The Great Commentary of Cornelius a Lapide: S. Luke
Chapter 11
Ver. 2. — When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. S. Matthew adds this prayer to the sermon on the mount, whilst S. Luke places it at a later period. Either, therefore, Christ taught His disciples this prayer on two separate occasions, or S. Matthew added it to the sermon on the mount, in order to make that sermon a complete summary of evangelical doctrine.
Here we may observe, that S. Matthew makes this prayer consist of seven petitions, but S. Luke of five. The latter evangelist unites two, because they are contained in the others. Hence, because S. Luke omits the last petition, “ deliver us from evil,” the Pelagians argued that although we might pray against being led into temptation , we ought not to pray for deliverance from evil.
Ver. 5. — And He said unto them. Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight.
At midnight, i.e. at a most inconvenient time.
Christ puts forth this parable to teach His disciples not to be disheartened, nor to cease to pray because their petitions are unanswered , but to persevere, for if they do this, God will listen to their prayers and grant them their requests.
Ver. 6. — For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him. My friend, hungry and wearied with his journey, seeks refreshment, and I have nothing to set before him.
Ver. 7. — And he from within shall answer and say. Trouble me not. He makes excuse that he cannot wake his children from their sleep and disturb his household.
Ver. 8. — I say unto you. Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.
Importunity — ἀναίδεια, i.e., impudence, used as the Latin word impudens — e.g., labor impudens (i.e. unceasing labour) omnia vincit.
Here S. Augustine asks, “Why because of his importunity? Because he continued to knock and did not go away because his request was denied him. He who was unwilling to give what his friend had need of, gave at last because the other continued his demands. Much more then will God who in His goodness bids us make known our requests to Him, and is displeased with those who seek Him not, grant our requests.”
God wills that we should continue instant in prayer, and is pleased with our “importunity,” for persistent prayer is “violence pleasing to God.” Tertullian.
Ver. 9. — And I say unto you, ask and it shall be given you. (See
Ver. 12. — Or if he shall ask an egg . This verse is omitted by S. Matthew. An egg, because of the nourishment it contains.
Ver. 27. — And it came to pass as He spake these things , a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice , and said unto Him, &c., i.e. Thou art so holy and so blessed, O Christ, that because of thee thy mother must be also blessed. Although she was ignorant of the mystery, this woman was moved by the Holy Spirit to declare that Christ was born of a virgin mother. Some suppose that the woman here mentioned was S. Martha or her handmaid S. Marcella. However , had it been Martha, in all probability S. Luke would have said so, since he so frequently in the chapter preceding makes mention of her name.
But Marcella is said to have incurred the enmity of the Scribes because she thus openly spoke in praise of Christ, and to have been condemned to death a little after the crucifixion, and there is a tradition that, together with Martha, Mary Magdalene, and Lazarus, she was exposed in an open boat without sails or oars, but that it with its living freight was by the providence of God brought safe to shore at Marseilles.
Blessed is the womb that bare thee. For it was the abiding place of the Son of God. Hence Methodius says of the Blessed Virgin: “ Thou didst conceive Him who comprehended all things. Thou didst bear Him in thy womb by whose word all things are sustained. For she is the chariot of the true Solomon, of whom it is written, ‘King Solomon made himself a chariot of the wood of Lebanon. He made the pillars thereof of silver, the bottom thereof of gold, the covering of it of purple, the midst thereof being paved with love.’” Cant iii. 9.
Hence Gregory of Nicomedia calls her “ the glorious throne and royal chariot on which the Incarnate Word was carried when He visited the earth.” And S. Bernard says, Ignatius, in the many letters which he wrote to the Blessed Virgin, addresses her as “ Christofera,” which is indeed a noble title conveying with it infinite honour ; for to be the servant of Christ is to be a ruler and prince, and to bear Him is to be ennobled, not burdened. And the same writer, commenting on Rev. xii, goes on to say, “ How great favour hast thou found in the sight of God, how very nigh hast thou been to Him ! He abides in thee, and thou in Him. Thou didst provide Him a garment, and in turn thou art clothed upon by Him. He received of thee the garment of the flesh ; He clothed thee with the glory of His majesty. Thou didst clothe the sun with a cloudy covering, and thou thyself art encircled with its splendours.”
