

JESUS AND PRAYER

       A STUDY OF
THE IMPORTANCE OF PRAYER
 IN THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

Victor Bissett



This booklet has been prepared from notes 
used for the teaching sessions on this topic 
given to the International Fellowship of 
Christians, Cocody, Abidjan. Some of the 
material was also used for a study presented 
during the day of prayer in March 1990 at 
the Summer Institute of Linguistics, Abidjan.

In spite of the serious nature of the study, 
it is hoped that the ready availability of 
this material gathered in the form of a 
booklet will encourage many in their 
thematic study of the Word of God. By his 
Spirit, may God help us in our understanding 
of the importance of the subject and 
encourage each of us to imitate Jesus in his 
commitment to the regular habit of prayer.

First made available by e-mail in 1997.
First posted to Web pages June, 1998.

Copyright (c) Victor Bissett, 1998
CENTRE DE DOCUMENTATION MISSIONNAIRE
08 B.P. 424, ABIDJAN 08, Ivory Coast, West Africa.
Tel: (225) 42-72-45 -- Internet: bissettv@WHO.net


_SUMMARY_

Introduction
References to Prayer
References to Christ Praying
Prayer in the Gospels
Comparison of the References
  Where the Other Synoptics are More Detailed
  Detailed Lucan References
Are Luke's Additions Merely Redactional?
The Importance of Prayer to Christ
Trust and Submission
Jesus' Prayers from the Cross
Conclusion
Further Reflection
The Personal Challenge
Appendix
  Two Lucan Parables Concerning Prayer
     (Lk. 11.5-13 and Lk. 18.1-8)

Notes and Bibliographical Details

-------------------

The author: 

Victor Bissett started teaching in 1965. He has taught in 
secondary and tertiary institutions in Australia and France, 
and also in Niger Republic in 1981-82. There he was the first 
missionary professeur accepted to teach in a State lycee, 
and he was made a member of the jury for the Baccalaureat 
in 1982. He then taught courses for three years in the SIM 
Bible School at Niamey.

His university studies were initially in Philosophy and 
modern languages. He did secondary teacher training, 
graduated B.A., and was later awarded an M.A. with Honours 
in French. He completed his Th.L. while teaching in the 
government Lycee Montesquieu in Bordeaux, France, in 1969-70. 
Afterwards he did graduate B.D. studies, with a special 
option in Comparative Religion and in Islam in particular. 
He also did Australian College of Theology Scholar of Theology 
(Th.Schol.) examinations in Dogmatics and Comparative Study 
of Living Faiths, writing papers in the area of Christology 
and on The Points of Contact between Islam and Christianity 
Today. He has completed a Ph.D. in New Testament Gospel studies 
and has done cross-cultural courses in Detroit, Michigan. With 
the late Jeremy Hinds (of the Bible Society of Nigeria), 
Victor Bissett is co-author of the Cours sur le Coran edited 
in Abidjan.

Victor Bissett is married to Stephanie and they have three 
daughters. Having come to Cote d'Ivoire as missionaries in 1985, 
their financial support comes mainly from friends in churches 
in Australia. They help various churches in Abidjan and elsewhere 
and collaborate with groups like the Groupes Bibliques 
Universitaires d'Afrique Francophone and the International 
Institute for Pastoral Training in a Bible teaching 
ministry and in leadership training as well as editing and 
desk-top publishing. Various courses are conducted, 
Victor participates in retreats and church conferences, 
and some dozen books and booklets have been prepared in French.

This text is made freely available for your reflection. 
We only request honest use and acknowledgement of 
quotations from this work. May God bless you richly.

(c) 1998, Victor Bissett. <bissettv@WHO.net>


-------------------



 JESUS AND PRAYER

      A Study of
the Importance of Prayer
 in the Gospel of Luke


        INTRODUCTION

        Several theologians and Bible 
expositors, while discussing some of the 
emphases of Luke and particular points of 
interest of his gospel, have noted that 
references to Jesus in prayer are much more 
frequent in the Gospel according to Luke 
than in the other Gospels.(1) This is 
obviously an important observation in view 
of the place that we as Christians give to 
prayer in our theory and practice. We talk a 
great deal about prayer and even have books 
teaching us how to pray. In addition many of 
our churches have prayer meetings, and a 
significant part of our time together as 
churches is spent in prayer of one sort or 
another. We might well ask ourselves to what 
extent, in doing this, we are really 
following Jesus in one of his regular 
practices.

        So we will in this booklet first check 
the validity of the observation about the 
place of prayer in Luke's Gospel and the 
extent to which it is true. We will further 
seek to ascertain, from the various 
references in the gospels which alone 
concern Christ's praying, just what is the 
distinctive contribution that Luke as a 
gospel writer makes to our understanding of 
prayer and its role in Jesus' life and 
ministry.

        We need to add two remarks. For the 
purposes of such a brief study it will 
suffice to work principally from the English 
text rather than the Greek New Testament to 
discover and interpret the various 
references to prayer and praying in Luke. 
And while it is recognized that Luke, by 
also writing the Acts of the Apostles, has 
written a two-part work,(2) it stands to 
reason that in this particular study we can 
limit ourselves to a consideration of the 
appropriate evidence in the Gospel of Luke 
alone concerning Christ and prayer, without 
looking at the Acts of the Apostles.


REFERENCES TO PRAYER

        A satisfactory method open to any of us 
of ascertaining the use of the relevant 
terms is by simply consulting a fairly 
detailed concordance. For this purpose, 
because of its scope and its direct relation 
to a modern, rather literal Bible version(3) 
commonly being used, the _New American 
Standard Exhaustive Concordance of the 
Bible_ will adequately serve our purpose.

        Checking the references we discover that 
for the entry *Pray* this concordance shows 
Matthew as having used this word 10 times, 
Mark 4 times, John not at all, and Luke 11 
times. The word *Prayed*, on the other hand, 
has the declining order: 3 entries for Mt., 
2 for Mk, 1 for Lk., and none for Jn. What 
already stands out here is the marked 
difference between John's Gospel (with no 
entries) and the other three gospels, called 
the Synoptics because they can easily be 
placed side by side for purposes of 
comparison of passages.

        For the word *Prayer* there are 3 
entries for Mt. (with one rather doubtful 
reading), 2 for Mk, 4 for Lk., and again 
none for John. A roughly similar pattern 
exists for *Prayers*, with Mt. 1 entry, Mk 
1, Lk. 3, and Jn no entries. The difference 
is more marked when one notes that for 
*Praying*, Mt. has only 2 entries, Mk 3, but 
Lk. has 7, with none for Jn.  On face value 
one thing stands out here: these figures do 
indeed seem to show that prayer is of 
considerable interest to Luke.


REFERENCES TO CHRIST PRAYING

        For a general overview these statistics 
are useful but they do not tell us enough. 
The results need to be analysed somewhat to 
discover just what entries are really 
significant for our study. That is to say we 
need to find those verses specifically 
relating to our Lord praying. 

