Teach Us to Pray, Part 3

Hello everyone.  

After telling a parable of the bold friend's request in Luke 13:5-8, Jesus applies it with three imperatives.  Ask, seek and knock.  In The King Jesus Translation , Dr. G. Steve Kinnard translates these imperative phrases this way, “Keep on asking", "Keep on seeking", and "Keep on knocking." 

I like Dr. Kinnard's translation and it led me to think.  I remembered learning about something in my Intermediate Greek class.  There are different uses of the present tense.  According to Daniel B. Wallace, one of these uses was called "iterative."  It means a repeated action.  Given the context of the parable, this translation makes a lot of sense.  We, as disciples of Jesus, are to be continually asking, seeking and knocking. 

Darrell Bock says that in these three imperatives we are receiving three invitations: (Bock, 1060-1061)

• Αἰτεῖτε (Aiteite) - Ask, an invitation to pray.

• Ζητεῖτε (Zayteite) - Seek, an invitation to pursue God and His will. 

• Κρούετε (Krouete) - Knock, an invitation to enter into God’s presence. 

Each action has a result that comes with it:

• In asking, we will receive. 

• In seeking, we will find.

• In knocking, the door will be opened. 

In verses 11-13 Jesus continues, telling us of his Father, who wants to answer our prayers.  He talks to those among them who are fathers, and asks them whether they would give a snake or scorpion to one of their children who asked for a fish or an egg. Think about it, what kind of father, when asked for general sustenance, would give his child a venomous animal? That would be a terrible father, and God is not a terrible father.  He is a good and kind father. Who wants to answer our prayers.  (That does not mean that He grants our every desire.  Even here, Jesus is not saying that.) 

Jesus makes the point that these men, even though they are sinful, know how to take care of their children, how much more does God know.  (The word sinful is translated from the Greek word πονηροὶ (ponēroi), which can be translated as “wicked, evil, bad, degenerate.” I don’t think Jesus was trying to be mean here, but his audience understood that compared to God, this is what they were.) 

God is a good father, who gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask. If we ask for the Holy Spirit to sustain us, would He send us a demon, instead? He wants to give the Spirit to us. Bock says this about it: “The specific good gift Luke has in mind is the Holy Spirit.  Since the prayer comes from a disciple, the request is for God’s presence, guidance and intimacy.  God will provide a specific good thing for his disciple.  The one who walks with God should be bold and diligent in asking for such benefits”. (Bock, 1062-1063.)  Think about the ‘shameless audacity’ that I wrote about in my last post.  Can we ask God to fill us with His Holy Spirit with shameless audacity?  Can we seek to be in His presence, or to have His guidance like that?  This is how Jesus is teaching his disciples to pray.  Let us all, keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking for the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Tom 

G. Steve Kinnard, The King Jesus Translation, Luke 13:9. 

        Daniel B. Wallace, The Basics of New Testament Syntax, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Zondervan, 2000. 

Darrell Bock, Luke: Volume 2: 9:51-24:53, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Baker Academic, 1996. 

Teach Us to Pray, Part 2

Greetings

Today, I will continue to look at how Jesus teaches his apostles to pray. In the short parable that Jesus tells in verses 5-8, the disciples are presented with a terrible problem.  One of them receives a visitor late at night, but they do not have food for them.  According to Bailey, this was a serious breach of hospitality, not only for the individual, but for the whole community. (Bailey, 123)

In this story, the guest arrives late at night, and the host has no food for him.  According to custom, he has no choice but to get food from somewhere.  Without the modern convenience of 24 hour stores, he must turn to his neighbors for help. 

The man who is being petitioned initially says, “No.”  He expresses his annoyance, Μή μοι κόπους πάρεχε. (May moi kopous parache) “Do not cause me trouble,” or perhaps, “Don’t bother me,” is his first response. He and his family are in bed. Likely, these villagers live in a small one-room house with everyone sleeping together on a mat.  So getting up to take care of this neighbor would likely wake everyone in the house.  This whole situation was very inconvenient for the one being petitioned. 

