:11 Just four known Greek manuscripts (0.2%), of objectively inferior quality, demonstrably so, omit “bread will give him a stone? Or if” (to be followed by NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.).

†11:13 Does this apply to true believers who have the indwelling Holy Spirit? Did this ‘rule’ change at Pentecost? If not, how does it apply to us today? Since ‘ask’ is in the present tense, perhaps it was occasion by occasion.

‡11:15 The familiar spelling ‘Beelzebub’ was presumably brought over from the Latin, since all the Greek manuscripts have ‘Beelzebul’ (with variations).

§11:19 I find this question to be intriguing. Jesus is evidently saying that their sons do indeed cast out demons, so why don't they also censure their sons? Or is the implication that Satan's servants can appear to be casting out demons?

*11:23 Notice that the Lord does not allow for neutrality; either you are for Him, or against Him. Even what we do is not neutral; if we are not gathering, we are scattering.

†11:24 The Lord does not say why the spirit left. If it had been expelled by someone who knew how to send it to the Abyss, it could not come back.

‡11:26 Although we certainly have the authority to expel demons from people, if the person we help does not then commit himself to Jesus, he remains an empty house, vulnerable to something worse. We need to deal fairly with people, explaining what is involved.

§11:28 Since the Text declares the Virgin Mary to be blessed, Jesus was not denying that blessedness. To hear and obey God's Word is even more blessed. The basic meaning of the verb I translated ‘obey’ is to guard or protect. I wonder if there is a special blessing for those who defend God's Word.

*11:32 Notice that Jesus declares Himself to be greater than Solomon and Jonah (a king and a prophet). Notice also that He declares the historicity of the book of Jonah.

†11:34 Of course we have two eyes, but the Text has “eye” in the singular. I take it that the reference is to the way we interpret what we see (which is our real ‘eye’)—two people, one pure and one vile, observing the same scene will give very different interpretations to it. ‘Malignant’ means aggressively evil. Someone with a malignant mind will give an evil interpretation to everything he sees, and in consequence his being will be filled with unrelenting darkness. See Titus 1:15.

‡11:38 The leaders had already rejected Jesus and were planning to kill Him, so He knew this was not a friendly invitation. He accepted the invitation with the clear purpose to provoke a confrontation.

§11:41 At first glance this statement seems difficult, but because they were filled with greed, for them to give away as much as possible would represent a major change in their values. Zacchaeus offers a case in point: the Lord Himself declared that he was saved (Luke 19:8-9).

*11:44 Perhaps 1% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit “scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.)

†11:46 Notice that Jesus makes no effort to conciliate them.

‡11:48 The context suggests ‘restore’ rather than ‘build’, since those prophets had been dead for centuries; if a grave had not been adequately marked, there would be no way of knowing where to build.

§11:49 In 1 Corinthians 1:24 Paul refers to Christ as ‘the wisdom of God’. In Matthew 23:34 Jesus said, “I send you prophets,” so here Jesus may be referring to Himself as ‘the wisdom of God’.

*11:51 If the reference is to Zechariah the prophet, his death is not recorded in Scripture, but the temple was rebuilt in his day, so he could have died there.

†11:51 Guilt accumulates. Often a subsequent generation pays.

‡11:52 Hosea 4:6 reads, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge … Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.” Notice the awful price paid by the children! Are today's ‘doctors of the law’ not guilty of the same thing?

§11:52 They were really perverse. If they did not want to go in themselves, that was their choice; but to try to stop others was really perverse!

*11:53 Instead of “Well when He had said these things to them”, perhaps 1% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, read “and when He left there” (as in NIV, NASB, TEV, etc.)

†11:54 Perhaps 1.5% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit “so that they might accuse Him” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.)

© 2016 Wilbur N. Pickering, ThM, PhD