        Having another look at the various 
concordance references in this light we then 
discover that for *Pray* Mt. has 3 
significant entries, Mk 1, but Lk. has 4. 
For the word *Prayer* we note that it is 
Luke alone who has entries, two of them in 
fact. All of the references for the word 
*Prayed* concern Jesus. We note that the 
only other entry of direct relevance to our 
study is *Praying* where Mk has a single 
mention of Christ praying and Lk. in fact 
has 5. It is to these passages that we must 
now turn our attention in anticipation of 
seeing what they might teach us about Jesus 
and prayer.



        * * * * *



PRAYER IN THE GOSPELS

COMPARISON OF THE REFERENCES

        We want these revealing figures given 
above to become meaningful and so we must 
must do two things. We must look at just 
what precisely the verses tell us and then, 
where possible, relate them to their 
parallels in the other synoptic Gospels. At 
that point we should be able to see in what 
way Luke's approach differs from that of the 
other Gospels and that of Mark in 
particular. This is of interest as many 
theologians still think that it was Mark's 
Gospel which probably provided a substantial 
part of Luke's material which is found also 
in Matthew.(4) Furthermore, as disciples of 
Jesus Christ, if we really wish to follow in 
his footsteps, it is important to discover 
just what the different Gospel writers teach 
us about Jesus' habits in regard to prayer 
so that we can be like him.


CASES WHERE REFERENCES IN THE OTHER 
SYNOPTICS ARE MORE DETAILED

        We can first of all to look at the 
references where the other synoptic Gospels 
are more detailed. If we start with the 
early reference Mk 1.35, we find recorded: 
*And in the morning, a great while before 
day* [literally we might translate Mark's 
Greek: *very much at night*], *he rose and 
went out to a lonely place, and there he 
prayed*. Here we can see that our Lord is 
very busy, overloaded with work and ministry 
demands, something which can be at times our 
very own situation. After having taught in the 
synagogue during the day, we read that he 
healed Simon's mother-in-law. Then that same 
evening it seemed that *the whole city* came 
to see him (Mk 1.33). After such a busy day, 
as we can see, even at night they brought 
people who were sick or demon-possessed to 
be delivered.

        What did Jesus do in such a situation? 
The Lucan parallel simply records that *he 
departed and went into a lonely place* (Lk. 
4.42). Here it is the Marcan reference which 
in fact tells us explicitly what Jesus did 
on this occasion following such a 
particularly trying day. Being apparently 
less concerned with his physical tiredness 
than his spiritual state, Jesus was not 
afraid to get up very early. This Mark makes 
very clear, as if the disciples were 
impressed by this fact. Jesus then renewed 
his strength during a time away alone in 
communion with God. 

        However, it does not take very much to 
see that prayer is also implied in Luke's 
short account by the statement that he *went 
off to a lonely place* (GNB). Jesus 
obviously had some special reason to seek 
this time and place of solitude away from 
everything and everyone. Luke might have 
thought that this would be only too clear to 
his readers.

        Anyway such is surely the case in the 
various accounts in our Gospels of Jesus' 
earlier wilderness temptation experience 
which was linked to his period of fasting 
and preparation for his ministry (cf. Mt. 
4.1-11; Mk 1.12-13; Lk. 4.1-13). Not one of 
the writers tells us that he prayed there, 
nor do they draw explicitly the fairly 
obvious parallel with Moses' experience in 
the wilderness. It was, it seems, other 
things which interested them about this 
time, particularly the nature of the tempta-
tions and the special ministry of God to his 
Son at the end of the forty days. But there 
also, we believe, Jesus' extended period of 
retreat and fasting would certainly have 
been accompanied by a time of intimate 
communion with God away from all the dis-
tractions of the world. That was surely what 
our Lord was seeking during those trying six 
weeks.

        Similarly to Mark's first reference that 
we looked at, we learn from Mt. 14.23 and Mk 
6.46 that, prior to walking on the waters of 
the Sea of Galilee, Jesus *went up on the 
mountain... to pray*. Luke alone of the 
Gospel writers has not recorded this 
incident, so his Gospel lacks any parallel 
for our consideration.(5) This is perhaps 
astonishing, because the event was most im-
pressive and also because it was a real time 
of trial for our Lord who felt he had to 
flee the crowd who wanted *to take him*, 
according to John's account, *by force to 
make him king* (Jn 6.15). No doubt they 
wanted to make him a revolutionary king 
according to their own Jewish nationalistic 
conception of the Messiah. If he could do 
such a miracle with bread and fish, what 
could not he do with a few swords and 
catapults! With Jesus you would not need 
logistic support. The logistic support 
necessary at any time would be available 
through his person and presence. As the 
crowd saw it, he was just the sort of leader 
they needed to overthrow the Romans, and 
their decision was unanimous. If he did not 
want to accept this responsibility, they 
were inclined to put him in such a position 
that he would be forced to act.

        By the way, most probably like Judas 
later (cf. Mt. 27.3), it appears that the 
disciples were not at all adverse to such an 
idea. That seems to be the reason why Jesus 
sent the twelve off on their way first, 
promising to meet them later, perhaps at a 
predetermined spot on the shore of the lake 
before continuing with them the rest of the 
way across the lake. Jesus had to get them 
out of the way before he dismissed the 
excited and excitable crowd, the disciples 
being no help at all in this.

        With regard to this we might well at 
times have asked ourselves why Jesus, as 
John puts it, *had not yet come to them* (Jn 
6.17). The most likely answer lies in the 
time that Jesus spent on the mountain in 
prayer after the dismissal of the crowd, 
which was apparently greater than he at 
first foresaw or intended. After all, this 
temptation that Jesus faced here was similar 
in nature to those he had been confronted 
with in the wilderness. Satan was offering a 
way of setting up the Kingdom which made the 
cross and our salvation unnecessary for 
Jesus. In the face of such a serious situa-
tion, as our Lord understood things, there 
was one thing which was indispensable: 
prayer!


DETAILED LUCAN REFERENCES

        The pattern we have discerned in Matthew 
and Mark of Jesus' seeking out a lonely 
place, can certainly be found in the third 
Gospel. Luke also seems to want to make 
clear how indispensable this was as part of 
our Lord's behaviour even and perhaps espec-
ially at a time when Jesus' ministry was 
welcomed enthusiastically and *great 
multitudes gathered to hear and be healed of 
their infirmities* (Lk. 5.15). How much of a 
real habit this quiet time of prayer alone 
with God was for our Lord is brought out by 
Luke by the independent statement in 5.16: 
*He himself would often slip away to the 
wilderness and pray* (NASB). The 
periphrastic imperfect tense used in the 
Greek of this verse seems to underline the 
fact that this was very much a regular 
occurrence on the part of our Lord. As Luke 
says, it was what Jesus *would do* or *used 
to do* regularly, slipping away to a lonely 
place and praying. 