In similar fashion, God doesn’t grant our every request.  He often says, “No.” Sometimes, however, like the man being petitioned here, God grants the request later.  

Jesus says that the man eventually will get up and give the petitioner whatever he needs. He doesn’t do it out of friendship.  He does it because of the man’s Ἀναίδειαν (anaideian) Ἀναίδειαν is an interesting word.  Darrell Bock tells us that the word is difficult to translate into English, but that its meaning is something of a combination of boldness and shamelessness.  According to Bock, the word does not stress persistence or repetition, as much as it stresses the boldness of the request. (Bock, 1059.) A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament defines the word as “lack of sensitivity to what is proper, carelessness about the good opinion of others.”  The petitioner did not care what other people thought.  He was desperate to get food for his guest.  

The NIV translates this word as “Shameless audacity.”  I like it and used it for my translation as well.  The man has some audacity.  He has a need and is shameless in his request, disturbing other people in the middle of the night in order to get what he needs. Remember that this is within the context of Jesus teaching his apostles how to pray.  

I notice that Jesus uses the word χρῄζει (chrēzei), or 'needs." here. The man gets what he needs.  This is not a parable about praying to get what we want, but about getting what we need. We see Jesus  instructing them (and us) to pray for their needs to be met, with shameless audacity. 

Tom 

Teach Us to Pray

Hello everyone.

We are going to continue our journey through the Gospel of Luke, today, by starting the exegesis of chapter 11. In Luke 11:1-13, Jesus talks about prayer.  In this post, we will look only at the first four verses. 

Jesus prays a lot.  This is the sixth time that Luke records Jesus praying.  This time, when Jesus finishes his time of prayer, one of the disciples asks him to teach them all how to pray. Here is my translation of his response, 

" “When you pray, say: 

     'Father, all reverence to your holy name.

       Let your kingdom come.

3   Give us the bread that we need today.

4  Forgive us of our sins, as we forgive all of those who are indebted to us. 

   And do not lead us into temptation.'"

Jesus' prayer begins by recognizing his intimate relationship with God.  God is Jesus' Father.  He is our Father, as well.  We are fortunate to be able to call upon a kind and compassionate figure, a Father, as God.  After calling upon God as our Father, the statement in Jesus’ prayer is ἁγιασθήτω τὸ ὄνομά σου. (hagiasthētō to onoma sou), It is a call to hold God’s name in reverence and awe. Often translated as ‘hallowed be your name.’ But, 'hallowed' is not a word we really use much in modern English.  The Greek word ἁγιασθήτω (hagiasthētō) means to sanctify, consecrate, make holy, to hold in reverence.  I translated it as “all reverence to your holy name.’ 

So we begin with intimacy, 'Father', but we quickly move on to recognize God’s holiness and greatness. We are indeed fortunate that such a holy and powerful God is also benevolent and kind. Even His name is holy. It is spoken with reverence and awe. 

After declaring that God’s name be made holy, he then asks for God’s kingdom to come. According to Darrell Bock, this is a request that God visibly manifest Himself.  Jesus is indeed bringing the kingdom of God, and His kingdom will “show to all the greatness of God’s love, justice and righteousness." (Bock, 1053.) Bock also points out that, in prayer, Jesus begins by setting a tone of worship and awe, establishing God’s character and authority.  After we have done this, then we can make our requests.  In his prayer, Jesus makes three. 

First request: Give us the bread that we need today. 

According to Alan Thompson, the use of the word ‘bread’ here represents ‘food’ in general.  This is then likely a request that God meet our daily provision of necessities. (Thompson, 182-183.) This reminds me of the whole “turn bread into stone” conversation when Satan was tempting Jesus, back in Luke 4.  Jesus had been led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit and he refused to use his miraculous powers to feed himself.  Instead,he trusted God for his provision.  Now, Jesus tells us that we are to lay that request before God, each day.  It also reminds me of Matt. 6:25-33, where Jesus tells us not to chase after food and clothing, but to seek his kingdom and his righteousness and allow God, who knows what we need, to take care of those things for us. 

