The judge and the widow. Luke 18:1-8
INTRODUCTION
The persistent widow in this parable is a symbol of
what a Christian is supposed to be in spiritual life. Like the widow, we
might face helplessness, exploitation, suffering, and injustice in this
life. However, God who is the supreme judge will one day resolve our
issues, provided we keep up our trust in him. People who have terminal
illness, disability, or continually facing negativity in life should not
get discouraged. They should trust in the Lord like Lazarus in the
parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus. (Luke 16:19-31). Let us remember
the words of Jesus: “Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute
you and utter every kind of evil against you [falsely] because of me.
Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven. Thus they
persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:11-12).
Bible Text
The Parable of the
Persistent Widow.
Interpretation
(1) Then he told them a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary. He said,
TO PRAY ALWAYS
Jews used to pray
three times daily, four times on Sabbath, and five times on the feast of
Yom Kippur (Sabbath of the Sabbaths). Jesus did not specifically assign
any time for prayer. Instead he said, we must pray always. For Jesus,
besides personal, family, and church prayer, all our activities and
services must be prayer based. Payer without mercy is meaningless for
Jesus (Matthew 9:13). They should go together. Our work should be
service oriented fulfilling the Lord’s prayer: to make the Lord’s name
revered (Holy be your name), to establish the Kingdom of God (Thy
Kingdom come), and to accomplish the will of God (Thy will be done on
earth as it is in heaven).
WITHOUT BECOMING WEARY
The early church went through persecution from Jews
and Romans. At least some members of the suffering and tortured church
felt like their prayers were in vain and that they were not getting
justice on time. However, they had to persist in faith, hope, and
charity. Their persistence was necessary for the survival of the church.
They had to defend their faith until their death or until the second
coming of Christ. God would do justice and bring peace in
due time. It happened with a divine intervention when the Christian
persecution in the Roman empire was ended through conversion and
reformation of the Emperor Constantine in 312 A.D.
This parable can also be applied for innocent
people who are misunderstood as criminals or evil doers. The society,
the media, and the legal system might treat them badly. The prayers of
these innocent might seem unanswered. There would come a time when
justice would be established and those responsible for falsely accusing
them be converted or brought to the justice of God.
There are people who pray for long time for the
conversion of their spouse, child, or anyone dear to them. They might
wonder why God delays in answering prayers for a good cause. St. Monica
persisted in her prayer for around 17 years for the conversion of her
son Augustine and her pagan husband Patricius. Finally, God answered the
prayer and even raising her and her son as saints. A Canaanite woman in
(Matthew 15:21-28) kept on seeking the mercy of Jesus, and she got it. A
sick person at the Bethesda pool waited 38 years for a divine
intervention without losing hope and he got healing from Jesus. (John
5:1-15). A woman who had hemorrhage continued treatment and prayer for
her healing for twelve years (Mark 25:5-34). She also got the healing
from Jesus. During the public ministry of Jesus, he answered the
long-awaited prayers of many sick people. His second coming would
provide consolation for all who are suffering now.
(2) “There was a judge in a certain town who neither feared God nor respected any human being.
A JUDGE IN A CERTAIN TOWN
Jesus
presented an unjust and secular judge to contrast with the heavenly
justice of God. This judge that Jesus took as a typical character in the
parable must be a civil judge who was part of a corrupt social and legal
system. He could be appointed in a village by Herod as part of the Roman
administration.
For Jews, one person alone could not make
judgement. The minimum number of judges required was three in small
villages of less than 120 men. If the number was higher in the village,
they were judged by a Sanhedrin or court of 23 judges. The Great
Sanhedrin in Jerusalem consisting of 71 was the supreme court of Jews.
Thus, there were three classes of courts: The Great Sanhedrin, the
Lesser Sanhedrin, and the Court of Three or Seven. The
head (nasi) of the Sanhedrin or its three members had to duly authorize
and ordain judges. Such judges would be God fearing Jews. Verdict of a
single Jewish judge was considered only as an advice and had no
juridical value.
The qualification of minor judges of Israel are
described in Exodus 18: 13-27. The judges should be “able and
God-fearing men, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain.” (Exodus
18:21). The judge whom the widow approached was just the opposite of
these qualifications because he did not fear God and had no respect for
humans. So, even if the judge in the parable was a Jew, he did not meet
the standards of the Holy Scripture.