        For Jesus, prayer was not reserved for 
times of difficulty and danger. We can see 
that when Jesus was busiest, he would make a 
special time of retreat and prayer. If that 
was necessary and useful for him, how much 
more so for us!

        On the other hand, where the other 
Gospels seem to remain silent, we find that 
it is indeed the distinctive character of 
Luke's approach and interest that stands 
out. We can see that if we look at some 
salient events of Jesus' ministry, starting 
with his baptism. It appears that Luke 
depicts Jesus in such as way that prayer is 
seen as a priority in his life and perhaps 
even as *the* crucial factor of his life and 
ministry. It seems indeed to be related to 
every significant event of his life.


JESUS' BAPTISM

        Concerning Jesus' baptism, even though 
all four Gospel writers have some account of 
this most important event, it is Luke alone 
who informs us of the important fact that it 
was when Jesus *had been baptized and was 
praying that the heaven was opened, and the 
Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily 
form* (Lk. 3.21). The other Synoptics 
fortunately complete the tableau somewhat, 
Matthew and Mark contributing the fact that 
he had already come up out of the water. Mt. 
3.16 reads, *And when Jesus was baptized, he 
went up immediately from the water...* In Mk 
1.10 likewise we read, *And when he came up 
out of the water, immediately he saw the 
heavens opened...*

        So apparently the Spirit did not come 
upon Jesus while he was standing in the 
water at all, as ever so many representa-
tions in fiction, picture and cinema depict 
the event. As Luke makes very clear, it was 
while Jesus was in prayer that he was anointed
from on high. This is important as we 
all need to understand that there was 
nothing magic about Jesus' baptism, and the 
anointing with the Spirit did not take place 
at the precise moment he was baptized. It 
was in fact just afterwards, during the time 
of communion with God in prayer, that a form 
like a dove was seen (perhaps only by John 
the Baptist and Jesus) and the heavenly 
Father's reassuring voice was heard saying, 
*Thou art my beloved Son; with Thee I am 
well pleased* (Lk. 3.22).


THE CHOICE OF THE TWELVE

        We read later in Mk 3.13-14 that Jesus 
*went up on the mountain and he called to 
him those he desired... And he appointed 
twelve...* We might wonder why Jesus went up 
*on the mountain*. Was it simply to choose 
the disciples in a quiet spot where it was 
cooler? No! Thankfully Luke's Gospel also 
relates the choosing of the twelve Apostles, 
but we note that, as is his wont, Luke adds 
an important clarifying detail. He tells us 
that Jesus in fact went up on the mountain 
the preceding evening with a special 
purpose. Perhaps at the precise moment of 
going off Jesus did not yet have the 
intention of choosing the twelve. That idea 
might have come to him from God during the 
night. Luke says: *In these days he went up 
to the mountain to pray; and all night he 
continued in prayer to God* (Lk. 6.12). So 
we see then that Luke specifies that it is 
only after this whole night spent in prayer 
that the decision was taken and Jesus 
actually made his formal choice of these 
crucial leaders *when it was day* (v.13). 
That is, Jesus acted during the following 
morning. Of course this was not at all clear 
in Mark's account. 

        It stands out that Luke alone reports 
Christ thus persevering during an entire 
night of prayer before his important act of 
choosing the Twelve who would accompany him 
for special training during his period of 
ministry. When our Lord went up to the 
mountain on that occasion for reflection and 
prayer, was he looking for his heavenly 
Father's guidance so far as the success of 
his future work was concerned? Was the 
answer only then given to him, just like 
Moses was moved to act on the advice of 
Jethro (Ex. 18.14-20)? Was he perhaps 
already looking for those who could share 
the load with him? Did he specifically place 
before God the various possible names, like 
we might do? That special night, was it a 
time given over to intercession for those he 
had already chosen? 

        Of course we cannot know the answers to 
such questions, but they are perhaps useful 
for our reflection. What is clear, however, 
is that Jesus did not want to act without 
this extended time of prayer. As we have 
seen from Luke 5.16, such a time of prayer 
was obviously Jesus' custom before many a 
busy day. So Luke's narrative should not 
surprise us unduly. However, once again it 
surely provides us with an example to 
follow.


PETER'S CONFESSION AT CAESAREA PHILIPPI

        We note somewhat later that, according 
to Luke, just before Peter's confession at 
Caesarea Philippi, Jesus was again praying. 
The other Synoptics do not give this 
precious detail (cf. Mt. 16.13ff.; Mk 
8.27ff.). Luke, however, records: *Now it 
happened that as he was praying alone the 
disciples were with him; and he asked them, 
'Who do the people say that I am?'* (Lk. 
9.18). Here we again find Jesus acting 
according to his custom, praying alone, but, 
on this occasion at least, with the 
disciples in the vicinity.

        This text raises the tantalizing 
questions as to whether it was a result of 
this time of prayer that Jesus was led to 
ask the question. On the other hand we might 
wonder whether Peter was able to answer just 
as he did, *The Christ of God* (9.20), 
because of Christ's prayer, or whether both 
are true. We are unfortunately just not able 
to say, although there is every reason to 
believe that the confession was indeed made 
possible by Christ's prayer time. We can at 
least thank God for the supplementary light 
that Luke's writing has shed on this 
incident and its preparation by prayer, much 
as the Twelve were chosen after such a time 
of special prayerful preparation.


THE TRANSFIGURATION OF CHRIST

        The Transfiguration, which followed soon 
after that great confession by Peter at 
Caesarea Philippi, is a further turning point 
in the Gospels. Everyone is in agreement 
with that. Luke stresses the role of prayer 
in this event, almost as if the trans-
formation, according to him, was called 
forth by prayer. We can see that, while 
Matthew simply tells us that Jesus led the 
disciples *up a high mountain apart* (Mt. 
17.1), and Mark says the same thing (Mk 
9.2), Luke says specifically that he took 
with him the small group of disciples *and 
went up on the mountain to pray* (Lk. 9.28). 
There is no ambiguity in Luke's version. 
Here is another of Jesus' withdrawals in 
search of that communion with the Father 
which was so precious to him.

        However, we can be grateful that Luke 
gives us even more specific and revealing 
information. The accent placed on prayer on 
this occasion is reinforced by the following 
statement: *And as he was praying, the 
appearance of his countenance was 
altered...* (9.29). This occurrence would 
seem to have been somewhat similar to that 
at his baptism, at least according to Luke's 
account. We read that while in communion 
with God in prayer Jesus was transfigured 
and that the change takes place before the 
disciples, bearing witness to the hand and 
blessing of God upon our Lord.


