The Life of Christ in the Synoptic Gospels
THE UNFRIENDLY NEIGHBOR
The Life of Christ in the Synoptic Gospels
THE UNFRIENDLY NEIGHBOR
Lesson Plan:
1. The Teacher (v 1)
2. 1st Lesson - The Ideal Prayer (vs 2-4)
3. 2nd Lesson - Preserving Earnestness in Prayer. The Story of a Neighbor (vs 5-8)
4. 3rd Lesson - Asking, Seeking, Knocking. Natural Law in the Spiritual World (vs 9, 10)
5. 4th Lesson - Love of Parents for Their Children. A Faint Type of God's Love to His Children
(vs 11-13)
Lesson Setting:
Time: December, A.D. 29. Soon after Jesus' return from the Feast of Dedication, and the incident at
the home of Martha and Mary, in our last lesson.
Place: Somewhere in Perea, east of the Jordan
Place in the Life of Christ: Early in His Perean
ministry, near the close of His third year, about four months before His crucifixion.
Research Thoughts: Why do we need to learn how to pray? Jesus' example as to prayer. The true use of the Lord's prayer. The Lord's Prayer as a whole, and the reason for the order of the petitions. Compare verse 13 with Matthew 7:11, and note the difference. Christ's lesson from the Fatherhood of God. The three forms of praying in verse 9. The three kinds of answer to prayer.
Scripture Reading: Luke 11:1
1. The Teacher
Jesus had returned from Bethany, where we saw Him in our last lesson, and was again at work in Perea. The great crisis of His life was but a few months away. The burdens of His last ministry were crowding upon Him. The leaving of His vast mission for the world in the hands of a few unlearned and imperfect fishermen demanded a faith and vision almost immeasurable. There was no power that could sustain Him but His Heavenly Father and His Holy Spirit. Hence, "he was praying in a certain place" (v 1) because He needed to pray and to be in closest communion with God at special times, as one eats his food at special times, but lives and works by means of it all the time. Note: The Teacher was experiencing in His own life the very things He taught His disciples at their request. It is well to notice this as we proceed with the lesson. Every teaching concerning prayer grew out of Jesus' life and experience. It was not hearsay; it was the fruit of His soul. It is this that makes a great teacher. And every teacher is successful just so far as this is true of his teaching.
v 1 ... "when he ceased" praying where they knew He was at prayer, or when He returned to them from some secret place where He was alone with God.
v 1 ... "one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray." The disciples realized more and more how much they needed prayer. We must learn to do even the best things, if we desire to do them in the best way. With the holiest and most earnest spirit, we need to learn how to express it most perfectly. The one fullest of music, or of artistic talent, takes the greatest pains to learn how best to express what is within him. So the disciples needed to learn how to pray – the true spirit of prayer, the right things to pray for, the length or intensity of praying, the attitude toward God, praying alone, or in public, what to expect in answer, and when to expect it, and many other things to cherish or to avoid. There must have been a great contrast between the prayers of the Pharisees, and the prayers of Jesus. In response to this request, Jesus gives them a Series of Lessons in His School of Prayer.
Scripture Reading: Luke 11:2-4
2. 1st Lesson – The Ideal Prayer
First: The Lord's Prayer is Ideal and perfect as a means of teaching how to pray. It is filled through and through with the true spirit of prayer. It is comprehensive. It embodies all essential desires of a praying heart, yet in the simplest form, resembling in this respect a pearl on which the light of heaven plays. It expresses and combines in the best order, every divine promise, every human sorrow and want, and every Christian aspiration for the good of others. It is unselfish, "ours," mine," "us," not "me." Its structure is such that it can be used for bringing large numbers together in the unity of worship, while at the same time its form is not imposed on any. No other prayer recorded in the Bible, not even of Christ, is a repetition of these words, but all are in its spirit. We should always paint as God paints. The student of Jesus (as a teacher) may say with equal confidence, "Brother, teach what Jesus taught, and teach as Jesus taught." And we may well add, Pray as Jesus prayed.
