'And He spake a parable unto them to this end, that
men ought always to pray, and not to faint; 2. Saying,
There was in a city a judge, which feared not God,
neither regarded man: 3. And there was a widow in that
city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine
adversary. 4. And he would not for a while: but
afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not
God, nor regard man; 5. Yet because this widow
troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual
coming she weary me. 6. And the Lord said, Hear what
the unjust judge saith. 7. And shall not God avenge
His own elect, which cry day and night unto Him,
though He bear long with them! 8. I tell you that He
will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son
of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?
9. And He spake this parable unto certain which
trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and
despised others: 10. Two men went up into the temple
to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
11. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself,
God, I thank thee, that I am not as Other men are,
extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this
publican. 11. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes
of all that I possess. 13. And the publican, standing
afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto
heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be
merciful to me a sinner. 14. I tell you, this man went
down to his house justified rather than the other: for
every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and
he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.'
--LUKE xviii. 1-14.
The two parables in this passage are each prefaced by Luke's
explanation of their purpose. They are also connected by being both
concerned with aspects of prayer. But the second was apparently not
spoken at the same time as the first, but is put here by Luke as in
an appropriate place.
I. The wearisome widow and the unrighteous judge. The similarities
and dissimilarities between this parable and that in chapter xi. 5-8
are equally instructive. Both take a very unlovely character as open
to the influence of persistent entreaty; both strongly underscore
the unworthiness and selfishness of the motive for yielding. Both
expect the hearers to use common-sense enough to take the sleepy
friend and the worried judge as contrasts to, not parables, of Him
to whom Christians pray. But the judge is a much worse man than the
owner of the loaves, and his denial of the justice which it was his
office to dispense is a crime; the widow's need is greater than the
man's, and the judge's cynical soliloquy, in its unabashed avowal of
caring for neither God nor man, and being guided only by regard to
comfort, touches a deep depth of selfishness. The worse he was, the
more emphatic is the exhortation to persistence. If the continual
dropping of the widow's plea could wear away such a stone as that,
its like could wear away anything. Yes, and suppose that the judge
were as righteous and as full of love and wish to help as this judge
was of their opposites; suppose that instead of the cry being a
weariness it was a delight; suppose, in short, that, to go back to
chapter xi., we 'call on Him as Father who, without respect of
persons, judgeth': then our 'continual coming' will surely not be
less effectual than hers was.
But we must note the spiritual experience supposed by the parable to
belong to the Christian life. That forlorn figure of the widow, with
all its suggestions of helplessness and oppression, is Christ's
picture of His Church left on earth without Him. And though of
course it is a very incomplete representation, it is a true
presentation of one side and aspect of the devout life on earth. 'In
the world ye shall have tribulation,' and the truer His servants are
to Him, and the more their hearts are with Christ in God, the more
they will feel out of touch with the world, and the more it will
instinctively be their 'adversary.' If the widow does not feel the
world's enmity, it will generally be because she is not a 'widow
indeed.'
And another notable fact of Christian experience underlies the
parable; namely that the Church's cry for protection from the
adversary is often apparently unheard. In chapter xi. the prayer was
for supply of necessities, here it is for the specific blessing of
protection from the adversary. Whether that is referred to the needs
of the Church or of the individual, it is true that usually the help
sought is long delayed. It is not only 'souls under the altar' that
have to cry 'How long, O Lord, dost Thou not avenge?' One thinks of
years of persecution for whole communities, or of long, weary days
of harassment and suffering for individuals, of multitudes of
prayers and groans sent up into a heaven that, for all the answers
sent down, might as well be empty, and one feels it hard to hold by
the faith that 'verily, there is a God that' heareth.
We have all had times when our faith has staggered, and we have
found no answer to our heart's question: 'Why tarry the wheels of
His chariot?' Many of us have felt what Mary and Martha felt when
'Jesus abode still two days in the place where He was' after He had
received their message, in which they had been so sure of His coming
at once when He heard that 'he whom Thou lovest is sick,' that they
did not ask Him to come. The delays of God's help are a constant
feature in His providence, and, as Jesus says here, they are but too
likely to take the life out of faith.
But over against these we have to place Jesus' triumphant assurance
here: 'He will avenge them speedily.' Yes, the longest delay may yet
be 'right early,' for heaven's clock does not beat at the same rate
as our little chronometers. God is 'the God of patience,' and He has
waited for millenniums for the establishment of His kingdom on
earth; His 'own elect' may learn long-suffering from Him, and need
to take to heart the old exhortation, 'If the vision tarry, wait for
it, for it will surely come, and will not tarry.' Yes, God's delays
are not delays, but are for our profit that we may always pray and
not faint, and may keep alight the flame of the sure hope that the
Son of man cometh, and that in His coming all adversaries shall be
destroyed, and the widow, no longer a widow, but the bride, go in to
the feast and forget her foes, and 'the days of her mourning be
ended.'