THE LORD'S PRAYER

        Turning to another passage we note that 
Matthew records for us a fuller text of the 
Lord's Prayer (Mt. 6.9ff.) than that which 
we find in Luke. However, Luke reveals in 
his Gospel that the request to be taught to 
pray arose out of observation rather than 
from a straight discourse, as Matthew's text 
would have led us to believe. He tells us 
that Jesus *was praying in a certain place, 
and when he ceased, one of his disciples 
said to him, 'Lord, teach us to pray, as 
John taught his disciples.'* (Lk 11.1). 
According to Luke it was Jesus' example, his 
praying, that motivated the request 
formulated by one of the disciples. This 
disciple asks specifically to be taught to 
pray as John the Baptist taught his 
disciples.

        Now we know that John apparently taught 
his disciples some structured prayers 
similar to the regular Jewish 
"benedictions". This is the pattern which 
was possibly followed later in the 
fellowship of the early church, if the 
plural in *and the prayers* of Acts 2.42 is 
any guide. Furthermore, the Apostles are a 
little later still going to the Temple at 
the fixed hour of prayer, according to Acts 
3.1. Indeed, that John used such structured 
prayers with his disciples seems to be the 
valid inference that we can draw from Lk. 
5.33 where it is mentioned that John's 
disciples fast and, literally, *make 
prayers.* It should come to us then as no 
surprise that Jesus actually proceeds to 
teach his disciples, according to Luke's 
account, not so much what prayer is or how 
to pray in a theoretical sense. He gives 
them rather a prayer to say whenever they 
pray (11.2).

        We do not dispute that this prayer can 
be used as a model. But that does not seem 
to be the way it is presented in Luke's 
Gospel. Luke records Jesus as saying, *When 
you pray, say...* (11.2), and the Greek word 
*hotan* that he uses seems to mean *whenever, 
on each occasion*. The idea is perhaps that 
Jesus was instructing that it should be used 
on each occasion when they pray or come 
together for prayer. Jesus was apparently 
encouraging use of the very words of the 
prayer and was not just giving a manner in 
which to pray. Furthermore even Matthew's 
use of *Pray then like this* or *in this 
way* (Greek *houtos*) is not necessarily so 
different from Luke's text, as his version 
may mean *in this manner* (Mt. 6.9), which 
certainly does not exclude the use of the 
text of the prayer itself.

        Rightly or wrongly the early church 
obviously understood Jesus' intention in 
this way. This is shown by the text of the 
Didache, the so-called *Teaching of the 
Apostles*. This is an early Greek document 
sometimes thought to be as early as the 
writings of the Apostle John. Eusebius and 
others even thought that it belonged among 
the books of the New Testament. This ancient 
document is particularly useful for us as it 
gives us a better insight into how the early 
church understood certain doctrines and 
practices. 

        Concerning the Lord's Prayer, after 
giving a warning against praying *like the 
hypocrites*, the Didache gives the version 
of the Lord's Prayer found in Matthew's 
Gospel together with the ending commonly 
added in church recitations: *For thine is 
the kingdom...* Then there is the terse 
comment, *Three times a day pray ye so*.(6) 
This at the very least tells us that 
Christians were reciting regularly the words 
of the prayer very early in the history of 
the church, apparently having understood 
that this was the teaching and intention of 
our Lord and of his Apostles. If Jesus 
himself was not mistaken, the prayer should 
be useful to each of us for our devotions, 
including confession and petitions that we 
would only too easily omit if we were only to 
pray in a free extempore manner.

        Without attempting any analysis of this 
prayer itself, which would be outside the 
scope of this short study, it is relevant to 
note that the prayer recorded for us 
contains certain elements that no doubt 
reflected the way Jesus prayed. This is 
especially so with the form of address 
*Father* (Jesus using the Aramaic *Abba*, at 
least on occasion [cf. Mk 14.36]) and the 
petition for the coming of the Kingdom, a 
key theme of his preaching and teaching (cf. 
Mt. 4.17; 9.35; 10.7; Mt. 13 *passim*, 
etc.).


IN THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE

        Just as they were apparently impressed 
by what they witnessed of Jesus' prayer-
life, the Apostles were obviously marked by 
the Gethsemane experience. No doubt they 
later recalled, with anguish and uneasy 
consciences, the details of that nightmarish 
evening. Matthew and Mark have similar 
accounts (Mt. 26.36-46; Mk 14.32-42), 
mentioning that Jesus asked the disciples to 
sit while he went to pray (Mt. 26.36; Mk 
14.32). They tell us that he then took the 
more intimate group of friends consisting of 
Peter, James and John aside with him. 

        These three disciples were witnesses of 
Jesus' anguish and sorrow. Both Mt. 26.38 
and Mk 14.34 mention that Jesus asked these 
disciples to *watch* with him. This no doubt 
means to be in prayer rather than just *keep 
awake* (which is what the RSV Bible margin 
gives as an alternative translation). Luke 
seems to make this clear by giving the 
injunction in the form: *Pray that you may 
not enter into temptation* (Lk. 22.40). Luke 
repeats this order later (22.46), and it is 
recorded by Matthew and Mark also, but with 
*Watch* added to *pray* (Mt. 26.41; Mk 
14.38).

        We note that all three Gospels mention 
Jesus' praying in the garden of Gethsemane. 
Matthew gives three occasions of prayer 
(26.39, 42, 44) of which Mark mentions only 
two (14.35, 39). Incidentally, we notice 
that Luke has Jesus kneel (already an 
unusual attitude for prayer, standing being 
normal(7) rather than prostrate himself. 
Perhaps, as in other matters elsewhere,(8) 
he does this because of his sensitivity 
towards his non-Jewish readers who may not 
understand prostration(9) (Lk. 22.41; cf. 
Mt. 26.39; Mk 14.35). We should be no more 
shocked by this sort of adaptation than we 
are when reading various translations which, 
for reasons of comprehension of the text, 
have Jesus and his friends sitting (rather 
than reclining) for a meal.

        Because of its being included in various 
translations and the concordances consulted, 
our statistics include Lk. 22.44 which 
reads: *And being in an agony he prayed more 
earnestly; and his sweat became like great 
drops of blood falling down upon the ground* 
(RSV). This interesting verse linked to the 
Gethsemane account gives the impression of a 
genuine and precise description of great 
antiquity. It is included in some ancient 
manuscripts and is also cited by many of the 
early Church Fathers. However, not all of 
the older manuscripts have it and so we need 
to question its relation to the original.

        I.H. Marshall(10) is inclined to accept 
the verse as Lucan because of internal 
reasons. On the other hand, while admitting 
that it is genuine enough in so far as it 
comes from the period, we must concur rather 
with Bruce Metzger(11) that it is almost 
certainly not a part of the Luke's original 
text, although it throws some light upon the 
events as he relates them. In view of the 
manuscript evidence listed by Metzger, and 
the fact that, together with verse 43, it 
has in some cases been inserted at Mt. 
26.39-40,(12) we can say that it has most 
likely been added to Luke's Gospel from an 
early traditional source just as it was at 
times added to Matthew's. The confusion 
about where it belongs in the Gospels would 
seem to confirm this impression. 
Furthermore, its deletion from such a 
geographically widely scattered range of 
manuscripts, for doctrinal or no matter what 
reason, would be highly unlikely 
if it had from the beginning been a part of 
the original of Luke's composition.

