Luke 11:52 Kommentar

In this chapter, I. Christ teaches his disciples to pray, and quickens and encourages them to be frequent, instant, and importunate in prayer (Luk 11:1-13). II. He fully answers the blasphemous imputation of the Pharisees, who charged him with casting out devils by virtue of a compact and confederacy with Beelzebub, the prince of the devils, and shows the absurdity and wickedness of it (Luk 11:14-26). III. He shows the honour of obedient disciples to be greater than that of his own mother (Luk 11:27, Luk 11:28). IV. He upbraids the men of that generation for their infidelity and obstinacy, notwithstanding all the means of conviction offered to them (Luk 11:29-36). V. He severely reproves the Pharisees and consciences of those that submitted to them, and their hating and persecuting those that witnessed against their wickedness (v. 37-54).

And it came to pass that as he was praying,.... The following directions concerning prayer, though they agree with those in Mat 6:9 &c. yet were delivered at another time, and in another place, and upon another occasion: Christ was then in Galilee, now in Judea: he gave the former directions unasked for, these at the request of one of his disciples; the other were given as he was preaching, these immediately after he had been praying; as soon as he had done a work he was often employed in, as man and mediator, on account of himself, his disciples, cause, and interest: and this was done in a certain place; perhaps in the Mount of Olives, which was not far from Bethany, where we hear of him last, since this was a place where he used to abide in the night, and pray, Luk 21:37. The Arabic version reads, "in a desert place"; and after he had been at Bethany, he did go to a country near the wilderness, to a city called Ephraim, Joh 11:54 when he ceased; from praying; when he had concluded his prayer, and finished all his petitions, and was off of his knees: one of his disciples; perhaps one of the seventy disciples who had not heard the summary of prayer, and the directions about it before given on the mount, Mat 6:9 The Persic version reads, "his disciples": as if they all united in the request: and said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples, who, as Tertullian says (g), brought in a new order and method of praying, and gave his disciples some instructions and directions concerning it, much better than what the Jews in common had: and this disciple looking upon his Lord and master as much better qualified to give directions in this important affair than even John himself was, requests of him that he would; and what might put him upon it at this time seems to be, his observing that Christ had now been at prayer. (g) Contr. Marcion. l. 4. c. 26.

Laying wait for him,.... To ensnare and entangle him, watching his words, observing what he said, and laying hold thereon: and seeking to catch something out of his mouth; like beasts of prey, or hunters, that were watching for their prey; or lay ambush, diligently looking out, and greedily catching at every thing they thought for their purpose: that they might accuse him; either of heresy or sedition, to the Jewish sanhedrim, or the Roman governor. Next: Luke Chapter 12

The scribes also, and Pharisees, are led away into another schism; but these, being baptized by John, and holding the word of truth received from the tradition of Moses as the key of the kingdom of heaven, have hid it from the hearing of the people. [Luke 11:52] Yea, some even of the disciples of John, who seemed to be great ones, have separated themselves from the people, and proclaimed their own master as the Christ. But all these schisms have been prepared, that by means of them the faith of Christ and baptism might be hindered."

For He alone is the true God, who is the God of the Jews; and for this reason our Lord Jesus Christ did not teach them that they must inquire after God, for Him they knew well already, but that they must seek His kingdom and righteousness, [Matthew 6:33] which the scribes and Pharisees, having received the key of knowledge, had not shut in, but shut out. [Luke 11:52] For if they had been ignorant of the true God, surely He would never have left the knowledge of this thing, which was the chief of all, and blamed them for small and little things, as for enlarging their fringes, and claiming the uppermost rooms in feasts, and praying standing in the highways, and such like things; which assuredly, in comparison of this great charge, ignorance of God, seem to be small and insignificant matters."

Was it not because (Christ) was jealous of such a disposition as the Marcionites denounce, visiting the sins of the fathers upon the children unto the fourth generation? What "key," indeed, was it which these lawyers had, but the interpretation of the law? Into the perception of this they neither entered themselves, even because they did not believe (for "unless ye believe, ye shall not understand"); nor did they permit others to enter, because they preferred to teach them for commandments even the doctrines of men.

