If you wonder what our passage is about today, wonder no more. Luke tells us pointedly: “[Jesus] told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart” (18:1). But in addition to knowing what this parable is about, we also ought to ask: Why is this here, in this specific place in Luke’s Gospel? What has happened up to this point that would lead Jesus to provide this parable?
Tag Archives: Luke’s Gospel
One Stronger
The first thirteen verses of the eleventh chapter of Luke’s gospel are in essence Jesus’ response to one request, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1). Jesus responds first with the Lord’s Prayer, providing a succinct model or pattern for our prayers, followed by a parable teaching us the attitude we are to have when we pray, all of which presumes that we pray. Knowing how to pray is of course no benefit if we don’t do it. But what exactly is prayer?
The Yes but How of Prayer
Jerry Bridges tells of a man who when reading a book would often write “YBH” in the margin. When asked what the letters meant, the man replied, “They stand for Yes, but how? I agree with what the author is saying, but I need to know how to apply it.”[2] In the first thirteen verses of this eleventh chapter of Luke’s Gospel, Jesus doesn’t tell his disciples to pray but instead gives us the “YBH” of prayer.
The Good Portion
Mary’s Christ-centered worship was of eternal significance, while Martha’s distractions were a form of idolatry. What Jesus graciously revealed to Martha is that worship is the one thing necessary, taking precedence over everything else. In Christ, the good portion is ours forever. Let us be faithful to feast upon it today!
Planter, Pastor, Preacher 