        For the purposes of our present study 
this hesitation to place the verse among the 
synoptic compositions will detract in no way 
from what we have otherwise noted. Lk. 22.44 
would have added little to our appreciation 
of Luke's depiction of prayer in Jesus' 
life. As S.S. Smalley has noted in his 
paper,(13) its main significant feature is 
obviously the stress it places upon the 
intensity of the prayer, accentuated by the 
use of the words *more earnestly* which do 
not exist in the other Gospels.

        I.H. Marshall has observed in his 
commentary, *ad. loc.*, that we can indeed 
just as easily attach to verse 42 or 44 the 
following incidental reference to prayer 
found in Luke alone: *And when he arose from 
prayer, he came to the disciples...* (Lk. 
22.45). Matthew and Mark both simply mention 
Jesus' coming and finding the disciples 
sleeping (Mt. 26.40; Mk 14.37). Luke, on the 
other hand, by omitting the threefold coming 
of Jesus to his group of disciples, has, in 
his account, placed more emphasis on the 
prayer aspect. As Marshall has stressed, 
Luke has focussed on that rather than on 
Christ's followers' failure. This should not 
surprise us or any of Luke's readers who 
have noted the place given to prayer in this 
particular Gospel.


JESUS' WORD OF ENCOURAGEMENT FOR PETER

        Just prior to Peter's bold assertion 
that he would never deny his Master, Luke 
alone records Jesus' words addressed 
specifically to Simon. Jesus said, according to 
Lk. 22.31-32: *Simon, Simon, behold Satan 
demanded to have you [plural], that he might 
sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for 
you [singular] that your faith may not fail; 
and when you have turned again, strengthen 
your brethren.* Here the failing and 
scattering of the disciples, explicitly 
mentioned in Mt. 26.31 and Mk 14.27, are 
merely implied in the idea that Satan is 
going to try all the disciples. They will 
need the encouragement of Cephas once he has 
returned to Christ. With W.L. Liefeld(14) we 
can assert most assuredly that Jesus' prayer 
was answered.

        Although Peter certainly showed his only 
too human weakness by denying his Lord, in 
the same way that all the disciples fled 
(Mt. 26.56//Mk 14.50), he apparently never 
ceased to believe in his Master. His return 
no doubt involved the full regaining of that 
confidence he had earlier expressed at 
Caesarea Philippi -- that understanding of 
the nature of the person of Christ that all 
the disciples needed before receiving the 
power of the Spirit. This particular 
reference in Luke 22.32 involving Peter is 
important as it gives rise to the reasonable 
assumption that our Lord Jesus, who thus 
prayed for Peter on this occasion, no doubt 
often interceded for his disciples in 
prayer, thus providing a model for us.


JESUS PRAYS WITH CHILDREN

        Another reference to Jesus praying is 
merely incidental to our study. Mt. 19.13 
records that *children were brought to Jesus 
that he might lay his hands on them and 
pray.* Mk 10.13 and Lk. 18.15 also record 
this fact. However, although they mention 
*touch* (but not the word *pray*), Mark 
alone adds the detail that *he blessed them* 
(Mk 10.16), an expression which would seem 
to imply a prayer on their behalf. Matthew, 
on the other hand, does say specifically 
that *Jesus laid his hands on them* (Mt. 
19.15), and this was a gesture which often 
accompanied prayer, as we can see in various 
accounts given later in the Acts of the 
Apostles.


ARE LUKE'S ADDITIONS MERELY REDACTIONAL?

        After this consideration of the 
references, it is perhaps important to at 
least ask ourselves whether Luke might not 
have given his own bent to the events of 
Jesus' ministry, adding the prayer element 
for some purpose of his own. M. Dibelius has 
suggested that this depiction fits in with 
Luke's presentation of Jesus as a pious man. 
Graham Stanton, W. Ott, and G.W.H. Lampe 
rather relate this emphasis to Luke's 
understanding of the Spirit.(15) H. Greeven 
points out that, in the New Testament, 
believers draw on the powers of the new aeon 
and that Jesus should be seen as a man of 
prayer, with a unique relation to the 
Father.(16)

        These assessments might all be correct, 
but there is no indication that, even if he 
has otherwise exploited to the full the 
information he had from his sources relating 
to prayer,(17) Luke has fabricated for his 
own purposes this particular side of his 
depiction of Jesus. Elsewhere he gives all 
the signs of being a faithful, precise 
historian. The fact that, as we have seen, 
Matthew and Mark have some relevant 
references not also found in Luke, would 
seem to indicate that Luke's presentation is 
in accordance with the reality perceived by 
the Apostles.(18)


THE IMPORTANCE OF PRAYER TO CHRIST

        We have been able to ascertain the 
frequency of the references to Jesus in 
prayer or praying, and we have discovered 
that Luke gives them a prominent place in 
his work. However, this does not really tell 
us how or why prayer was important to 
Christ. It is to this question that we must 
now briefly turn.

        We have noticed that Luke is the only 
one of the evangelists who has recorded that 
Jesus was in fact praying rather than being 
baptized when the Holy Spirit descended upon 
him in a form like that of a dove (Lk. 
3.21). It was at that time that the 
approving, reassuring declaration of the 
Almighty was heard, obviously at that time 
confirming, if not equipping, Jesus for his 
mission. G.W.H. Lampe, a specialist on 
questions concerning the Holy Spirit, has 
said that "prayer is... complementary to the 
Spirit's activity since it is the point at 
which the communication of divine influence 
becomes effective for its recipients."(19)
That certainly seems to have been the case 
in our Lord's life.

        We do not necessarily believe that the 
Spirit's coming on Christ is of precisely 
the same significance as his coming upon, 
for instance, the disciples at Pentecost. 
Nevertheless we can say that this special 
endowment after his baptism would have 
strengthened Jesus in his resolve and for 
his work. This extraordinary event was no 
doubt of great significance for the 
following time of trial when he *was led 
about by the Spirit in the wilderness for 
forty days* (Lk. 4.1-2 [NASB]).

        We cannot fail to be struck by the fact 
that it was while Jesus was again in 
communion with the heavenly Father that he 
was transfigured before his disciples (Lk. 
9.29). It is as if the glory of the Lord 
came upon him during that time of prayer, 
just as Moses' face shone after his 
conversing with Yahweh in the Old Testament 
(cf. Ex. 34.29). Gollwitzer has commented 
that during Christ's time of dialogue, with 
Father and Son intimately united, Jesus' 
celestial origin bursts forth even in his 
lowliness.(20) We cannot doubt that, from 
the record before us, we are here able to 
penetrate something of the marvellous 
communion that existed between Jesus and the 
Father, not only during his walk and work, 
but also during those special times 
mentioned in the Gospels when he was alone 
in prayer -- yet indeed not alone.