Woe to you, lawyers, because you have hidden the keys! That is, because they had hidden the knowledge of our Lord’s manifestation which was in the prophecies. If our Lord is the door, as he has said, it is clear that the keys of knowledge belong to him. The scribes and Pharisees did not want to enter through this door of life, in keeping with what he had said, “See, the kingdom is among you.” [He was referring to] himself, for he was standing in their midst.

Those also are even now condemned under the name of Jews, and made subject to future punishment, who, while usurping to themselves the teaching of divine knowledge, both hinder others, and do not themselves acknowledge that which they profess.

They are still accused under the name of the Jews, and they are determined to be subject to future punishment; because while they claim for themselves the teaching of divine knowledge and hinder others, they themselves do not recognize what they profess.

John says in the book of Revelation, “He who has the key of David, he who opens and no one shuts, and who shuts and no one opens.” The scribes and Pharisees held this key in the law. The Lord warns them in the Gospel, “Woe to you lawyers, who hold the key of the kingdom of heaven.” O you Pharisees, who hold the keys of the kingdom and do not believe in Christ who is the gate of the kingdom and the door. The promise is made to you, but it is granted to us. You have the flesh, but we have the spirit. Since you deny the spirit, you have lost the flesh with the spirit.

(de qu. Ev. l. ii. q. 23.) But the key of knowledge is also the humility of Christ, which they would neither themselves understand, nor let be understood by others.

Now we say, the law itself is the key of knowledge. For it was both a shadow and a figure of the righteousness of Christ, therefore it became the Lawyers, as instructors of the Law of Moses and the words of the Prophets, to reveal in a certain measure to the Jewish people the knowledge of Christ. This they did not, but on the contrary detracted from the divine miracles, and spoke against His teaching, Why hear ye him? So then they took away the key of knowledge. Hence it follows, Ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entered in ye hindered. But faith also is the key of knowledge. For by faith comes also the knowledge of truth, according to that of Isaiah, Unless ye have believed, ye will not understand. (Isa. 7:9. LXX.) The Lawyers then have taken away the key of knowledge, not permitting men to believe in Christ.

We consider that the key of knowledge means the law itself, and by faith in him, I mean justification in Christ. Although the law was in shadow and type, yet those types show to us the truth, and those shadows depict to us in many ways the mystery of Christ. A lamb was sacrificed according to the law of Moses. They ate its flesh. They anointed the lintels with its blood and overcame the destroyer. The blood of a mere sheep could not turn away death. Christ was typified under the form of a lamb. He endures to be the victim for the life of the world and saves by his blood those who are partakers of him. One might mention many other instances as well, by means of which we can discern the mystery of Christ sketched out in the shadows of the law. When speaking to the Jews, he once said, "There is one that accuses you, even Moses, whom you trusted. For if you had believed Moses, you should have also believed me, because he wrote of me." "You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness to me." Every word of divinely inspired Scripture looks to him and refers to him. As it has been shown, if Moses speaks, he typified Christ. If the holy prophets that you name speak, they also proclaimed to us in many ways the mystery of Christ, preaching beforehand the salvation that is by him.

This key is Christ the Lord, by whom the hidden places of our hearts are unlocked to believing faith. The Pharisees lost this key, and the apostles found it. The Lord says to Peter, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.” The hand of the synagogue, abandoning Christ, withered up among the leaders of the Jews. The hand of the synagogue grew unhealthy, for whoever deserts the source, which is Christ, immediately gets sick and is found sicker than all the other members.

Woe to you lawyers, because you have taken away the key of knowledge; you did not enter in yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering. The key of knowledge is the humility of Christ, which the lawyers neither wished to understand in the law and the prophets, nor wished others to understand. For to enter is not to be content with the surface of the letter, but to penetrate to the secrets of more sacred understanding. Alternatively: Every teacher who scandalizes the listeners whom he edifies by word with his example neither enters the kingdom of God himself, nor allows those who could enter to do so.

