Luke 18:1-8

Luke 18:1-8

And He was speaking a parable to them regarding that it is necessary for them to pray at all times and to not become weary, saying, “Some judge, not being a God-fearer and having no reverence for mankind, was in a certain city.  And a widow was in the same city.  And she was coming to him, saying, ‘Vindicate me from my adversary!’  And he was not desiring at that time.  But after these things he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor show reverence to mankind, it is no doubt that the labor of this woman troubles me.  I will vindicate her in order that in coming she should not beat me down to an end.’”  And the lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says.  And should God surely not make a vengeance of His elect who cry to Him day and night?  And is He patiently enduring them?  I say to you that He will make their vengeance quickly.  Nevertheless, after the Son of Man comes will He find faith upon the earth?”

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Let’s make sure that we understand the context of Jesus’ teaching here.  Jesus goes out of His way to make sure that people understand that the judge in this story is neither God-fearing nor one who shows respect to the people around him.  That’s quite important to this story.  The parable is about dealing with a person who doesn’t really care about the community around them.  The judge isn’t even following the Law with respect to looking out for orphans and widows!  This judge is clearly a man who is living his life the way he wants to live it without caring about the people around him.  And how does this widow act?  The widow comes and makes a pest of herself.  She puts her issue in front of him continually, wearing him down.  How do we deal with people who don’t care about our situation because they aren’t obedient to their calling from God?  We don’t have very many options besides making ourselves a pest so that they resolve our issue and we can move on with our life!

Have you ever had to deal with people who were in control of a situation but didn’t really seem to care?  How did you handle it?

Second Thought:

Understanding that portion, now we move on to the Father.  The point Jesus makes is that if we can convince people who don’t care about us to help our need, then we absolutely can count on being able to get the Father to listen!  If we know how to be a pest with respect to people who don’t care, we should know how to approach the Father.  He is patient with us as we come to Him and tell Him our needs and our concerns.  We should not neglect our ability to come to a Father who genuinely cares, especially when we can be so good about dealing with people who aren’t compassionate towards our needs.

How do you bring your concerns to the Father?  Is this a habit in your life, or do you only talk to the Father about your needs when they are pressing?

Third Thought:

I wanted to make sure that I saved some space for this very haunting question that Jesus asks at the end of this passage.  When He returns, will He find faith on Earth?  I believe what Jesus is hinting at is that is that human beings tend to fall away from God in faith.  Human society likewise tends to fall away.  We start of great.  We start off loyal and faithful.  But as time goes on, we become more focused on our own ways and our own needs.  The same is true for society as well.  As time goes on, we become more and more focused on our desires as a society and less focused on God and His ways.

Do you feel this tendency with you?  Do you see this tendency within the society around you?  Why do you think Jesus makes this comment?

Passage for Tomorrow: Luke 18:9-14