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.

All rights reserved.

Copyright © Victor Bissett, 1998
CENTRE DE DOCUMENTATION MISSIONNAIRE
08 B.P. 424, ABIDJAN 08, Ivory Coast, West Africa.
Tel: (225) 42-72-45 -- Internet: [email protected]
 

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 lycée,
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 Lycée 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 Côte 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.

This present text is available in booklet form from CDM.

© 1998, Victor Bissett.
 
 

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?

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 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
 

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

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
 

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.

* * * * *

© 1998, Victor Bissett. [email protected]
 

Update and HTML Modifications: 12/10/1998
 

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