The Persistent Widow (Luke 18:1-8)

Luke 18:1-8 (ESV) 1  And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. 2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. 3 And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ 4 For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’”6 And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. 7 And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? 8 I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

Jesus shares with His disciples on their way to Jerusalem a parable on prayer.  Many of us read this parable and we think that this is encouraging us to pray without ceasing, to not give up and ask again and again and again. But I heard something else today as I was reading...

In Jesus' day they didn't have courthouses. So a judge would travel from town to town and set up his tent and stay in that specific town for a few days then move on to the next town. As soon as people got word that a judge was in town they would swarm his tent with offenses and cases to be added to his docket. As you can imagine his docket would fill up pretty quickly.  The only way that you could get your case before the judge was to bribe the judge's assistants.

With all that in mind this poor widow's chances of being heard by the judge were slim to none. 1.) She was a woman... at that time women were viewed as second class citizens. 2.) She was a widow... so without a husband to stand with her and fight for their case to be heard. 3.) Being a widow would have made her poor.  With these three strikes against her it didn't seem possible for her to get any traction with the judicial system of the day, but that didn't stop her. She was persistent. She came day and night, pleading and begging that her case be heard until finally the judge gave in just to get her to shut up!

I think Jesus gave us this parable not teach us just about the attitude of prayer... but to truly show us contrast.  Lets contrast our situation with God to the widow's situation and the judge.

1.) We don't appear before an unjust judge but a loving Father.  Jesus taught us to pray by saying, "Father...".  Paul took it a step farther in Romans 8:15 when he addresses God by calling Him "Abba" or "Papa".

2.) We appear before God not as strangers but as His children. No matter how important or powerful a person is his children can burst into their presence at any time.  This is the privilege we have as child of the God of the universe.

3.) This woman was a widow... we are the bride of Christ.  That is a big difference.  Jesus laid His life down for His bride.

4.) This widow went alone but we have an Advocate in the Father.  Jesus stands right beside us as our great high Priest.

5.) The widow went to the court of law... but we come to the throne of grace as Hebrews 4:16 tells us.

Prayer should be a joy when we embrace this mindset.