Second: The Order of the Petitions is in accordance with the true spirit of prayer. First of all the prayer is to a loving Father, to whom we would express gratitude, love, and loyalty, and the desire that His name be hallowed, revered, honored, worshiped by all "on earth as it is in heaven." This is the very soul of prayer without which no other prayer avails. Then comes the prayer that the whole world, including ourselves, may attain to the ideal which God is seeking for it. Next is the prayer for the needs that belong to God's kingdom, where He rules and has the power; and the redeemed creation will manifest the glory of His goodness and be a new revelation of His character to the universe. Nothing better, higher, more noble and perfect than this can be conceived.
Third: The Fatherhood of God and Brotherhood of Man, verse 2 ... "Our Father which art in heaven." This title expresses that aspect of God which most attracts us to pray to Him. When we think of God as infinite, omnipotent, the creator of the universe, Who saith to the sea "Hitherto shalt thou come, and no further, and here shall thy proud waves be stayed," "who sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers," "and weighed the mountains in scales," when we see Him in the storm and earthquake – how dare we come to Him with our little cares and needs. When we think of Him as perfect in holiness, "the high and lofty one who inhabiteth eternity," how can we sinful ones draw night to Him in prayer. When we think of Him as "the bright essence increate," who governs by unchangeable laws, how can we hope for deliverance from the consequences of His laws that we have broken. But when we see Him as our Father, a loving person, as we know Him in His Son, Jesus Christ as He lived on earth, we can draw nigh unto Him as children to a father. If from all literature, all history, all experience, all poetry, all imagination, we could gather together into one picture the noblest qualities of fatherhood and motherhood, loving-kindness and tender mercies, self-sacrifice, longsuffering, and forgiving love, a care that is wise and gracious, seeing the good more gladly than the evil – we would have some faint vision of what our Heavenly Father is. And we would gain an acquaintance with our Father and a communion with Him that would enrich the soul beyond all compare. Jesus is always putting forward as the great encouragement to pray, that "You can pray" quite as often as "You must pray."
v 2 ... "our" implies that all men are brethren, because children of the same Father; implying, too, our fellowship with Christ, our elder brother. We cannot have God for a father without taking man for a brother. We gain some idea of the way God answers prayer from the way a parent answers his children's prayers, always gladly, always giving what is desired if it be best, but giving something better in case the requested answer would be injurious, and drawing the child into closer acquaintance with his parent through prayers and answers.
Fourth: The Main Object for Which We Pray in this prayer is the coming of the kingdom of God, the greatest and best thing in the world, both for all men and for each one of us individually. We who pray are inclined in the ideal, the hope, the promise, for we are a part thereof, and we cannot sincerely pray for it or work for it unless this is true for us. To pray that we may be a part of this kingdom and of all its blessings is not selfish.
v 2 ... "Thy will be done" is the same ideal under another aspect. It does not refer chiefly to endurance of suffering, but to the free choice of God's will and service. The prayer is for the redemption of the whole world, the universal prevalence of the principles of righteousness and the love of God. This petition asks for the most magnificent blessings the world can receive. We can see what it means when we read the vision in the last two chapters of Revelation; and in the visions of Isaiah. Study what is excluded, and what is included in these pictures of the good time coming, and you will realize what you are praying for in this petition. Within our knowledge we get glimpses of it in the best and noblest people, and the most perfect communities. All earthly blessings are included with this moral reign, an outward world that is exactly adapted to the people living in it. For Christ Himself has promised that if we seek first the kingdom of God and its righteousness, all these things shall be added unto us, not only as the best environment for righteous living, but as the most perfect means by which the righteous may do the work God gives them to do.
