Luke 11:5-8 And he said to them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go to him at midnight, and say to him, Friend, lend me three loaves;… Like all such utterances of Christ, this draws its material from the ordinary life and incidents of the time. The deep stillness which settles upon an Eastern city soon after nightfall, is broken by the urgent call of a man under a neighbour's window. "Friend! friend!! lend me three loaves! a guest has arrived at my house." Not a strange occurrence in the East, where so many travel in the night to avoid the burning heat of the day. "Friend, lend me three loaves. My guest has taken me unawares. He is a hungry traveller. My larder is empty. I have nothing to set before him." And the answer is that of a man who cares chiefly for his own comfort; a churlish answer enough: "Trouble me not. My door is shut and bolted. The household have gone to rest. I cannot rise and give thee." But the applicant is not so easily disposed of. The ungracious neighbour is not to be left so comfortably to his rest. Hardly has he settled himself on his couch when the knock at the door comes again, and the call is repeated; and again and again; until, for very peace's sake, he is constrained to rise and give his persistent neighbour what he wants. (Marvin R. Vincent, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; |
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