Rightly therefore may we sing of the mother of our Lord : “Thou art the exaltation of Jerusalem. Thou art the great glory of Israel. Blessed be thou of the Almighty Lord for evermore,” Judith xv. 9.
Hear also the testimony of the fathers. Gregory Nazianzen, in his tragedy, “ The Suffering Christ ” writes : — “ O queen, O mistress and blessing of the human race ! be ever propitious to us mortal men : and be my safeguard wherever I may dwell.” And S. Cyril (Contra Nestorium) says, “All praise to thee, holy mother of God, for thou art this world’s pearl, an evershining light, the crown of virgins, and the sceptre of the faith ; ” and S. Chrysostom : “ Hail, mother, the throne, the grace, the glory and the support of our Holy Church ! ” And again, S. Ephrem salutes her as “ the hope of the Fathers, the glory of the Prophets, the praise of the Apostles, the honour of the Martyrs, the joy of the Saints, and the light of the Patriarchs of old.”
Ver. 28. — But He said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God , and keep it. Christ does not say that His mother is not blessed, as Calvin would have us believe, but only that they are more blessed who hear the word of God and keep it, i.e. fulfil its precepts. Because to be the mother of God is a grace and free gift of God, but external, and therefore not of necessity acting upon the soul, but to hear and keep the word is an internal grace, finding acceptance in the sight of God. Again, to be the mother of God does not absolutely ensure everlasting happiness, but to keep God’s word up to death has the sure promise of eternal life. And further, to be the mother of God is, of necessity, the blessing of one virgin only, but to hear and keep the word of God, a privilege common to all believers.
Christ therefore would encourage the woman who had addressed Him. Thou callest My mother blessed, and sorrowest that so great a privilege has not fallen to thy lot, but I offer thee a better and more lasting blessing, if thou wilt hear My word, and keep My commandments . For My mother was blessed more because she acknowledged My divinity than because she conceived Me in her womb, nay more, because, had she not recognised the purpose of God and been obedient unto His word, she would have been accounted unworthy to have become the mother of His Son; and so S. Augustine says, “ The near relationship of mother would not have profited Mary had she not conceived Christ in her heart as well as in her womb. For she was more blessed in her faith than in her conception.”
Ver. 34. — The light of the body is the eye. Figuratively the eye represents reason, intellect, especially good intention — for what the eye is to the body, such is reason or good intention to the mind.
When thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light, i.e. illumined by a single, a clear and unclouded eye.
Ver. 36. — If thy whole body therefore be full of light . . . the whole shall be full of light. Not the body, but the whole man and all his faculties and powers. Maldonatus. But Toletus gives a different rendering : “ If the eye, which is the principal and most noble part of the body, is full of light, then by means of it the whole body will be enlightened.” *
Ver. 37. — And as He spake , a certain Pharisee besought Him to dine with him: and He went in, and sat down to meat. “As he spake,” As He was on a certain occasion teaching the people, say St Augustine and others ; but Maldonatus considers that reference is here made to the preceding verses. The Pharisee therefore, having heard what our Lord had previously said, asked Him, from no good motive, but, as we learn from the two last verses of the chapter, in order to find some accusation against Him.
“ He sat down to meat,” without having first washed His hands, after the manner of the Pharisees.
* Kinwold and others think that this verse, which does not occur in St. Matthew, is an interpolation, and that it really is a grammatical gloss on v. 34.
Ver. 38. — And when the Pharisee saw it, he marvelled that He had not first washed. For the Pharisees were accustomed, before they sat down to meat, to wash not their hands only, but their arms as far as the elbow. See St Matt xv. 1.
Ver. 39. — And the Lord said unto him. Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and platter. Ye take care to wash the body, but are careless as to the cleansing of the heart. The word “ now ” gives point to the rebuke.