Fifth: There is One Petition for Our Earthly Nature – "Give us day by day our daily bread" (v 3). As human beings with bodies as the instruments of the soul, it is not only right but necessary that we should pray for earthly things. The base of the stairway to the spiritual and the heavenly rests upon the earth. Earthly blessings may be made the rungs of the ladder, or rather the wings of ascending angels, that lift us to our Father in heaven. On earthly battlefields are gained spiritual victories. Earthly needs are a training school of prayer in the realm of the spirit. Almost every case of healing by Jesus was made the means of healing the soul. In "daily bread" is included satisfaction for every earthly need, not merely the necessities of life, but all that makes life healthier, fuller, more beautiful, more useful; food for every faculty of the soul, every longing of the heart. All earthly things are ennobled by being received from the hand of a loving Father.
Sixth: Lessons for Those Living in an Evil World – "Forgive us our sins" (v 4). We are all living in an evil world, and have all been influenced by the evil. Our first prayer therefore is to become right with God, to return like the prodigal to our Father's house and heart, to be assured of forgiveness, and to be delivered from sin, and sinful nature; which becomes possible when we forgive others as we would be forgiven. The next lesson is for strength to overcome temptation, for victory over this evil world. And finally to "deliver us from evil" all evil of every kind and degree.
Seventh: Finally, we have a Lesson in Faith, in the form of the Lord's Prayer given in Matthew. Why may we pray with assurance? Because to our Father belongs "the kingdom and the power" (Matt. 7:13). He is ruler of nature and man. All forces are under His control.
v 13 ... "and the glory." God's glory is the outshining of His nature, His character, His love, the perfection of His being.
Scripture Reading: Luke 11:5-8
3. 2nd Lesson – Persevering Earnestness in Prayer. The Story of a Neighbor
An Oriental Story of Two Neighbors: Jesus begins by appealing to His disciples as if it might occur.
v 5 ... "a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight." In hot climates traveling was largely done in the night. But for the householder it was a most inconvenient time, when it would require a good deal of patience to grant the request.
v 5 ... "lend me three loaves." Thin cakes, of which it would easily take three to satisfy a hungry man.
v 6 ... "For a friend of mine." Giving the reason for his inopportune but urgent request. The friend, arriving at the late hour, was doubtless suffering from hunger. There were almost no hotels in the East to which he could go. The host was entirely out of food, but hoped that his friend might have some left over, though usually they prepare bread enough only for a single day. Perhaps he did not even have the meal to make bread.
v 7 ... "Trouble me not." One translation says, "Don't bother me."
v 7 ... "my children are with me in bed." In the same apartment, but not in the same bed. Each had a bed, or mattress. It was usual in that time for a whole poor family to sleep in the same room.
v 7 ... "I cannot rise and give thee." It is altogether too much trouble. It was indeed a good deal to ask, but its excuse was that it was for others and not for himself.
v 8 ... "Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend." Though the higher motives will not avail to overcome his reluctance for the friendship is weak.
v 8 ... "yet because of his importunity." The word importunity is actually too mild. The original is a very striking word, describing persistence; literally, shamelessness. He let no modesty keep him from insisting that his friend grant his request. Jesus' application of the story is made in verses 9 and 10. It is the same as that of the parable of the Unjust Judge in Luke 18, "And shall not God avenge his elect, that cry to him day and night, and yet he is longsuffering over them" (Am. Rev.). "However long the answer to prayer may seem to be delayed, constant faithful prayer always is answered" (Int. Crit. Com.). The two similar parables "imply that we have to wait for the fulfillment of spiritual desires, and they teach that it is worth our while to wait; fulfillment's will come" (Exp. Greek Test.). In order to avoid certain misunderstandings it is wise to note: (a) That the teaching of this story is by contrast, not by comparison. God is not like this churlish neighbor, nor like the unjust judge. God is not reluctant to give; He is eager to give His best things to men. He wants to do it infinitely more than we want to have Him do it. There is no reluctance in Him to be overcome by persistent importunity. The truth taught is that if persistence, importunity, can move a reluctant churl too lazy to get up and annoyed at being troubled, to grant unwillingly a request, how much more certainly can we know that the bountiful God, our Father, will give things to those that ask Him in persevering prayer. (b) If importunity means teasing God; if it implies stubborn self-confidence, doubting God's loving readiness to answer, determining to get the answer whether God wants to give it or not, if at its best, importunity