By Caleb Corneloup
Luke’s Gospel presents the pious prayer life of Jesus as a major theme of his Gospel which often serves as a framework for his narratives.[1] In this essay we will look at a number of key moments of prayer within Jesus ministry and examine the significance of each moment. We will also look at how the prayer life of Jesus, as presented by Luke, is given by Luke to serve as an example for the church to follow in its own service and ministry to God.[2]
In all three synoptic gospels Jesus public ministry is preceded by an account of His baptism and His testing in the wilderness. All three synoptic gospels record that Jesus was baptised by in the Jordan, that the Spirit descended upon him when he came up from the water, and that the Father spoke from heaven approving Jesus as His Son whom He loves. Yet, only Luke records Jesus as being prayer during these events. By adding this information, Luke is drawing his audience attention to the pious prayer life of Jesus.[3] According to Luke, Jesus entered His public ministry, along with the temptation in the wilderness, as a man of prayer.[4]
As Jesus continues His ministry in Galilee, Luke records a story where Jesus heals a man of leprosy. Jesus instructs the leper not to tell anyone but only to show himself to the priest and to offer a sacrifice according Moses Law. Levitical priests had the responsibility of declaring whether they were infected with a skin disease.[5] Despite the fact that Jesus told the leper to tell no-one about the healing, the news about Jesus spread abroad, and crowds sought after Jesus to hear him and to be healed. Perhaps the news about Jesus was spread by the leper, but it may very well have been the priest who inadvertently spread the news about Jesus.[6]
Luke tells us that when Jesus was sought after by the crowds, Jesus often slipped away to pray to the Father.[7] Jesus knew that when His popularity grew, so did His opposition. Luke goes on to tell us that as a result of Jesus popularity, not only did the crowds come to hear him speak, but Pharisees and teachers of the law from Galilee, Judea and Jerusalem had come as well.[8] In fact, Luke goes on to tell us that the Pharisees complained that Jesus forgave peoples sins, associated with tax collectors and prostitutes, failed to teach His disciples to fast, permitted His disciples to break the Sabbath and even He Himself healed the sick on the Sabbath.[9] By telling us early on that Jesus often withdrew to pray in solitude Luke seems to be saying that rather than basking in a moment of fame, Jesus spent time in prayer preparing for the next spiritual confrontation.[10]
After a series of confrontations with the Pharisees, they become infuriated with Him and begin to plot against Him.[11]Jesus again goes away to a place of solitude to spend time in prayer. On this occasion He spends the entire night in prayer, as the following day he would be choosing His 12 Apostles. Jesus knows that the men He chooses to be Apostles would not only be witnesses for Jesus during His lifetime, they would witness of His resurrection after He was gone and would face persecution and death for His name’s sake.[12] So, praying for them, as well as guidance on whom to select, was essential at this critical moment in Christ’s ministry.[13]
Another crucial moment in the ministry of Jesus is Peter’s confession that Jesus was the Messiah. Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Messiah is recorded in all three synoptic Gospels. However, in Luke’s Gospel alone reveals to us that Jesus had first been in prayer before asking His disciples who they believed He was.[14] Peter’s confession was not revealed to him by men but by the heavenly Father.[15] Therefore, when Luke reveals the additional fact that Jesus was in prayer prior to Peter’s confession, it seems as though Luke is telling us that the revelation was a result of Jesus prayer.[16]
It was important that Jesus disciples not only understood He was the Messiah, they also needed to understand that as the Messiah He was going to suffer and die at the hands of the Jewish authorities and be raised from the dead on the third day. The Jewish expectation was that the Messiah would reign on God’s throne as the Son of God.[17] When Jesus informs them that the Messiah was destined to suffer, die and be resurrected, He also states that they themselves had to pick up their own crosses and follow after Him. Jesus had been spending time in prayer for His disciples because He knew this was going to be a difficult concept for them to accept.[18]. Despite the difficulty of Jesus words, He encourages them by saying that some of them would see the kingdom of God before they died.[19]
Eight days later Jesus takes Peter, James and John up a mountain to pray with Him. As Jesus prays, He is transfigured before His disciples so that the brightness of His majestic splendour is revealed to them.[20] Furthermore, Moses and Elijah appear with Jesus talk about his coming departure in Jerusalem. To add to all this, the Father speaks from heaven saying, “this is my Son whom I have chosen, listen to Him”, confirming His Messiahship.[21] The combination of Jesus prayer for his disciples, Peter’s confession, His prayer on the mountain top, the revealing of His glory, the appearance of Moses and Elijah as well as God the Father’s declaration of His sonship all served to encourage Christ in His coming passion.[22] It also serves to enlighten His disciples on the person and work of Christ.[23]
Not long after Peter, James and John have seen a foretaste of Christ’s majesty on the mount of transfiguration, Jesus sends seventy-two disciples to preach the Kingdom of God throughout the towns of Israel.[24] They demonstrated the kingdom of God by healing the sick and casting out demons.[25] They had seen the Kingdom of God in power and might just as Jesus had said they would. The success of the mission enabled the seventy-two disciples to better understand Christ and the kingdom of God.[26] Jesus then expresses His joy to the Father in prayer, praising God for revealing the kingdom to little children, rather than the wise and learned.[27] The pride of the Pharisees had blinded them to the truth while those who simply trusted in and obeyed God were able to see the truth of Christ and His kingdom.[28] Christ’s response to the spiritual growth of His disciples is to praise God for the work He had done.
