Can you imagine every day...
Illustration
Can you imagine every day sleeping with your whole family in one room? And also
sleeping with the animals? Precious animals for their protection were allowed to sleep in
the house overnight. This was the situation in Israel at the time of Jesus. They had to keep
animals, not so much for their own use, but for guests, and relatives who happened to
stop by.
In Luke 11:5-13, Jesus describes a situation that could happen. Normally, without refrigeration, food was prepared just one meal at a time. It would be an embarrassment to be found without food for a relative or a traveler. Even if it was distasteful to have to wake your neighbor, it was less of a breach of courtesy to do that than to send the visiting traveler on his way or to bed without being fed.
Not only would knocking on the door waken the man of the house, but everyone else, including the animals, would be wakened. Jesus had been teaching about prayer. Calling on a neighbor for help was considered acceptable, and the reason for Jesus giving this story was to remind us that God is even more willing to be inconvenienced than a neighbor might be, and God is always available to answer our requests. "So I say to you, ask and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock and the door will be opened for you" (Luke 10:9).
In Luke 11:5-13, Jesus describes a situation that could happen. Normally, without refrigeration, food was prepared just one meal at a time. It would be an embarrassment to be found without food for a relative or a traveler. Even if it was distasteful to have to wake your neighbor, it was less of a breach of courtesy to do that than to send the visiting traveler on his way or to bed without being fed.
Not only would knocking on the door waken the man of the house, but everyone else, including the animals, would be wakened. Jesus had been teaching about prayer. Calling on a neighbor for help was considered acceptable, and the reason for Jesus giving this story was to remind us that God is even more willing to be inconvenienced than a neighbor might be, and God is always available to answer our requests. "So I say to you, ask and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock and the door will be opened for you" (Luke 10:9).