assumes either that God cannot answer until the battering-ram method is used, or that there is a gain from such a method in the relations between Father and child, then of course importunity is wrong. But it applies only to our personal temporal desires for definite, need-to-know-right-now answers for things we face in life, though we know not what is best or whether God has a better answer which may come in some other way. (c) But for spiritual blessings, for striving toward perfection in every good word and work, to become perfect even as our Father in heaven in perfect, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ – for such petitions importunity is not too strong a word. And for the coming of the kingdom of God – for our country, that all its people, its officers, its business men, its homes, its Christian leaders, may do the will of God as it is done in heaven; and for the world that all nations shall become subjects of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and walk in the light of the city of God – there is no earnestness, no persistence, no "praying without ceasing," that is too intense and enduring. (d) The reason for requiring intense, unceasing earnestness, does not lie in God's nature but in ours; not in His unwillingness, but in ours. It is to make us willing and fit to receive. A gift of food is of no use unless there is hunger. Books are of little value unless there is a desire for knowledge. Wrestling in prayer increases desire. Only they who hunger and thirst after righteousness can be filled. Prayer-answers are often long preparing; as one prays for fruit, and the answer is begun by the planting of a seed, followed by the nurture of sun and rain. But the fruit must grow and ripen before it can be eaten. Familiar examples are found in every good reform in the growth of character. Much of our best training in God's School comes through the work and thought, and interest in the long-continued nurture of the good seeds of the kingdom into fruit-bearing trees beside the river of life.
Scripture Reading: Luke 11:9, 10
4. 3rd Lesson – Asking, Seeking, Knocking. Natural Law in the Spiritual World
These verses express one of the conclusions to be drawn from the story of the selfish neighbor. Asking is the condition of receiving. Prayer opens the door to the divine treasure house which contains supplies for all our needs. In the Arabian Night's tales there is a story of a remarkable ointment which, if rubbed on the eye, makes one see all the riches in the world; the gold hidden in the mines, the diamonds treasured in secret places. Education is like that ointment. But prayer, taking hold of the powers of God, is not only the ointment that makes our eyes to see all the riches of God's worlds, earthly and heavenly, but is the "open sesame," unlocking the doors to those treasures. We find here the threefold way of asking for them: "Ask ... seek ... knock" (v 9). These words imply three methods of prayer, and perhaps three degrees of intensity. Ask, express your desire, go to God with it; including and gathering up in itself the "seek" and the "knock," as in verse 13, for these are modes of asking. Seek by all active efforts, which are acted prayers; use all possible means, as in the parable of the pearl of great price. Knock at the door of God's treasure house of blessings for the blessings which no seeking can obtain, but which must be given by God. For God has countless blessings in store for us beyond all we can ask or think. The power of steam lay dormant in every drop of water back to the Garden of Eden. Electricity was sleeping unknown in the clouds ages ago, and the same is true of a thousand marvels, such as Cyber Space, which we are discovering in these latter days. But all these, wonderful as they are, are but a few grains from the waving harvests of blessing, which are waiting for man's earnest seeking, and his fitness to receive. We have not begun to exhaust the treasures of this world. This is equally true of God's spiritual blessings. There is a fuller salvation, a nobler life, a higher character, a larger usefulness, a richer experience, grander triumphs for the kingdom, than poet's dream or artist's vision can conceive. All we have yet received are but the dawning rays of the glorious day that is coming; "as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him" (1 Cor. 2:9). And there is no way by which we can receive the fullness of these heavenly blessings, save by Asking, Seeking, and Knocking. Only in this way can the blessings be worked into our nature, as the sunshine is worked into the flower and the fruit.
Illustration: In the charming little booklet, Expectation Corner, Adam Slowman wrote about being led into the Lord's treasure houses, and among many other wonders, revealed to him was the "Delayed Blessings Office," where God kept certain things prayed for until the wise time came to send them. "It takes a long time for some pensioners to learn that delays are not denials ... Ah, there are secrets of love and wisdom in the 'Delayed Blessings Department' which are little dreamt of. Men would pluck their mercies green when the Lord would have them ripe." Therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you (Is. 30:18).
