Luke 18:1-8

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Luke 18:1-8 (NIV)

¹ Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. ² He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. ³ And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’

⁴ “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, ⁵ yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”

⁶ And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. ⁷ And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? ⁸ I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

Devotional Thought:

Today’s lectionary reading from Luke 18 on persistent prayer mirrors a similar parable in Luke 11:5-8, where repeated pleading to a neighbour for food is rewarded. That parable in chapter 11 is sandwiched between the Lord’s prayer, ask-seek-knock, and fathers giving good gifts, let alone the Gifts from the Heavenly Father (Culpepper, NIB: Luke, p. 337).

Before we dive into today’s passage, here’s a bit of a background on judges and widows. Israel’s judges were men of considerable power and responsibility who were to listen to both the Israelite and foreigner/immigrant, small or great alike, without being afraid or intimidated (Deut. 1:16-17) (Nolland, Word: Luke 9-18, pp. 867). Second Chronicles 19:4-8 records Jehoshaphat’s commissioning speech for the “Levites, priests and heads of Israelite families” who were becoming judges: “you are not judging for mere mortals but for the Lord, who is with you whenever you give a verdict. ⁷ Now let the fear of the Lord be on you. Judge carefully, for with the Lord our God there is no injustice or partiality or bribery.” More than that, care for the orphan, foreigner and widow was to be part of Israel’s identity, given their time in slavery in Egypt (Deut. 24:17-18).

Even more than in the modern day, widows in First Century were vulnerable. Jewish inheritance passed from the husband to his sons or brothers, leaving the widow without land or provision (Culpepper, NIB: Luke, p. 336). But widows have a place of importance in Luke’s gospel, including:

• Anna, the eighty four year-old widow faithfully praying and fasting in the temple (2:36-38)
• widow in Sidon who welcomes Elijah (4:23-27)
• widow whose son Jesus resurrects (7:11-17)
• widows who are unjustly unhoused because of the greedy teachers of the law (20:45-47)
• widow who “out of her poverty put in all she had to live on”, giving an offering of two small copper coins (21:1-4) (Neale, NBBC: Luke 9-24, pp. 170).

Despite their poverty, lack of power, and grief, these widows are portrayed by Luke as innocent, thankful, self-sacrificially giving, and faithfully worshiping God.

Back to our passage: the judge in this parable doesn’t fear God, nor does he respect people/care what they think, and further he doesn’t care about the widow (vv. 2-4) (Neale, NBBC: Luke 9-24, pp. 170). He is the opposite of a righteous judge, let alone the God whose judgement he should bring. The unjust judge, despite his lack of character, decides to bring about justice for the widow because he is intimidated (another of his flaws) and fears an inevitable physical/shame-inducing slap to the face. The powerless widow triumphs over the unjust situation and powerful judge through her persistence. We get to the crux of Jesus’s point in verses 6-8 (like in 11:1-13): if someone’s pleas can convince even deeply flawed humans to do the right thing, how much more will our prayers to God be answered in acts of justice.

A few commentators note God’s care for the marginalised in the apocryphal writings: “for the Lord is the judge, and with him there is no partiality. ¹⁶ He will not show partiality to the poor, but he will listen to the prayer of one who is wronged. ¹⁷ He will not ignore the supplication of the orphan or the widow when she pours out her complaint.” (Sirach 35:15b-17 NRSVUE).

Prayer:

Father, hallowed by your name. Your kingdom come. Bring justice for the oppressed, the widow, the immigrant, the needy. Help us to keep turning to you even when things seem bleak. Amen.

Kind regards,

Michael Lund

Library Manager