Second request: Forgive us of our sins.  

This second request, our forgiveness, comes with a condition.  We are to ask God to forgive us, as we are forgiving toward other people. Jesus uses the word ἁμαρτίας (amartias)- sin, when talking about us and our relationship with God.  When he is talking about our relationship with others, he uses the word ὀφείλοντι (opheilonti) which is a participle meaning “those who are indebted to us.”  Jesus also puts word παντὶ (panti) in there.  This means “all” or “everyone.” We are to forgive all who are indebted to us.  What does this mean? Darrell Bock says, “The request shows that forgiveness is not presumed but comes with awareness: a forgiven person is a forgiving person. In fact, the right to ask assumes a willingness to respond similarly.” (Bock, 1055) This attitude takes humility.  In order to be that forgiving, we need to have the correct view of our own failings.   

Third request: Do not lead us into temptation.

This is a request in which the ultimate goal is that we do not sin against God.  Sin is powerful and we are, on our own, generally pretty weak.  We need God’s help to live righteously.  Perhaps, with God guiding our path, we will avoid some of the temptations that could lead us astray. 

In three short requests, Jesus has given us great instruction on prayer, as we seek God’s provision, protection, guidance and forgiveness. Jesus has more to say about prayer in Luke 11. Part 2 will be coming soon. 

Tom 

     Darrell Bock, Luke: Volume 2 - 9:51-24:53, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Baker Academic, 1996.

      Alan Thompson, Exegetical Guide to the Greek New Testament: Luke, Nashville, Tennessee, B&H Academic, 2016. 

Only One Thing is Needed

Hey everybody.

I will wrap my exegesis of Luke 10 with the story of Martha and Mary as recorded in Luke 10:38-42.  Here is my translation of it: 

38 They entered one of the villages as they traveled along.  They were welcomed into the home of one of the women there.  Her name was Martha. 39 She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to things that he said. 40 Meanwhile, Martha was overburdened by all of her preparations.  She came in and said, “Lord, doesn’t it bother you that my sister has left the job of serving everyone to me alone? Tell her to help me!” 41 The Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about everything.  42 But only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen something better, and it will not be taken away from her.

So, as Jesus traveled on his way to Jerusalem, he stayed in the home of Martha.  It appears that Martha is the head of the household here.  No man is mentioned in the passage.  She may have been a single woman or widowed.  Mary is mentioned here, but Lazarus is not.  Martha was busy making preparations, while Jesus sat and taught.  Martha became frustrated because she was left to do all of the work herself while her sister Mary sat at Jesus’ feet listening to Jesus’ teaching. 

She then asks Jesus to intervene and make Mary get up and help her.  “Lord, doesn’t it bother you that my sister has left the job of serving everyone to me alone? Tell her to help me!” Martha was very busy attempting to serve Jesus.  This was a good thing to do, but it left her unable to hear the lessons that Jesus was teaching.  Luke uses the word περιεσπᾶτο (periespato) to describe Martha.  The word means to “be pulled or dragged away,” or ``to be distracted or overburdened by other things.” 

What Martha wanted to do was admirable.  She wanted to serve Jesus well. But, Jesus does not tell Mary get up and help, and in fact, he honors Mary for choosing to sit at his feet.  Jesus responds to Martha, by saying that she is anxious and worried about everything. In fairness to Martha, someone does need to serve, or no one gets to eat, but Martha also needs to learn to relax and enjoy being with Jesus, because being with Jesus is supposed to be something enjoyable, not something that becomes a huge anxiety-laden burden. 

Jesus says that Mary has chosen something better.  Serving is good. Learning from Jesus is better.  Robert Stein says this in his commentary on Luke, "It is better to sit at Jesus' feet and hear God's word. What feeds the soul is more important than what feeds the body." (Stein, 321.) If we are too busy to spend some time with Jesus then we are too busy, no matter how much good we may be accomplishing. 