        In its context, we note that this 
transfiguration was no doubt for the 
Apostles an important confirmation of 
Peter's confession of Lk. 9.20. However, for 
Christ too the occasion was significant. It 
marked a further stage in his obedient walk 
towards the Cross. We are informed here that 
Jesus spoke with Elijah and Moses of *his 
departure* [in the Greek it is literally 
*his exodus*] *that he was about to accomplish 
at Jerusalem* (9.31 [NASB]). As if in answer 
to Jesus' prayer at this time, and 
subsequent to his no doubt painful 
discussion with the Old Testament figures 
who met with him, the reassuring heavenly 
voice is once again heard, just as it was at 
his baptism (9.35). It was apparently for 
Jesus' benefit as well as that of the 
disciples that the voice declared: *This is 
my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!*


TRUST AND SUBMISSION

        It would appear then that Jesus' 
frequent (even if we cannot say regular) 
communion with the Father in prayer -- 
evidence of which is very strong in Luke's 
Gospel -- was the source of his consolation 
and of his strength, resulting from his 
utter reliance on the Father. Apart from the 
encouragement that it brought him, so that 
he might persevere to the agonizing end, we 
can perhaps apprehend too little of what 
this unique fellowship with the Father meant 
to him. We can, however, see that his 
prayers were submissive in nature, befitting 
the role he had assumed (cf.Jn 9.4-5; Phil. 
2.8). He sought to be obedient at all 
points, and wanted to seek out and do 
the will of God.

        Of this subservience in communion with 
God by prayer we are witnesses when we 
overhear him praying: *Father, if thou art 
willing, remove this cup from me; never-
theless, not my will but thine be done* (Lk. 
22.42). To pray in this way is surely not, 
as some writers say nowadays, to show lack 
of faith. It is to recognize rather that God 
is Lord and that we are called to seek and 
want his will, not our own. We can be sure 
that this attitude of seeking above all 
God's will was what Jesus adopted on other 
occasions of prayer, such as during the 
night before his choice of the Twelve, or 
even in praying that Peter might be 
sustained during his testing by Satan in the 
night prior to Jesus' trial.


JESUS' PRAYERS FROM THE CROSS

        In concluding this study it is important 
for us to look at Christ's prayers from the 
Cross, particularly those recorded in the 
text of Luke alone. Although lacking from 
some texts, the manuscript evidence for the 
authenticity of the first we must consider, 
Lk. 23.34, as a genuine saying of our Lord 
is impressive, even if we cannot be sure 
that Luke himself penned it.(21)


JESUS PRAYS FOR HIS PERSECUTORS

        Helmut Gollwitzer feels that some 
copyists could not bear the thought of 
Jesus' love turning at this time towards 
those who had rejected and scorned him as 
they had, to seek their pardon by God. It is 
in this way that he explains the troubling 
omission of this verse from certain 
manuscripts.(22) This is quite possible. On 
the other hand there is another possibility. 
Perhaps after the wrath of God came upon 
Jerusalem in A.D. 70 with the terrible  
destruction of the city, some scribes felt 
that this prayer of Jesus was not answered 
and so simply omitted it.

        E.E. Ellis(23) and I.H. Marshall in 
their respective commentaries also both 
accept that the balance of the evidence is 
in favour of accepting this important saying
as Lucan and perfectly adapted to the 
context. Be that as it may, here alone in 
all the Gospels do we find Jesus' prayer: 
*Father, forgive them; for they know not 
what they do*. Jesus thus lovingly presented 
his persecutors and torturers to God, just 
as he earlier committed Simon Peter to his 
Father's care. He thus acted perfectly in 
accord with his own preaching, having 
earlier said: *Love your enemies, do good to 
those who hate you, bless those who curse 
you, pray for those who mistreat you* (Lk. 
6.27-28). Jesus, who had taught his 
disciples to pray for those who persecuted 
them, died after praying in his last hour 
for those who inflicted suffering upon him. 
This example we later find being followed at 
the occasion of Stephen's death (Acts 7.60) 
as well as in the lives of martyrs 
throughout the centuries.


JESUS' LAST PRAYER

        The other prayer of Jesus recorded in 
our text of Luke is undisputed and is found 
in chapter 23 verse 46: *Then Jesus, crying 
with a loud voice, said, 'Father, into thy 
hands I commit my spirit!' And having said 
this he breathed his last*. We would have 
been sadly left "in the dark" if we had only 
had the other Synoptic accounts which read: 
*And Jesus cried again with a loud voice and 
yielded up his spirit* (Mt. 27.50//Mk. 37). 
Those few words are impressive enough but 
lack the detail furnished by Luke. He gives 
us the text of this brief prayer used so 
often by Jews as an evening prayer before 
going to sleep. It was just so appropriate 
for the evening of one's life.

        Jesus' mission accomplished (cf. Jn 
19.30: *It is finished),* Luke's account 
thus fittingly closes Jesus' earthly life 
with our Lord in prayer, committing himself 
to the Father as he was wont to commit his 
days, ministry and disciples to God's care. 
In that darkest hour, with his last breath, 
we here see Jesus dying just as he lived and 
ministered, trusting in God his Father and 
calling upon him in prayer.


-------------------


CONCLUSION


        During our study we have found that Luke 
does indeed give much more place to prayer 
in his Gospel that the other synoptic 
writers. His writing stands in surprisingly 
stark contrast to John's Gospel in this 
particular respect, as we have seen, 
apparently because he is especially 
interested in the subject. Not only does 
Luke give a significant place to prayer, but 
thanks to him we discover in a new way just 
how often prayer played an important role in 
Jesus' ministry at its most crucial points 
as well as during the daily routine of his 
teaching and healing work. We agree 
wholeheartedly with G.W.H. Lampe's 
assessment that this insistence on prayer is 
no doubt "one of the most characteristic 
features of St. Luke's teaching".


FURTHER REFLECTION

        Such a brief study may well have raised 
as many questions as it has answered. Having 
reached our conclusion, we can see that 
further reflection could profitably be 
directed to considering to just what extent 
this place of prayer was crucial to Christ's 
self-awareness and his dedication to his 
calling. We need perhaps to ask ourselves 
this question: If and since Jesus was indeed 
God, what did it really mean for God to pray 
to God? Could Jesus' personal prayer 
relationship be essentially different from 
his daily walking relationship with the 
Father or, for that matter, from the 
personal relationship which exists forever 
between the Persons within the Holy Trinity? 

