The bull of St Luke

The Gospel of Luke

Chapter 11: Overview

The chapter has a new beginning in 11,1 which speaks of Jesus at prayer.

Looking at the development of the chapter, what stands out is the exchange with the woman in the crowd, 11,27-28. The proclamation "Blessed are those who hear the word of God and obey it" is typical of the way scenes can end with a saying of Jesus.

The saying is followed in verse 29 by a gathering of the crowds, which is a typical beginning of a scene.
From this, the first part of the chapter is 11,1-28 and therefore these verses need to be read together.

The usual reading of the chapter sees a change in verse 14 with the healing of the deaf mute. The introduction to this healing though suggests more continuity than discontinuity: "And he was casting out a demon..." The crowds are present in verse 14 but they are not the audience as they are in verse 29.

This suggests that the controversy about demons in 11,14-26 may also have something to do with prayer. A mute man is now speaking the praise of God. The unfolding theme of prayer thus comes to a climax with the woman's interjection in 11,27-28.

This is certainly an unusual view of the chapter. Taking 11,1-28 together does have the advantage of giving the Beatitude in verse 28 a clear role as the climax of this teaching. We can keep this in mind when we read.

The middle part of the chapter is then a teaching to the crowd, 11,29-36.

Finally, in 11,37, there is a change of place and of audience as a Pharisee comes on scene. The rest of the chapter, 11,37-54, concerns the consequences of his invitation to Jesus.

For our reading, we will make the break after 11,13 so that we have four pages:

This concludes the chapter because in 12,1 there is another change of audience. The crowds are present again though Jesus will speak firstly to his disciples.

We can now return to the main page so that we move on to read Jesus' teachings on prayer.