I don’t know what Martha did after this. I'm sure that everything she prepared was amazing, but I hope she also sat down for a while and just listened to Jesus. 

Martha was worried about everything, but Jesus tells her that only one thing was needed.  Mary had chosen that one thing. That one thing was Jesus’ words and Jesus says that it would not be taken from her.  Disciples of Jesus can get really busy, but if we are going to succeed, it is vital that we hold on to that one thing that is needed, sitting at Jesus' feet and learning from him.

Tom 

     Robert H. Stein, Luke, Nashville, Tennessee, B&H Publishing Group, 1992. 

Won't You Be My Neighbor?

Hello everyone.

I haven't written anything is a while, but I hope to be back on track to do more writing moving forward.  Anyway, as we continue our journey through Luke, we arrive at one of the more famous of Jesus' parables: The Good Samaritan. That is what we are going to look at today.

This story begins with an expert in the law who wants to put Jesus to the test.  This is not the only time Jesus is asked this question.  But this time the questioner has an ulterior motive.  Jesus gives the question back to the expert in the law, asking him how he reads the law.  The man answers well, and Jesus acknowledges that. 

Darrell Bock says that by responding this way, Jesus shows himself to be one who wishes to reflect upon what God requires, and not some radical who is trying to tear down the law.  He sends the lawyer back  to his own source material, the law, for the answer.. (Bock, 1024.) The man responds in verse “Love the Lord your God, with all of your heart, with all of your soul, with all of your strength and with all of your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself," combining the Shema of Deut. 6:5 with the command to love your neighbor in Lev. 19:18.   

The man answers the same way Jesus does when asked the most important commandment in Matthew 22:36.  “Love the Lord your God with all of your heart  and with all of your soul and with all of your mind and love your neighbor as yourself.”

In the Greek the answer involves loving God with ὅλης (holēs), which means the whole, or all, in four areas. Καρδίας (kardias), which means heart. Ψυχῇ (psychē), which means soul. Ἰσχύϊ (ischui), which means strength, and διανοίᾳ (dianoia), which means mind. This pretty much covers every area.  We are to love God with our whole self.  Then love our neighbors as we love ourselves. 

The man knew the correct answer, but it appears that he didn’t really understand the correct answer. After acknowledging that the man’s answer was correct, Jesus tells him that if he will do that, he will live.  If he loves God and his neighbor, he will gain eternal life. Kenneth Bailey points out that Jesus does not just give the man the answer.  He doesn’t tell him what to do.  He gets the lawyer to tell himself the answer. Bailey goes on to say “The answer is given in a command for an open-ended life-style that requires unlimited and unqualified love for God and people.” (Bailey, 38)

The man had answered well, but for some reason, in verse 29, he still felt the need to justify himself, and asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” Why did he feel this need to justify himself?  He had answered well.  Was this an attempt to trap Jesus in words?  If it was, it wasn’t a very good one, and it ultimately sprung on him rather than Jesus. I tend to think it was not a trap, but rather an attempt to clarify who he was required to extend his love to, so that he could justify his standing - that he was loving his neighbor enough. 

Undoubtedly when those like this Israelite lawyer thought about the concept of ‘neighbor’ it included their loved ones, their friends and family.  Perhaps even all of Israel's children, but I am certain that his definition of ‘neighbor’ did not extend to the Samaritans. Leviticus 19:18 does imply that ‘neighbor’ for the Israelites was their fellow Jews, but Jesus' definition of ‘neighbor’ extended to everyone. This lawyer got more than he had bargained for.

To answer the question, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus tells the story that we know as the Good Samaritan. A man is traveling down the dangerous road from Jerusalem to Jericho.  The man is not described, but the audience would likely assume the man to be Jewish. The road itself was well-known for being treacherous, because there were many good places for robbers to hide. The man was robbed, beaten, stripped and left for dead. 

