Luke 11:1-4

The Lord's Prayer with a historical introduction (Matthew 6:7-15). ἐν τόπῳ τινὶ : neither the place nor the time of this incident is indicated with even approximate exactness. It is simply stated that it happened when Jesus was at a certain place, and when He was praying (προσευχόμενον). Why the narrative comes in here does not clearly appear. I have suggested elsewhere (The Parabolic Teaching of Christ, Preface to the Third Edition) that the parable of the Good Samaritan, the story of Martha and Mary and the Lesson on Prayer form together a group having for their common heading: “at school with Jesus,” exhibiting under three types the scholar's burden, the Teacher's meekness, and the rest-bringing lesson, so giving us Lk.'s equivalent for Mt.'s gracious invitation (chap. Luke 11:28-30). I am now inclined to think that Schola Christi might be the heading not merely for these three sections but for the whole division from Luke 9:51 to Luke 18:14, the contents being largely didactic. τις τ. μαθ.: a later disciple, Meyer thinks, who had not heard the Teaching on the Hill, and who got for answer to his request a repetition of the Lord's Prayer, given by Mt. as part of the Sermon on the Mount. This conjecture must go for what it is worth. καθὼς καὶ Ἰωάννης : the fact here stated is not otherwise known: no trace of a Johannine liturgy; but the statement in itself is very credible: prayer like fasting reduced to system in the Baptist's circle.