One day Jesus told His disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up.
There was a judge in a certain city,” He said, “who neither feared God nor cared about people. A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’ The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!'”
Then the Lord said, “Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to His chosen people who cry out to Him day and night? Will He keep putting them off? I tell you, He will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will He find on the earth who have faith?”
Luke 18:1-8
We looked at Luke’s stated intent behind the parable. I say Luke’s stated purpose because the form varies from times when Jesus made clear the purpose behind a parable or unit of teaching. That normally occurred at the end of the teaching, sometimes because He was asked, and other times because Jesus drew the disciples aside and gave them a deeper insight behind the scenes. Jesus made the point that this judge was not a God-fearer. We were also told he doesn’t care about people and what they think about him and he is not intimidated in a shame culture.
The woman was a widow and therefore represented the vulnerable sector of society, left to plead her own case before the authorities. As stated in the series of truths yesterday, this woman has appealed to the courts assuming that the judge is going to dispense justice for her, after all that is what courts are supposed to do. Her case appears to be a just one and deserves a favourable outcome. But in the parable, the judge apparently is loath to grant her request, despite the fact that her cause is a just one and truth is on her side. We are told at the beginning of the parable in the introduction that it is all about asking constantly (always) and never giving up.
Notice the following elements in the parable:
- Always pray, never give up
- Came to him repeatedly asking for justice
- This woman is driving me crazy
- She is wearing me out with her constant requests
Notice how many times the parable includes the refrain (oh admittedly in different words) about constant asking. Conversely notice the response of the UNJUST judge to the constant requests:
- The judge ignored her for a while . . . finally . . .
- Rendered a just decision in the end
- The sense is the justice that she deserved took a long time coming.
- Will he keep putting them off?
It is clear that this parable draws a comparison between the Unjust Judge and the Just Judge (God)
Between the Widow (most vulnerable) who deserves justice and the chosen people who are not deserving (by inference – that which the rest of the Bible tells us)
Moral of the story: don’t give up before you get an answer. We have all dealt with a company or a government department that has a unstated policy of turning down your request at first attempt (sometimes even second attempt) even though we have a valid case. Just because that is the way it is done. If they can put you off with delaying tactics they will. Even though they know your cause is just and deserves fair treatment, the first answer is “No”. It is not until you persevere that you will finally get the justice you deserve. That is the way the unjust justice system on a human level works. Just think of all those lawyer jokes. Do you remember the examples I shared with you when we looked at Lazarus and the pearly gate stories? It is hard to get justice from unjust judges. That is why Jesus calls this judge unjust.
I am going to skip over a major contentious issue here simply because I think they are red herrings. It is found in words “will he keep putting them off? Will he delay over them long?
There is debate over who “them” refers to. Does it refer to “his people” or does it refer to their oppressors?
There is also debate over the Greek preposition [epi] in this sentence. It is ambiguous. It may mean “toward them” or it may mean “on account of them“.
I am going to spare you a lengthy discussion of a difficult Greek construction. To go into the great detail to look at all the possibilities I don’t think achieves anything. Suffice to say at this point we can be assured that it is God’s nature to be patient with His undeserving people. Surely God will grant justice to His wayward people. In fact, by His grace and forbearance He will give justice to undeserving sinners. He may keep them waiting in order to test their patience but ultimately He will give all the time He can for them to repent. Jesus said we ought to learn the lesson from this unjust judge. “Even he rendered a just decision in the end.” Verse 7
Do you want justice from God? I don’t think so. Guilty sinners don’t want justice, they want injustice which errs in their favour. I don’t want what I deserve. I want what I don’t deserve. I am sure you are the same. We could say even the unjust judge will come through with what a just person deserves in the end. But reversing the process, we can conclude the Just Judge will give out what an unjust person doesn’t deserve and do so quickly. Well quickly . . . in His timing. And His timing is always perfect.
Now finally we will address the one liner at the end of this segment. “When the Son of Man returns, will He find faith on the earth?” But isn’t this segment about prayer? No, it is about the Son of Man returning. It is all linked together. And surprise, surprise it continues into the following pericope as well. [Now I know that didn’t surprise some of you. Ah you are learning to look carefully at Luke’s gospel now, and Jesus’ teaching.]
I don’t intend to put it all together just yet. I will leave some of the pieces dangling for you for a while longer. But I will say there are different opinions as to what “the faith” is that is referred to here. The options are:
- Faith refers to the standard Christian faith “in Christ” to save us.
- Faith refers to the belief or confidence that vindication will come
- Faith refers to the belief or trust that the Son of Man will come as predicted.
Having said all that I will leave the pot to simmer again.
Goodness gives me what I don’t deserve + mercy spares me from what I do deserve!
Rick Godwin
GRACE is everything for nothing to someone who doesn’t deserve anything.
Jose Carol
What is grace? It’s what someone gives out of the goodness of his heart, not out of the perfection of yours.
Max Lucado
The greatest thing about Grace is that it makes life not fair.
Anon
Don’t ever tell God it isn’t fair. Of course it isn’t. Aren’t you glad? Aren’t you grateful?
Ian Vail