Luke 11:1-4
It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples." And He said to them, "When you pray, say:
‘Father, hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins,
For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And do not lead us into temptation.'"

† Jesus provided a model of prayer focused on God's holiness, kingdom, provision, forgiveness, and protection.
† The prayer emphasized dependence on God daily.
† Forgiveness was tied to extending mercy toward others.

Luke 11:5-13
And He said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; because a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to serve him'; and from inside he answers and says, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.' I tell you, even if he will not get up and give him anything just because he is his friend, yet because of his shamelessness he will get up and give him as much as he needs. 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. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, it will be opened. Now which one of you fathers will his son ask for a fish, and instead of a fish, he will give him a snake? Or he will even ask for an egg, and his father will give him a scorpion? So if you, despite being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?"

† Persistence in prayer was commended.
† God's generosity far exceeds earthly fathers.
† The gift of the Spirit was the supreme blessing of the kingdom.

Luke 11:14-26
And He was casting out a demon, and it was mute; when the demon had gone out, the man who was mute spoke, and the crowds were amazed. But some of them said, "He casts out the demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons." Others, to test Him, were demanding of Him a sign from heaven. But He knew their thoughts and said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and a house divided against itself falls. And if Satan also has been divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you claim that I cast out the demons by Beelzebul. Yet if I cast out the demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore, they will be your judges. But if I cast out the demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you."

"When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are secure. But when someone stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him, he takes away his armor on which he had relied and distributes his plunder. The one who is not with Me is against Me; and the one who does not gather with Me scatters. When the unclean spirit comes out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and not finding any, it then says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.' And when it comes, it finds it swept and put in order. Then it goes and brings along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they come in and live there; and the last condition of that person becomes worse than the first."

† Jesus' exorcisms proved the kingdom had arrived.
† Neutrality toward Christ was impossible.
† Israel's rejection left it open to worse judgment.

Luke 11:27-36
While Jesus was saying these things, one of the women in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, "Blessed is the womb that carried You, and the breasts at which You nursed!" But He said, "On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God and follow it."

Now as the crowds were increasing, He began to say, "This generation is a wicked generation; it demands a sign, and so no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. The Queen of the South will rise up with the men of this generation at the judgment, and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here."

† True blessedness came from obedience, not physical ties to Christ.
† The only sign for that generation was the resurrection, confirming judgment.
† Gentile examples condemned Israel's unbelief.

Luke 11:37-54
Now when He had spoken, a Pharisee asked Him to have lunch with him; and He went in and reclined at the table. When the Pharisee saw this, he was surprised that He had not first ceremonially washed before the meal. But the Lord said to him, "Now, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the platter; but your inside is full of greed and wickedness. You foolish ones, did He who made the outside not make the inside also? But give that which is within as a charitable gift, and then all things are clean for you. But woe to you Pharisees! For you pay tithes of mint, rue, and every kind of garden herb, and yet disregard justice and the love of God; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the seat of honor in the synagogues and personal greetings in the marketplaces. Woe to you! For you are like unseen tombs, and the people who walk over them are unaware of it."

One of the lawyers said to Him in reply, "Teacher, when You say these things, You insult us too." But He said, "Woe to you lawyers as well! For you load people with burdens that are hard to bear, while you yourselves will not even touch the burdens with one of your fingers. Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and it was your fathers who killed them. So you are witnesses and approve of the deeds of your fathers; because it was they who killed them, and you build their tombs. For this reason also, the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send to them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill, and some they will persecute, so that the blood of all the prophets, shed since the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the house of God'; yes, I tell you, it shall be charged against this generation. Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge; you yourselves did not enter, and you hindered those who were entering."

When He left there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be very hostile and to interrogate Him closely about many subjects, plotting against Him to catch Him in something He might say.

† The woes exposed hypocrisy, greed, and spiritual blindness.
† Their rejection would bring bloodguilt on that generation.
† Resistance to Christ hardened into murderous opposition.

How it applies to us today:
† Luke 11 reveals Christ's teaching on prayer, persistence, kingdom power, true blessedness, and the exposure of hypocrisy. The fulfilled perspective reminds us that His warnings of judgment came true in AD 70, and His kingdom was vindicated. For us today, this chapter calls us to pray with persistence, seek God's Spirit, obey His word, and live with sincerity of heart.

† This is the fulfilled perspective we proclaim at Fulfilled Prophecies †

Source Index
† Josephus, Wars 4.5.2
† Philo, On the Embassy to Gaius 299
† Tacitus, Histories 5.13
† Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3.18.3