1 Then Jesus used this story to teach his followers that they should always pray and never lose hope. 2 “In a certain town there was a judge who did not respect God or care about people. 3 In that same town there was a widow who kept coming to this judge, saying, ‘Give me my rights against my enemy.’ 4 For a while the judge refused to help her. But afterwards, he thought to himself, ‘Even though I don’t respect God or care about people, 5 I will see that she gets her rights. Otherwise she will continue to bother me until I am worn out.’”
6 The Lord said, “Listen to what the unfair judge said. 7 God will always give what is right to his people who cry to him night and day, and he will not be slow to answer them. 8 I tell you, God will help his people quickly. But when the Son of Man comes again, will he find those on earth who believe in him?”
Read Luke 18:1-8 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
The illustration Jesus shared in our passage for this post might seem a little discouraging to some. In this illustration, a persistent widow wears down a stubborn, indifferent judge. If it were not for the opening explanation and closing remarks, we might get the idea that God is like this judge, and that He needs lots of convincing to actually step in and act.
The key to this entire parable is spoken in the words of the judge: “For a while the judge refused to help her. But afterwards, he thought to himself, ‘Even though I don’t respect God or care about people, I will see that she gets her rights. Otherwise she will continue to bother me until I am worn out.’” (v. 4-5)
By finishing off the statement by looking into a future of persistence from the widow, the judge realizes he has met his match and decides that it is easier to simply grant the widow’s request then to keep ignoring her.
Jesus draws His point from the judge’s words. He says, “God will always give what is right to his people who cry to him night and day . . .” (v.7a). However, if we stop reading there, it makes God appear to be like this judge, who only grants requests to the most persistent askers. Instead, Jesus finishes this verse off by saying, “and he will not be slow to answer them.”
Unlike the judge, Jesus/God will be quick to answer our prayers, and while the answer we receive might not be the one we wanted the most, it is the one God knows is best.
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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