Gospel Notes by Michael Whelan SM
He was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” 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 forgive everyone indebted to us. And do not bring us to the time of trial.”
And he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.’ And he answers from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.
“So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? If you then, who are 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!” (Luke 11:1-13 – NRSV)
Introductory notes
General
See Matthew 6:7-13 for a comparable text, where it is part of the Sermon on the Mount. Luke and Matthew have obviously derived this episode from a source other than Mark’s Gospel, normally a common source for them.
Matthew’s form has seven petitions whilst Luke only has five petitions.
Luke is unique in making reference to the fact that John has taught his disciples to pray.
Luke does not use the expression, “Our Father”. However, we have heard Luke tell of Jesus’ prayer: “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth …” (10:21). Luke’s form of the prayer picks up the theme of neighborly love which he has so beautifully spoken of in the parable of the good Samaritan (see 10:29-37) and being attentive to God’s word and will epitomized in the disposition of Mary ( see 10:38-42). “This complex of episodes thus reveals in its own way what the ideal attitude of the Christian disciple toward God should be and the sentiments that that attitude should evoke. The passage, moreover, is the first of three Lucan episodes dealing with prayer (see HST 324), being followed by the parable of the persistent friend (11:5–8) and sayings on the efficacy of prayer (11:9–13), the climax of which tells of the gift of the Spirit to be given to those who call on the heavenly Father in prayer” (Joseph A Fitzmyer S J, The Gospel according to Luke X–XXIV: introduction, translation, and notes (Vol. 28A), New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2008, 896).
One commentator notes, in the context of Jesus’ baptism in Luke 3:21: “Prayer is a constant motif in Luke-Acts, and the critical moments of Jesus’ ministry are punctuated by prayer (3:21; 5:16; 6:12; 9:18, 28–29; 11:1; 22:41, 44–45; 23:46). Luke omits ‘coming out of the water’, and therefore disrupts the ascent/descent pattern found in Mark 1:10 and Matt 3:16. Instead, the event is a prayer experience, as is also Luke’s version of the transfiguration (cf. Luke 9:28–29)” (Luke Timothy Johnson, The Gospel of Luke, Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1991, 69).
Specific
John taught his disciples: This is unique to Luke. Luke has already told us something of John and his disciples: he preached (3:18) and fasted (7:33) and his disciples both fasted and “prayed” (5:33).
when you pray: A generalized instruction. There is however a first century document, written in common Greek, called the Didache (Teaching), that would suggest this instruction of Jesus was accepted as a specific prayer very early in the life of the community: “8. But do not let your fasts coincide with those of the hypocrites. They fast on Monday and Thursday, so you must fast on Wednesday and Friday. (2) Nor should you pray like the hypocrites. Instead, ‘pray like this’, just as the Lord commanded in his Gospel: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread, and forgive us our debt, as we also forgive our debtors; and do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one; for yours is the power and the glory forever” (M W Holmes, The Apostolic Fathers: Greek texts and English translations, (Updated ed., p. 259), Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1999, 259). The version found in the Didache is based on Matthew’s version. Note, however, that it adds the doxology, “for yours is the power etc”.
Father, hallowed be your name: Luke tells us that Jesus himself calls God his Father (see 10:21). Luke does not use Matthew’s express, “Our Father in Heaven”. The hallowing of the name is ancient Jewish tradition.
Your kingdom come: A prayer that God’s intentions for our world will be realized. This proclamation of the kingdom has gained more urgency at this point in the Gospel of Luke (see for example 9:2, 11, 27, 60 & 62; 10:9 & 11).
Give us each day our daily bread: “The hardest part of this petition is the phrase shared by Matthew and Luke, ton arton ton epiousion. The word epiousios is not found anywhere else in Greek literature, so interpretation depends on the shaky grounds of etymology and context. Least likely is ‘supernatural bread’, favored by some patristic writers. The three likely options are: 1) ‘daily’, 2) ‘future’, and 3) ‘necessary’. In light of the narrative context which emphasizes going without provisions and depending on hospitality for provisions, the translation ‘the bread we need’ is appropriate. Matthew has ‘today’, while Luke has kath’hēmeran ‘day by day’ or ‘every day’. In line with this, he uses the present tense of didōmi (in contrast to Matthew’s aorist), to emphasize repeated giving = ‘keep giving us’. For the wondrous character of bread in unlikely circumstances, see the feeding of the multitude, 9:12–17” (Luke Timothy Johnson, op cit, 177-178).
forgive us our sins: This is a major theme in Luke’s Gospel and in Acts (see 1:77; 3:3; 5:20–21, 23–24; 7:47–49; 12:10; 23:34; 24:47; Acts 2:38; 5:31; 10:43; 13:38; 26:18).
do not bring us to the time of trial: This petition must be understood in the context of the belief of that time, that God controls all human events (see 1 Cor 10:13). Disciples must expect “testing” (see 8:13; 22:28). Note also Jesus’ statements in the garden: “Pray that you may not come into the time of trial” (see 22:40 & 46). Luke omits Matthew’s final petition, “an save us from the evil one”.
“Father, hallowed be your name”
In today’s Gospel – Luke 11:1-13 – Jesus is at prayer when one of the disciples asks him to teach them to pray. He tells them to speak with God as Father: “‘Father, hallowed be your name.’” Prayer is nothing more nor less than being conscious of the fact that God is your Father. The One who spoke to Moses on Sinai and promised that He would be with the people – see Exodus 3:1-15 – is now present to each of us as Father.
One way to understand Luke’s account of the living, dying and rising of Jesus, is through the metaphor of a household. The kingdom is a household, a place of welcome and hospitality, because the Father is there as promised. The household is a communion of love and life because of the Father.
Luke, in his Gospel, records Jesus referring to the Father no fewer than eighteen times. For example, near the beginning of the Gospel, when Jesus is a child “lost” in Jerusalem, he chides his mother: “‘Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?’” Later, during the ministry in Galilee, he tells his disciples: “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” (6:36). This teaching is later exemplified in the parable of the Prodigal Son – better called the Prodigal Father.
On the way to Jerusalem, Jesus tells the disciples: “‘Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom’” (12:32). In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prays: ‘“Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not my will but yours be done” (22:42). He asks the Father to forgive those who crucified him: ‘“Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing’” (23:34). “Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, ‘Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.’” Having said this, he breathed his last” (23:46). Before he ascends to the Father, Jesus tells the disciples: “‘You are witnesses of these things. And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high’” (24:48-49).
St Paul complements Luke beautifully in his Letter to the Romans: “When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ” (8:16-17). Central to the Incarnation is God’s desire to be with us as Father, a prodigal Father who forgives even those who crucified him. Jesus reminds the disciples when they are squabbling over who is the greatest, what their focus should be: “‘I confer on you, just as my Father has conferred on me, a kingdom, so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom’” (22:28-30).