{"id":72691,"date":"2019-04-08T22:28:29","date_gmt":"2019-04-09T04:28:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=72691"},"modified":"2019-04-08T22:28:29","modified_gmt":"2019-04-09T04:28:29","slug":"new-testament-notes-186-190","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/04\/new-testament-notes-186-190.html","title":{"rendered":"New Testament Notes 186-190"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"W,<\/a>
\u201cThe Importunate Neighbour,\u201d by\u00a0William Holman Hunt (1894)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Luke 11:5-8<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Following on his presentation of \u201cThe Lord\u2019s Prayer,\u201d and leading into a promise that God will respond to prayer, Jesus offers a very human portrait of a person who will grant another\u2019s request, if not because he\u2019s feeling benevolent at least because the petitioner has been insistent and he wants him to go away.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s actually pretty funny, and \u2014 despite our long-standing habit of reading the scriptures with grim solemnity \u2014 I suspect that it was received that way by his original ancient audience.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sarcophagus image of \"Good Shepherd\"<\/a>
Depiction of Christ as the \u201cGood Shepherd\u201d on a sarcophagus from the late second century.
(Photograph by Sailko, Wikimedia CC)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Luke 11:9-13<\/a><\/p>\n

Compare Matthew 7:7-11; John 14:13-14; 15:7; 16:24<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

In this passage, Jesus encourages disciples to pray.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

If ordinary mortal fathers are often inclined to grant the requests of their children, God \u2014 whose goodness is perfect, rather than, like ours, partial and occasional and constrained by changeable moods \u2014 will be much\u00a0more inclined to do so.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Etching<\/a>
\u201cChrist Healing the Sick\u201d (Rembrandt etching, ca. 1646-1650)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Luke 11:14-23<\/a><\/p>\n

Compare Matthew 12:22-30; Mark 3:22-27; John 7:20; 8:48, 52; 10:20<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

That some accused Christ of being in league with Satan says little about him. \u00a0Rather, it\u2019s a tribute to the power of at least some human beings to call evil good, and good evil.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

There is, in other words, nobody so kind, good, charitable, honest, well-intentioned, self-effacing, and sincere but what at least someone, somewhere, will condemn and hate him or her.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

No, it\u2019s not fair.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

But this world is like that.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

If Jesus himself couldn\u2019t escape being pronounced Satanic \u2014 or, in modern, more secular terms, evil \u2014 nobody can. \u00a0When such treatment befalls us lesser mortals, we should, with his precedent in mind, simply do our very best and move on. \u00a0That\u2019s much easier said than done, though.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Botticelli's<\/a>
\u201cThe Abyss of Hell\u201d by\u00a0Sandro Botticelli, ca. 1485, who was clearly inspired by Dante
(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Luke 11:24-28<\/a><\/p>\n

Compare Matthew 12:43-45<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

This is a very striking passage.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

On one level, we see it fulfilled all the time. \u00a0People who return to the sins that they had once forsaken often sink lower than they had been before. \u00a0They surrender. \u00a0They give\u00a0themselves over to the \u201cdark side.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Relapsing addicts not infrequently die. \u00a0Relapsing dieters binge.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Some apostates \u2014 I don\u2019t say all \u2014 become more hostile and more vicious than those who\u2019ve never accepted the Gospel and never taken covenants upon themselves.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I see it illustrated daily.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s very human. \u00a0It\u2019s also very, very sad.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 Luke 11:5-8 \u00a0 Following on his presentation of \u201cThe Lord\u2019s Prayer,\u201d and leading into a promise that God will respond to prayer, Jesus offers a very human portrait of a person who will grant another\u2019s request, if not because he\u2019s feeling benevolent at least because the petitioner has been insistent and he wants […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72691","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nNew Testament Notes 186-190<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"    Luke 11:5-8   Following on his presentation of "The Lord's Prayer," and leading into a promise that God will respond to prayer, Jesus\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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