The telltale signs of the man’s ethnicity were no longer readily visible.  The clothes that might signify him as a Jew, or a non-Jew had been taken.  Since he was unconscious, his Jewish (or non-Jewish) accent could not be heard.  We know that in Jesus's story, that neither the priest nor the Levite stopped to help this man. Would the priest or the Levite have stopped for a known Jew, maybe.  But since the ethnicity was not clear, they passed on by.  To the Samaritan, the man's ethnicity did not matter.  This was a person in need. 

Why did the priest and the Levite not stop to help the man?  The text does not say.  Many ideas have been offered.  A dead body would make them unclean.  They may have feared being robbed and left for dead themselves.  The Samaritan shows up and does for the man everything that the priest and Levite did not do. He bandaged the wound and took the man to an inn, paying for his care.  The Samaritan is the hero of the story and the one we are told to imitate.  The Samritan acts graciously toward the man, knowing that because he was a Samaritan, it is possible that his kindness will go unrewarded and unappreciated. 

Jesus tells a story to a Jewish audience, in which the hero is a Samaritan.  It is an interesting choice for Jesus, since he knew that his audience would be racially motivated to hate the Samaritan. At the end of the story the expert in the law could not even bring himself to say ‘the Samaritan,’ when asked who had been a neighbor to the man who had been robbed.  Instead, he said, “the one who had mercy on him." It must have been quite shocking for the audience to be told to go and imitate a Samaritan. 

Jesus turns the lawyer's question about neighbors around on him.  Don’t worry about who counts as a neighbor.  You go and be a good neighbor to everyone.

Tom 

     Darrel Bock, Luke, Volume 2 - 9:51-24:53, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Baker Academic, 1996. 

    Kenneth Bailey, Jesus Through Missle Eastern Eyes, Downers Grove, Illinois, IVP Academic, 2008. 

The Reveal

Hello everyone.

Today, I will continue my exegesis of Luke 10.  I will be looking at Luke 10:21-24.  If you remember the context, Jesus has given power, and sent out the seventy-two.  They have returned rejoining. Here is my own translation of verses 21-24:

21 Then Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit, proclaiming, “Praise to you, Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth, because you have hidden things from the wise and the educated, and you have revealed things to small children. Yes, Father, because this is pleasing in your sight. 22 Everything has been given to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is, except the Father or who the Father is, except the son, and those whom the Son desires to reveal.” 23 Then Jesus turned to his disciples and spoke to them privately, saying, “Blessed are eyes that have seen what you have seen.  24 For prophets and kings have desired to see what you have seen and to hear what you have heard and have been unable.”

The disciples have been rejoicing and the rejoicing continues. This time, it is Jesus who does the rejoicing.  Luke says that Jesus rejoices in the Holy Spirit.  Jesus praises the Father, acknowleging in his praise that often the most educated people miss out on God, while the simplest get it.  Jesus says that God is hidden from the ‘wise’ while revealing Himself to the simplest.  Here, Jesus uses the word νηπίοις, (napiois) which means anything an infant to puberty, but generally means a very young child.  

Within the context of this passage, Jesus has just told his disciples to rejoice that their names are written in Heaven.  They have salvation.  Jesus is rejoicing that God in His wisdom has revealed his salvation, not to the most learned, but to the least.  Jesus is standing there with a following comprised mostly of unschooled, ordinary men (Acts 4:13), many of whom are fishermen, while the most educated, the teachers of the law opposed him, and therefore opposed God. (Now, this does not mean that we shouldn't educate ourselves.  We should be constantly striving to educate ourselves and grow in our understanding of the Father and His word. But, we don't want our learning to "puff" us up, (1 Cor. 8:1), but instead, we seek to educate ourselves like a child, in humility. This is what is pleasing to God.  Remember, God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble. (I Peter 5:5)).

Jesus then declares that everything he has, was given to him by his Father. Verse 22 tells is that the Father and the Son know each other on a level that only they can.  The good news of verse 22 is that the Son reveals the Father.  We can know God through Jesus, the Son.  Knowledge of the Father is tied to knowledge of the Son.  In fact, in Luke 9:35, during the Transfiguation, the Father, entered into story Himself  to declare Jesus as His Son and to tell those present to, “Listen to him.” Again, if we want to know God, we get to know Jesus. 