By the "key of knowledge" the Lord meant the teaching and guidance through the Law, which is able to lead to Christ. For the Law undoubtedly serves as a tutor leading to Christ (Gal. 3:24). Thus, the lawyers appeared to be explaining the Law, yet they maliciously withheld the "key of knowledge" and did not open the doors of the Law, through which they themselves and the people could have come to Christ. The Law serves as a door to Christ. But this door remains shut if someone does not explain the obscure aspects of the Law and thus open the door. For the Lord Himself said: "If you believed Moses, you would believe Me" (John 5:46). And again: "Search the Scriptures... they testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me" (John 5:39-40). I will point to one example. Among the Jews, as is known, a lamb was slain, the doorposts were anointed, they ate these meats, and this was for them a victory over the destroyer (Ex. 12:1-13). By all of this, the Mystery of Christ was prefigured. When Christ was slain as the Spotless and Most Pure Lamb, then our doorposts were also anointed, that is, the heart and the will, and their lintel, that is, the mind, and we tasted the flesh of the Son of Man and conquered the destroyer of our spiritual powers. And a great many ordinances of the Law pointed to Christ. Although the Law was, as it were, covered and locked by the darkness of the letter, as if by a door of sorts, yet if the teaching was entrusted to someone, that person had the key of knowledge; and if such a person had wished, he could have opened it, and would have entered himself, and would have led others in. But the lawyers did not do this; rather, they "took away the key of knowledge," that is, they concealed it, hid it from sight; and when this key was taken out of the way (hidden), that is, the interpretation of the Law, then its door also remained locked. By "the key of knowledge" you can also understand faith. For the knowledge of truth comes through faith, as the prophet Isaiah also says: "If you do not believe, you will not understand" (Is. 6:10). So the lawyers took "the key of knowledge," that is, faith, from the midst and hid it. For they did not allow certain people to believe in Christ, the Savior of all. He worked miracles, and the people, believing on account of these miracles, would have acknowledged Him as God, but they (the lawyers) said that He performed these miracles by the power of Beelzebub. Do you see how they took away the key of knowledge, not allowing people to believe in that which would have led them to knowledge? He (Christ) taught the will of God in the synagogues, but they (the lawyers) said: "He has a demon and is mad; why do you listen to Him?" So they (that is, the Pharisees and scribes) truly took the key of knowledge, but they themselves did not enter and did not allow others to enter, and moreover those who were "entering," that is, those already capable of the knowledge of God.

It follows, Woe to you, lawyers, for ye have taken away the key of knowledge.

Christ teaches his disciples to pray, Luk 11:1-4. Shows the necessity of importunity in prayer, Luk 11:5-13. Casts out a dumb demon, Luk 11:14. The Jews ascribe this to the power of Beelzebub; our Lord vindicates his conduct, Luk 11:15-23. Miserable state of the Jews, Luk 11:24-26. Who they are that are truly blessed, Luk 11:27, Luk 11:28. He preaches to the people, Luk 11:29-36. A Pharisee invites him to dine with him, who takes offense because he washed not his hands, Luk 11:37, Luk 11:38. Our Lord exposes their hypocrisy, Luk 11:39-44. He denounces woes against the lawyers, Luk 11:45-52. The scribes and Pharisees are greatly offended, and strive to entangle him in his words, Luk 11:53, Luk 11:54.

Ye have taken away the key of knowledge - By your traditions ye have taken away the true method of interpreting the prophecies: ye have given a wrong meaning to those scriptures which speak of the kingdom of the Messiah, and the people are thereby hindered from entering into it. See on Mat 23:13 (note).

THE DISCIPLES TAUGHT TO PRAY. (Luk 11:1-13) one, &c.--struck with either the matter or the manner of our Lord's prayers. as John, &c.--From this reference to John, it is possible that disciple had not heard the Sermon on the Mount. Nothing of John's inner teaching (to his own disciples) has been preserved to us, but we may be sure he never taught his disciples to say, "Our Father."

key of knowledge--not the key to open knowledge, but knowledge, the only key to open heaven. In Mat 23:13, they are accused of shutting heaven; here of taking away the key, which was worse. A right knowledge of God's Word is eternal life (Joh 17:3); but this they took away from the people, substituting for it their wretched traditions.