Moved by Christ’s life of prayer, the disciples come to Jesus privately and requested instruction to pray.[29] Jesus instructs His disciples to approach God as their Father. Believers are children of God by adoption and therefore, we ought to approach God as our Father, just as Jesus approached God as His Father.[30] Christ moves on to instruct His disciples to pray that God’s name would be hallowed and honoured by mankind and that His kingdom would come.[31]For Jesus, Praying that God’s name would be honoured, and that His kingdom would come, was of first importance.[32] Since the full and final arrival of God’s kingdom would mean the end of Satan’s reign, and the universal recognition of Messiah, the heart of the true believer should long for the coming of God’s kingdom.[33]
Since God’s kingdom will not fully come immediately, Jesus also instructs them to pray that God would provide for their physical and spiritual food, forgive them of their sins and keep them from temptation.[34] We need spiritual nourishment to renew our minds and strength to resist temptation.[35] As we wait for God’s kingdom, we are bombarded by Satan’s attempts to influence us in this world. Christ’s concern for His disciples was that instead of praying they would sleep and therefore, they would fall into temptation.[36] Later, Christ specifically admonished His disciples to pray that they don’t fall into temptation. A lack of prayer, specifically in regard to resisting temptation, can lead a believe into a life of sin and apostacy.[37] Prayer in the life of the believer is the mark of true saving faith, but will God find faith in the earth when he returns?
The prayer life of Jesus, as well as His teaching, should have a profound influence of the life of the church, in fact, it did. The early church followed Christ’s pattern of prayer by praying in Jerusalem before they began to spread the Gospel.[38] Paul and Barnabas spent time with fellow believers in prayer before Paul’s first missionary journey.[39]The Apostles prayed before choosing a replacement for Judas.[40] The believers prayed through times of testing when the Jerusalem Council told them not to preach in Christ’s name, when James was executed and when Peter was imprisoned.[41] Paul says he often prayed for the spiritual growth of Timothy, Philemon, and the churches at Ephesus, Philippi, Thessalonica, Colossae and many others.[42] Paul and Silas praised God in prison for the work God had done in Philippi.[43] Prayer was at the centre of the early church, and it needs to return to the centre of today’s church. We ought to pray that God’s name be glorified, that His kingdom would come, that we would receive both our spiritual and material needs and that we do not fall into temptation. But, will God find faith on earth when he returns?
[1] David E. Garland, Zondervan Illustrated Bible Background Commentary, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Kindle Edition, comments on Luke 3:21.
[2] Joseph A. Fitzmyer, The Gospel According to Luke X-XXIV. Anchor Bible 28A; Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Co., 1983. 244; David E. Garland, Zondervan Illustrated Bible Background Commentary, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Kindle Edition, Location 11695.
[3] Robert Gundry, Commentary on Luke (Commentary on the New Testament Book 3), Comments on Luke 3:21-22.
[4] Warren Wiersby, The Weirsby Bible Commentary: New Testament, David C. Cook, Colorado Springs (2007), 147.
[5] Warren Wiersby, The Weirsby Bible Commentary: New Testament, David C. Cook, Colorado Springs (2007), 150.
[6] Robert Gundry, Commentary on Luke (Commentary on the New Testament Book 3), Comments on Luke 5:12-16.
[7] Warren Wiersby, The Weirsby Bible Commentary: New Testament, David C. Cook, Colorado Springs (2007), 151.
[8] Warren Wiersby, The Weirsby Bible Commentary: New Testament, David C. Cook, Colorado Springs (2007), 151.
[9] F. F. Bruce, New International Bible Commentary, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan (1979), 1196.
[10] Han, Kyu Sam. "Theology of Prayer in the Gospel of Luke." Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 43, no. 4 (12, 2000): 681, https://search.proquest.com/docview/211161024?accountid=35347 (accessed June 21, 2020).