After praising God for His divine wisdom, Jesus turns to his disciples and tells them how fortunate they are that they have been able to see what they have seen.  The ancients, prophets and kings, longed to look into these things but were not allowed to.  These disciples had much to be thankful for.  Their names were written in Heaven and they had been allowed to walk with Jesus, the Son, and witness God at work.  We, too, can be thankful.  Thankful that our names are written in Heaven, and while we weren't around to witness Jesus' many miracles, we do have the written record of the Gospels to "reveal" the Son to us therefore, the Father is revealed, as well.

Tom 

The Real Celebration

Hello everyone.

It has been a while since I have posted anything here, but I am going to pick up right where I left off in Luke 10.  The context here is that Jesus sent out seventy-two to preach, teach and to heal.  Jesus gives them instructions and in my previous, I covered these instructions from 10:1-11a.  Today, I will cover the rest, from 10:11-20. 

In verse 11, they were told that if  a town rejected their message, they were to go into the street and say, "The dust of this city that sticks to us, we wipe off from our feet in protest of you.  But know this: The kingdom of God is near.” (My own translation.) Here, I want to point out that their message included the fact that the kingdom of God was near. The word Luke uses is ἤγγικεν, (ayngiken) which stresses the nearness, as to mean that God’s kingdom was upon them.. It was that close. This message was to be delivered to those who accepted it in verse 9, but also to those who did not, verse 11.  Whether someone accepted the message or not, it didn't change the fact that the kingdom of God was rapidly approaching. 

Jesus then starts talking of judgment on some of the towns that he had taught and performed many miracles in. There may have been some in these towns that received his message, but many rejected it, showing up simply to see his miracles.  These towns were going to be judged. He mentions Corazin and Bethsaida. These towns were near Capernaum, the town central to much of Jesus’ ministry. These cities had many opportunities to follow Jesus, but had given a somewhat lukewarm response to his message. They are compared unfavorably to notoriously unrighteous OT towns of Tyre and Sidon., and according to Jesus in verse 14, will face a harsher judgment. (In Matthew's account they are even compared unfavorably to Sodom. (Matt. 11:23) )

And then in verse 15, Jesus addressed Capernaum, the city that had been allowed to see the more amazing miracles from Jesus then anyone else, and they would receive the harshest judgment.  Jesus warns them that they would not ascend into Heaven , but rather descend into Hades. 

These cities should have repented, but they didn’t.  Likely, because they did not see their need for it.  Thinking that their salvation was secure, they didn’t respond to Jesus.  

After the warnings to these various cities, the story then return to the story of the disciples.  They have gone out and, in verse 17, excitedly return to Jesus, having even been able to cast out demons in Jesus’ name. 

The disciples have the ability to exorcize demons because Jesus gave them that power and he is the more powerful one.  Satan holds no power over Jesus.  In fact, Jesus declares in verse 18, that he had seen Satan fall like lightning out of Heaven.  

Jesus assures them that they are secure in God’s hands.  In verse 19, he tells them that he has given them authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and the power to overcome the enemy, and he assures them that nothing would harm them.  I think that Jesus was saying that nothing on this mission was going to harm them.  Certainly he was not saying that he would never allow harm to come to them, as later they were harmed and even killed.  

The disciples were obviously rejoicing in being able to wield such power.  Possessing such power would certainly something to celebrate, but Jesus tempers their rejoicing a little bit by telling them not to rejoice over casting out demons, but instead to rejoice that their names are written in Heaven.  

So after twenty of instruction, the sharing and demonstration of tremendous power over Satan and his minions, what does Jesus say is the real source of rejoicing.  They get to go to Heaven. Their own salvation is the greatest cause for celebration.  It's the same for us. Through all of our victories, our greatest joy is our salvation.  The flipside of that is this:  We don't always go from victory to victory.  We endure some very hard times, too.  Even in those times, Jesus has provided us with a reason to celebrate. 

Tom