Story of Jesus, December 11th

Luke Chapter 11

One day Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he 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
who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation.”

-Luke 11:2-4

Then, teaching them more about prayer, he used this story: “Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to his house at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.’ Then the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’

I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man’s boldness 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 the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

You fathers, if your children ask for a fish, do you give them a snake instead? Or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a scorpion? Of course not! So if you sinful people 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.”

One day Jesus was casting out a demon that was mute. When the demon left, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowd was amazed. But some of them said, “No wonder he can cast out demons. He gets his power from Satan, the prince of demons.” Others, trying to test Jesus, asked for a sign from heaven.

He knew their thoughts, and said to them, “Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall. If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? I say this because you claim that I drive out demons by Beelzebub. Now if I drive out demons by Satan, by whom do your followers drive them out? So they will be your judges. But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you.

When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up the spoils.

He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me, scatters.

When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes through the desert seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the person I came from.’ When it arrives, it finds that its former home is all swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and finds seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before.”

As he was speaking, a woman in the crowd called out, “God bless your mother, who gave birth to you and nursed you.”

He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”

When the crowds were increasing, Jesus began to say, “This is a wicked generation. It asks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah. For as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh that God had sent him, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. The Queen of the South will stand up against this generation on judgement day and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom. Now someone greater than Solomon is here, but you refuse to listen. The people of Nineveh will also stand up at the judgement with this generation and condemn it; for they repented of their sins at the preaching of Jonah. Now someone greater than Jonah is here, but you refuse to repent.”

“No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a basket. Instead he puts it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light. Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness. Make sure that the light you think you have is not actually darkness. If you are filled with light, with no dark corners, then your whole life will be radiant; it will be completely lighted, as when the light of a lamp shines on you.”

When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him. So he went in and took his place at the table. The Pharisee was astonished to see that Jesus did not first wash before dinner; as is the hand-washing ceremony required by Jewish custom.

Then the Lord said to him, “Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You foolish people! Didn’t God make the inside as well as the outside? So clean the inside by giving gifts to the poor, and you will be clean all over.”

“What sorrow awaits you Pharisees, because you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore justice and the love of God. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.”

“What sorrow awaits you Pharisees, because you love the most important seats in the synagogues and greetings in the market place. Yes, what sorrow awaits for you, because you are like unmarked graves and people walk over them without knowing it.”

One of the experts in the law answered him, “Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us also.”

Jesus replied, “Yes, what sorrow also awaits you experts in religious law, because you load people down with unbearable religious demands, and you never lift a finger to ease the burden. What sorrow awaits for you, because you build tombs for the prophets, and it was your own forefathers who killed them. But in fact, you stand as witnesses who agree with what your ancestors did. They killed the prophets, and you join in their crime by building the monuments!

Because of this, God in his wisdom said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute.’

“Therefore this generation will be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the beginning of the world; from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, this generation will be held responsible for it all.”

“What sorrow awaits you experts in religious law, because you have taken away the key to knowledge. You don’t enter the Kingdom yourselves, and you prevent others from entering.”

As Jesus was leaving, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law became hostile and tried to provoke him with many questions. They wanted to catch him in something he might say; to trap him with something they could use against him.