Luke 11:5-8 5And he said to them, “Which of you has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, 6because a friend of mine has arrived from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7and that one from within in answering would say, ‘Do not bother me; the door has been shut already, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? 8I say to you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence after getting up he will give him whatever he needs.
Jesus next illustrates persistence in prayer with a short parable about someone who needs some bread. He addressed the parable to which of you, involving the disciples and challenging them to think deeply about what he was about to say. The situation of this parable is significant to its meaning. The time is the middle of the night when people should be sleeping. Not many people get up in the middle of the night for a snack or to bother a neighbor about borrowing something.
Three friends are involved: the householder who was sleeping, the one asking for bread, and the guest of the one asking for bread. The one asking for bread is the common friend between the two others. He intercedes for the one who came to visit him by asking his other friend for help. The one who was hungry had come to his friend’s house late in the night, which sometimes happens when traveling. The man in the middle had the social obligation of hospitality and to do something to care for his guest. Perhaps he did not know the guest was coming and so was not prepared. Out of desperation, he went to his neighbor, hoping he could help resolve the situation. The first part of the parable shows how important hospitality was in the ancient world.
The sleeping man did not like to be woken up in the middle of the night, especially if it was only for bread. His whole family was asleep. A typical Jewish house was small, and the family slept on mats in a common room. If the man got up and starting making noise, the whole family would get woken up, and a good chance any small children would start crying, resulting in chaos and a long time of restlessness. The best thing would have been for the desperate neighbor to go and deal with his own problem.
Verse 8 gives the clue to the intended meaning of the story, especially with the word persistence (anaaideian). The whole story hinges on this word. The word is rare, making it difficult to translate. The word carries a strong cultural nuance of carelessly, impolitely, and shamelessly doing something persistently without asking. It was not typical practice for a neighbor to pound boldly on the door in the middle of the night. The man would not take no for an answer from then inside. To resolve the situation, the only answer was to get up and give the man what he needed. By answering the need, the whole situation could be resolved. The man could go back to sleep with his family, and the neighbor could feed his guest and they could get to sleep in peace.
The key thought of this short story revolves around the persistence and insistence of the neighbor who was interceding for his guest. The one who could resolve the whole situation was the one who had bread. We should not over-interpret and allegorize each character but look at the primary message of enduring in prayer by asking. God may not answer our prayers right away but use the pause as a time to test the strength of our faith and the sincerity of our intercession for others. Persistence and boldness are marks of genuine faith that God can and will answer our prayers.
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