[11] Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole bible, Hendrickson Publishers, Printed in the United States of America (1994), 499.
[12] Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole bible, Hendrickson Publishers, Printed in the United States of America (1994), 499.
[13] Warren Wiersby, The Weirsby Bible Commentary: New Testament, David C. Cook, Colorado Springs (2007), 154.
[14] F. F. Bruce, New International Bible Commentary, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan (1979), 1202
[15] John MacArthur, MacArthur Bible Commentary, Thomas Nelson, Nashville Tennessee, Kindle edition (2005), 1154.
[16] Han, Kyu Sam. "Theology of Prayer in the Gospel of Luke." Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 43, no. 4 (12, 2000): 682, https://search.proquest.com/docview/211161024?accountid=35347 (accessed June 21, 2020).
[17] Craig A. Evans, Guide to the Dead Sea Scrolls, B&H Publishing Group, Nashville Tennessee (2010), 314; Roberth Eiseman and Michael Wise, The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered, Penguin Group, Middlesex, England (1993), 68-69.
[18] F. F. Bruce, New International Bible Commentary, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan (1979), 1202
[19] Warren Wiersby, The Weirsby Bible Commentary: New Testament, David C. Cook, Colorado Springs (2007), 461.
[21] David E. Garland, Zondervan Illustrated Bible Background Commentary, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Kindle Edition (2002), Mount Tabor, para 12.
[22] Warren Wiersby, The Weirsby Bible Commentary: New Testament, David C. Cook, Colorado Springs (2007), 167.
[23] Han, Kyu Sam. "Theology of Prayer in the Gospel of Luke." Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 43, no. 4 (12, 2000): 684, https://search.proquest.com/docview/211161024?accountid=35347 (accessed June 21, 2020).
[25] Robert Gundry, Commentary on Luke (Commentary on the New Testament Book 3), Kindle Edition, Carrying out the Great Commission in Advance, para. 11.
[26] Craig Evans, Understanding the Bible Commentary Series, Baker Books, Grand Rapids, Michigan, eBook Edition (2011), The Mission of the Seventy-Two, para 13
[28] William McDonald, Believer’s Bible Commentary, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee (1990), 2237.
[29] Robert Gundry, Commentary on Luke (Commentary on the New Testament Book 3), Kindle Edition, The Piety of Praying, para. 2.
[30] William McDonald, Believer’s Bible Commentary, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee (1990), 2240.
[31] David E. Garland, Zondervan Illustrated Bible Background Commentary, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Kindle Edition (2002), Jerusalem to Jericho, para 5.
[32] Craig Evans, Understanding the Bible Commentary Series, Baker Books, Grand Rapids, Michigan, eBook Edition (2011), Lessons on Prayer, para 4.
[33] William McDonald, Believer’s Bible Commentary, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee (1990), 2241.
[34] William McDonald, Believer’s Bible Commentary, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee (1990), 2241; John F. Woolvard, The Bible Knowledge Commentary, David C. Cook, East Sussex, England, Kindle Edition 2018, 470.
[35] Craig Evans, Understanding the Bible Commentary Series, Baker Books, Grand Rapids, Michigan, eBook Edition (2011), Lessons on Prayer, para 5.
[36] Robert Gundry, Commentary on Luke (Commentary on the New Testament Book 3), Baker Academic, Grand Rapids Michigan, Kindle Edition (2011), The Piety of Praying, para. 3.
[37] Joseph A. Fitzmyer, The Gospel According to Luke X-XXIV. Anchor Bible 28A; Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Co., 1983. 247.
[38] F. F. Bruce, New International Bible Commentary, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan (1979), 1272.
[39] F. F. Bruce, New International Bible Commentary, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan (1979), 1289.
[40] Max Anders, Holman New Testament Commentary: Acts, Broadman and Holman Publishers, Nashville Tennessee, Kindle Edition (1998), We are Witnesses, para 29.
[41] F. F. Bruce, New International Bible Commentary, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan (1979), 1277, 1288.
[42] D.A. Carson, Praying with Paul: A Call to Spiritual Reformation, Second Edition, Baker Academic, Grand Rapids Michigan, Kindle Edition (2015), 43-55; Max Anders, Holman New Testament Commentary: Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians, Broadman and Holman Publishers, Nashville Tennessee (1999), Kindle Edition, Paul’s Prayer for Power, para 5.
[43] Robert Gundry, Commentary on Luke, (Commentary on the New Testament Book 5), Baker Academic, Grand Rapids Michigan, Kindle Edition (2011), Through the Phrygia, Galatia region and North West Asia Minor, para 9.