        We can also move into the wider field of 
synoptic comparison. It is true that there 
are problems raised by Luke's particular 
depiction of prayer in Jesus' life and his 
concentration on that subject. In our 
reflection on the Word of God we can 
consider whether these problems are really 
any different from or greater than all those 
difficulties raised in the other Gospels by, 
for example, the terrible enigmatic cry from 
the Cross: *My God, my God, why has thou 
forsaken me?* (Mt. 27.46//Mk 15.34).


THE PERSONAL CHALLENGE

        But there is a much more personal and 
urgent dimension which is touched by this 
study of prayer. Considering our 
observations and the clear example that he 
have in the Gospel presentation of Jesus and 
his habit of prayer, we need each one
to ask ourselves whether we, frail humans, 
can dispense with that communion with the 
Creator which was obviously so much a 
feature of Jesus' own life. 

        Here in prayer is surely a largely 
untapped resource, a well-spring of 
unimaginable strength and blessing, a 
life-line to be used. It would seem from our 
study that our Lord Jesus counted on prayer 
to a lesser or greater extent for his 
perseverance, reassurance and strength in 
walking in the way of God and facing his 
daily decisions, tasks and trials. The New 
Testament scholar K.H. Rengstorf, in a pithy 
comment on Lk. 5.16, once said: "Here, in 
this fellowship with God, lie the motivation 
for his work and the roots of his 
strength."(24) We can only conclude that if 
that was so of Christ, it no doubt ought 
also to be the case in the lives of all 
those who today call themselves his 
disciples and bear his name as Christians.



        APPENDIX

TWO LUCAN PARABLES CONCERNING PRAYER

        We have seen that this study related to 
prayer in Luke's Gospel raises ever so many 
other questions that cry out for answers. At 
this point we might well ask ourselves what 
those two unique Lucan parables dealing 
apparently with prayer, Lk. 11.5ff. and Lk. 
18.1ff., can reveal to us about Luke's 
understanding of prayer. We need not give a 
detailed commentary on the passages as even 
a cursory but attentive survey of their 
contents should bring out the main 
point.(25) We need to ask ourselves whether 
it is something fundamentally different from 
what we learn from the other Gospel writers. 
Most importantly we can also consider 
whether these two parables in Luke's Gospel 
depict not only Christ's attitude to prayer, 
but that of the Father also.

        The first parable, that of Lk. 11.5-8, 
is placed just after Luke's account of the 
Lord's Prayer and concerns the friend at 
midnight. Its difficulty may arise 
particularly from linguistic and cultural 
elements that are often not given enough 
attention.

        The first point that we can notice is 
that Jesus is not at all suggesting that a 
person would propose the sort of excuses met 
in verse 7. He begins the parable with a 
Greek construction translated in the NASB as 
*Suppose...* but which really means: *Is it 
conceivable (or possible) that...* and expects 
a negative reply. This is obviously the case 
when the similar construction is used just a 
little later in verse 11, where the NASB 
translates: *Suppose...; he will not..., 
will he?* The identical expression is used 
in 14.5 and 17.7, and it seems to be a 
favourite Lucan turn of phrase for 
introducing a situation that is hard to 
magine.

        This is so in this particular case 
because in the Near East it is inconceivable 
that someone should put forward excuses 
concerning his children so as not to help 
his friend, be he from the town or a rural 
village. Even in Africa today, a man will 
often wake his wife when a friend arrives 
unexpectedly, so that she can prepare an 
appropriate meal. Eastern hospitality is no 
less demanding. We can conclude that Jesus 
is expecting a laugh from the disciples (or 
was it perhaps at this point a larger 
crowd?), by putting forward the unthinkable 
situation: *Can you imagine someone...?* Of 
course a person from the Bible lands -- or 
from Africa -- would never act in this way. 
Otherwise the people of the village would 
never speak to him again. Solidarity is such 
that the embarrassing position of one of 
them demands the help of the others since 
his shame would be their shame.(26)

        Any discussion arising out of verse 7 as 
to why the request is not heeded is 
consequently irrelevant on both linguistic 
and cultural grounds. Jesus is not 
suggesting that a man would ever make such 
excuses. The first improbable part of the 
parable is simply narrated to get to its 
point: of course the man would not refuse 
the request that is put to him.

        This is probably what verse 8 is 
intended to stress. This verse is often 
understood as being an argument from the 
lesser to the greater. If this man heeds the 
call of his friend because of his 
persistence, goes the argument, how much 
more ready is God to hear us. That fine idea 
comes from us, not from Jesus' lips here. 
There is no hint of persistence(27) in the 
parable, but rather a single request. This 
idea of persistence is perhaps imported from 
the following verse: *Ask...; seek...; 
knock...* One commentary even quite 
erroneously gives the parable the 
sub-heading: The Parable of Persistent 
Knocking.

        The difficulty comes in part from the 
Greek word *anaideia* which *never* neither 
in Classical nor common Greek of New 
Testament times means persistence. It is a 
noun with a negative idea and probably means 
*lack of shame/blame*. Furthermore, the word 
*his* seems to relate in the context to the 
man inside rather than the man outside, as 
it is often understood. This may be a bit 
clearer if we replace the difficult Greek 
word with "X" (standing for the unknown) and 
translate: *I tell you, even though he won't 
get up and give him anything because he is 
his friend, yet because of his X he will get 
up...*(28)

        What then is Jesus telling his disciples 
by this parable? Firstly that God will not 
refuse the request that is put to him. And 
also that because he must be without blame 
or shame, *for his Name's sake* in other 
words, God will certainly hear us. Jesus is 
probably here teaching us by this parable 
what our God is like: he is the God who 
hears prayers, and his Name, his reputation, 
depends on this fact, just as surely as a 
man's reputation in the village depends on 
his acting appropriately towards his 
friends.

        As for the second parable thought to be 
about prayer, Lk. 18:1-8, most commentators 
point out that this element is incidental to 
the parable which is not at all about 
perseverance in prayer. The immediate 
context concerns the last days, that is, it 
is clearly eschatological, as a glance at 
the end of Lk. 17 shows. This is borne out by 
what we read at the end of the parable 
itself: *Now shall not God bring about 
justice for his elect (...) when the Son of 
Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?*

        Why then does Luke introduce this text 
with the somewhat confusing remark: *Then 
Jesus told his disciples a parable to show 
them that they should always pray and not 
give up* (NIV)? Since, as we can see from 
the context, in a situation of persecution, 
where they were likely to lose heart, his 
disciples had to learn to constantly call on 
God who would assuredly watch over his elect 
and justify them in the face of their 
enemies.

