Parable of the Three Loaves of Bread

“Then He said to them, ‘Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, -Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.-Then the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything. I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man’s boldness, he will get up and give him as much as he needs. So I say to you: Ask and it will be given you; seek and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” (Luke 11:5-9, NIV).

The parable of the three loaves is given only in Luke’s gospel, but the important teaching on prayer—ask, seek, knock—(better translated “keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking”) that follows this parable is given also in Matthew 7:7. Luke sets this parable immediately after Jesus was praying “in a certain place” and the disciples asked him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples” (Luke 11:1). There followed, in Luke’s account, what we have come to know as “The Lord’s Prayer.” We might well call it “the disciple’s prayer,” because it is how Jesus taught them (and us) to pray. Then Jesus gave the parable of the man who, when an unexpected guest came at midnight, had no bread to feed him. He asked his friend, already in bed for the night, if he might borrow three loaves. At first the friend is reluctant to answer the request. But because of persistence in asking, and also because he is his friend, the man arises and gives his neighbor the bread he needs. Within this parable is the implication that things often happen unexpectedly with which we need immediate help. Like the man turned to his neighbor for help, so we can turn immediately to God. He is available at all times.

What is the major lesson in this parable for us? Taken in context in Luke, the Lord had just given them a pattern for prayer. He follows it by an everyday example of persistence in asking. The man who needed bread to feed his unexpected guest was bold, unashamed to ask, and continued to ask until he had received what he needed. I think another thing to notice is that the man who needed bread intended to share it with someone who was tired and hungry—in need of sustenance. Rev. J. R. Dummelow in his A Commentary on the Holy Bible (NY: Macmillan, 1958, p. 752) stated: “If a churlish man can be forced by importunity to give against his will, how much more can persevering prayer bring down from the bountiful Father in heaven all good things.” The major difference in our Heavenly Father and His provision through prayers of His children and the man who gave the bread is that our Father’s supply is never depleted and He knows what we have need of before we ask (Matthew 6:8; Luke 12:30). Nevertheless, trust and dependence on God are necessary on our part. Our continual asking, seeking and knocking are indicative of our faith that God will answer. Recall how Jacob wrestled with the angel of God? Jacob said, “I will not let thee go, except thou bless me” (Genesis 32:26). The lesson in the parable of the three loaves is reiterated for us in Luke 18:1: “that they should always pray and not give up.” The lesson is: Pray persistently until an answer comes. It might be “yes” (as with the three loaves being provided); it may be “no” (if your request is not best for you and is not God’s will for you); or it may be “wait awhile” (during which time your faith grows).

c Ethelene Dyer Jones; Monday, September 6, 2010