NOTES for Luk 11:1-28
It is probably not wrong to say that the principal Message of Christ’s preaching is about the Father. In many other parables the Lord portrays an image of God that is close to Jewish ideas and perhaps sometimes necessary for us: the image of a King who has absolute authority over his subjects. But in today’s parables no images are found for God except those of a father who loves his children whatever they may be, and a friend ready to help even at the most inconvenient moment. Jesus’ listeners know from their own experience that however gloomy and unkind a person may be, he is still capable of showing tenderness and care toward the dearest thing he has—his children. They also know that people are able to help one another in time of need, even when doing so is unpleasant. And now Jesus says: understand one simple thing—God is better than you, kinder and more generous. Can He really be a worse Father to you than you are to your own children? Seen from this perspective, the prayer “Our Father” becomes not merely one possible form of addressing God, but an astonishing revelation of the mystery of the Father’s love, stronger and more tender than anything else in the world.