There are three ways in which prayer is answered: (a) The very act of praying brings us into communion with God. (b) Wherever it is wisest and best, the very thing asked for is given. (c) Since the exact thing we ask for, in the form we ask for it, would often be the worst thing for us, and what we really do not desire, therefore, in such cases God gives us the spirit of our prayer, what we really want, what we would have asked for in form if we had known all things as God does. A child cries for the moon. He does not really want the moon, as he thinks he does, but only some bright plaything, which the parent gives, and thus answers his real prayer, while to have given the moon would not have been a true answer to his request, but the exact opposite. Dr. Harrison wrote, ‘Strive; yet I do not promise The prize you dream of today Will not fade when you think to grasp it, And melt in your hand away; But another and holier treasurer, You would now, perchance, disdain Will come when your toil is over, And pay you for all your pain. Wait, yet I do not tell you The hour you long for now Will not come, with its radiance vanished, And a shadow upon its brow; Yet far through the misty future, With a crown of starry light, An hour of joy you know not Is winging her silent flight. Pray; though the gift you ask for May never comfort your fears, May never repay your pleading, Yet pray, and with hopeful tears; An answer, not that you long for,? But diviner, will come one day; Your eyes are too dim to see it, Yet strive, and wait, and pray.’
Scripture Reading: Luke 11:11-13
5. 4th Lesson – Love of Parents for Their Children. A Faint Type of God's Love to His Children
The desire of parents to give good things to their children is but a faint type of the desire of our Father to give the best things to His children. Jesus now appeals to their own hearts for a proof of God's willingness to hear and answer prayer. Prayer to our Heavenly Father should be as natural as a child's asking what he wants from his father; as free and ready to ask.
v 11 ... "If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone," that looks like bread, one of their round hard loaves. The story is told about obtaining from a friend one of the hard balls of bread from the convent of St. Catherine on Mt. Sinai, which, while using as a paperweight, he accidentally threw away mistaking it for a stone.
v 11 ... "If he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?" Which resembles some forms of fish. Here the contrast is between excellent food and something harmful.
v 12 ... "Ask an egg ... offer him a scorpion?" The white scorpion with the tail folded would actually look like a small egg. Here the contrast is between good food and the painful and deadly. On the contrary, if the child ask for a stone or serpent – anything injurious – the father will refuse the harmful, and give him good food instead. It is the world and Satan that give stones for bread and serpents for fish.
The Conclusive Argument: "If ye then, bring evil" (v 13), imperfect, more or less selfish, with many wrong motives and feelings and passions "know how to give good gifts unto your children." Every parent who has not lost his very humanity, and become devilish, desires good for his children, and will take a great deal of pains and care to give them good things.
v 13 ... "how much more shall your heavenly Father," perfect in goodness, infinite in love, far more ready to give than we are to receive "give the Holy Spirit." The best of all good gifts, the sum and source of all. It is like giving life to the dead, making possible to him all enjoyments and all powers. It is like giving light to those in the dark, or sight to the blind, revealing all the glories of earth and sky. The good Father who gives this best of all gifts will not withhold any of the lesser good things – hence, it is said in Matthew, He will "give good things" "to them that ask him." We should always realize that God is better than men – kinder and more loving to His children than we are to ours. But do we actually realize that? There are fond mothers, who resolutely cause pain or grief to their darlings by forcibly administering some unpleasant medicine, or by taking away some dangerous plaything, or unwholesome article of food, while they are unable to explain their ground of action to the little ones. They know that they are prompted in this by truest love, although to their children they may, for the present, seem unloving. Do those mothers never wonder how God can be influenced by love to them, in causing them pain or grief, by what He gives, or by what He takes away, while He yet fails to make full explanation of His course? If so, is there no suggestion in their thought that God is less loving and wise than an earthly parent?