        This parable is not then about 
constantly coming to God with our petitions 
for this or that, as most people understand 
prayer. It is about hanging on, coming to 
the Judge at all times in a continual 
prayerful attitude, and waiting for his 
righteous judgment, for his vindication, 
even as our patience is tested (v.7). This 
idea of the delay linked to patience is 
present in a similar context in 2 Pet. 3.9 
where the same verb is used. And in 
Revelation 6.10 we meet a similar situation, 
where the (im)patient cry goes up: *How 
long, Sovereign Lord..., until you judge... 
the earth and avenge our blood?* (NIV). 
However, for us the sting of this parable is 
in its tail: When the Son of Man comes, will 
he find us faithful, counting on him and 
waiting for him, praying constantly for his 
coming as he taught us to do?



        * * * * *


Jesus and Prayer.

NOTES AND BIBLIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS

1. See for example Graham N. Stanton, _Jesus 
of Nazareth in New Testament Preaching_, 
London: C.U.P., 1974, p.51.

2. There is no real reason to doubt the 
authenticity of Acts 1.1 where the author 
writes: *The first account I composed, 
Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do 
and to teach...* (NASB). This is obviously 
related to Luke 1.3, also addressed to *most 
excellent Theophilus*. Cf. I.H. Marshall, 
_Luke: Historian and Theologian_, Grand 
Rapids: Zondervan, 1974, p.40ff.

3. Where NASB is noted, the Bible used is the 
_New American Standard Version_. Otherwise 
the _Revised Standard Version_ (RSV), the 
_New International Version_ (NIV) or the 
_Good News Bible_ (GNB) is quoted. See also 
R.L. Thomas, Gen. Ed., _New American Standard 
Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible_, 
Nashville: Holman, 1981.

4. It is still a widely accepted principle in 
New Testament scholarship that both Matthew 
and Luke drew to some extent on Mark as a 
source, the best illustration of this being 
the amount of material apparently borrowed 
from Mark and the fact that in general Mark's 
accounts are less numerous but more detailed. 
Cf. I.H. Marshall, *op. cit.*, p.57ff.; 
Donald Guthrie, _New Testament Introduction_, 
Downers Grove, Ill.: I.V.P., 1970, p.133-143; 
*contra* B. Ward Powers, "The Progressive 
Publication of Matthew," _Tyndale Paper_, 3, 
1977. See also Powers, "The Shaking of the 
Synoptics," _Reformed Theological Review_, 
39/2, 1980, p.33-39.

5. It is John who characteristically seems to 
omit any mention of prayer (Cf. Jn 6.17). 
This does not mean, however, that prayer has 
no place in John's Gospel. See, for example, 
Jn 11.41ff.

6. The Greek reads: *Tris tes hemeras hout 
proseuchesthe*
(VIII, 3, _The Apostolic Fathers: Revised 
Greek Texts with Introductions..._, ed. J.B. 
Lightfoot and J.R. Harmer, Grand Rapids: 
Baker, 1988, p.221).

7. I.H. Marshall, _The Gospel of Luke: A 
Commentary on the Greek Text_, Grand Rapids: 
Eerdmans, 1978, p.830.

8. Cf. his avoidance of the cryptic Old 
Testament allusion from the Prophecy of 
Daniel in Lk. 21.20//Mt. 24.15//Mk 13.14 
about the *Abomination of Desolation* which 
Gentiles, not versed in the Law and the 
Prophets, would have had no possibility of 
understanding.

9. For a helpful discussion of the aim and 
intended audience of Luke's Gospel, see Ralph 
P. Martin, _New Testament Foundations, Vol. 
1: The Four Gospels_, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 
1975, p.244ff.

10. Marshall, *op. cit.*, p.831-832.

11. Bruce M. Metzger, _A Textual Commentary 
on the Greek New Testament_, Stuttgart: 
U.B.S., 1971, p.177.

12. A comparable case is the pericope 
concerning the woman taken in adultery, 
inserted usually at Jn 7.53ff. but found in 
some manuscripts after 21.24 and Lk. 21.38 or 
omitted altogether.

13. Stephen S. Smalley, "Spirit, Kingdom and 
Prayer in Luke-Acts," _Novum Testamentum_, 
15, 1973, p.59-71.

14. W.L. Liefeld: _Commentary on Luke, in The 
Expositor's Bible Commentary_, F.E. Gaebelein 
(ed.), vol. 8, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1984, 
p.795-1059.

15. Cf. Stanton, *loc. cit.*, and the 
references given there, including that for 
Dibelius.

16. Gerhard Kittel and Gerhard Friedrich 
(edd.), _Theological Dictionary of the New 
Testament_, 9 vol., Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 
1964-74; vol. II, art. *euchomai*, p.801.

17. Luke has two unique parables involving 
prayer, and his presentation of the Lord's 
Prayer gives its form a certain 
normativeness. Cf. Lk. 11.5-13, 18.1, and 
11.2: *When you pray, say...*

18. Mark's account can be said to be 
apostolic, as it is virtually certain that 
Mark's Gospel represents Peter's observations 
at many points. See the discussion of this 
apostolic relationship in Vincent Taylor, 
_The Gospel According to St. Mark: The Greek 
Text with Introduction, Notes and Indexes_, 
2nd ed., Grand Rapids: Baker, 1981, p.26-30.

19. G.W.H. Lampe, "The Holy Spirit in the 
Writings of St. Luke," in _Studies in the 
Gospels: Essays in Memory of R.H. Lightfoot_, 
D.E. Nineham (ed.), Oxford: Blackwell, 1955 
(pp.159-200), p.169.

20. Helmut Gollwitzer, _La Joie de Dieu: 
Commentaire de l'Evangile de Luc_, Neuchatel: 
Delachaux & Niestle, 1958, p.101.

21. Cf. Metzger, *op. cit.*, p.134.

22. Gollwitzer, *op. cit.*, p.291.

23. E. Earle Ellis, _New Century Bible: The 
Gospel of Luke_, New York: Nelson, 1966.

24. K.H. Rengstorf, giving my own paraphrase 
from personal notes. The actual German 
quotation is: *Hier, im Umgang mit Gott, 
liegen die Motive seines Wirkens und die 
Wurzeln seiner Kraft*.

25. There is much extremely helpful, 
culturally-sensitive commentary on these and 
other parables in Kenneth E. Bailey's two 
works, _Poet and Peasant: A Literary-Cultural 
Approach to the Parables in Luke_, and 
_Through Peasant Eyes: More Lucan Parables, 
Their Culture and Style,
both Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 
respectively 1976 and 1980.

26. This point may cast some light on the 
situation at the Cana wedding (cf. Jn 2.3-
10), and why a solution was so important to 
Mary -- and Jesus also.

27. The French translations are usually less 
satisfactory, introducing the word 
*importunity*. Any Christian should know that 
God is never "put out" by our requests. He 
does not answer us just because we bother him 
enough! It is of his nature that he delights 
in and even requests our prayers.

28. For a detailed discussion of these 
points, cf. Bailey, _Poet and Peasant_, *op. cit.*, 
p.119-141.

        * * * * *

(c) 1998, Victor Bissett. <bissettv@WHO.net

Update and Modifications: 16/6/1998