NEITHER FEARD GOD
Fear of God in
the Biblical sense is the reverence to God who is our Father. As a
Father we originate from Him and we are under his constant care and
protection. The fear of punishment happens because of our the lack of
reverence or unfaithfulness to God. The method of “the fear of the Lord”
is by keeping all the statutes and commandment of the Lord. (Deuteronomy
6:2). The judge in the parable did not fear God and so it was reflected
in his irresponsible behavior and negligence in duty.
NOR RESPECTED ANY HUMAN BEING
All
people are children of God in His image and likeness. Though all differ
in birth and life situations because of reasons beyond human perception,
all are dear to God. All are called to love, respect, and support one
another, especially the poor. Proverbs 14:31 says: “He who oppresses the
poor taunts his Maker, But he who is gracious to the needy honors Him.”
Concerning the judges of Israel, God instructed: “You must not distort
justice: you shall not show partiality; you shall not take a bribe, for
a bribe blinds the eyes even of the wise and twists the words even of
the just.” (Deuteronomy 16:19). The judge in the parable was not
respecting any of these commandments of the Lord.
(3) And a widow in that town used to come to him and say, ‘Render a just decision for me against my adversary.’
WIDOW
Another character that Jesus
presented was a widow who was a symbol of helplessness in the Biblical
times. Compared to any other books written, the Holy Bible gives
importance to the care and protection of widows. God commanded the
nation of Israel to take special care for widows along with others who
need their care. God commanded through Moses: “You shall not wrong any
widow or orphan. If ever you wrong them and they cry out to me, I will
surely listen to their cry. My wrath will flare up, and I will kill you
with the sword; then your own wives will be widows, and your children
orphans.” (Exodus 22:21-23). Psalm 68:5 presents God as the defender of
the widows. God asked the Israelites to give full participation for
widows in the celebration of the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of
Tabernacles along with their children, slaves, Levites, resident alien,
and orphans. (Deut. 16:11-14).
Jesus, the Son of God, also gave special care for
the widows: He raised the dead son of a widow in the city of Nain (Luke
7:11-17). He spoke high of a poor widow who could offer only two small
copper coins in the Temple treasury. "Truly I say to you, this poor
widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; for they
all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all
she owned, all she had to live on." (Mark 12:42-44). Jesus criticized
the Scribes “who devour widows’ houses. (Luke 20:47). While dying on the
cross, Jesus entrusted his widowed mother to John’s care. (John
19:25-27).
USED TO COME TO HIM
Since the
judge did not do justice to the widow, she had to keep coming to the
judge because she could not find any other means of relief. She knew
that her persistence was the only tool she could use to win justice for
her. Usually, the helpless widows used to get sympathy and public
support when they cried for help. The corrupt judge also was like her
offender doing injustice to her by his negligence. He was committing a
sin of omission.
AGAINST MY ADVERSARY
In our
spiritual life, we are in the position of the helpless widow and the
adversary is the evil one who haunts us to destroy our spiritual life.
We cannot solve the problem by ourselves. Only Jesus can resolve the
issue. We are waiting for the second coming of Christ when the
destruction of the adversary will be complete. We need to constantly
keep praying until that happens.
(4) For a long time the judge was unwilling, but eventually he thought, ‘While it is true that I neither fear God nor respect any human being,
The judge kept his adamant behavior for a long
time. He acknowledged himself that he did not honor God or fear
punishment from God and had no respect for fellow human beings. Such
sinners are worse than those who commit iniquities out of ignorance.
(5) because this widow keeps bothering me I shall deliver a just decision for her lest she finally come and strike me.’”
Though a secular person with no respect for God or
humanity, the judge had to oblige to the widow for his own peace. After
a long inaction, he did justice to the widow because of her persistence
for her rights. He was afraid that his constant negligence and widow’s
persistence would end up a “strike” against him from the public or from
his authorities. If the widow had given up her attempts, she would have
been the loser. In the long run, justice prevails. The same is true in
our spiritual life. If we give up our faith amid our sufferings,
thinking that God ignores our prayers, we would be the losers. We must
be patient for God’s time to come.
(6) The Lord said, “Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says.
Jesus called the attention of his listeners to the decision of the
judge. “Dishonest judge” is an irony. The one who had to punish the
dishonest was himself a dishonest man.
(7) Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them?
A worst judge is contrasted with God, the supreme
goodness and judge of judges. God is the most merciful and just. He is
not slow to answer. He allows the wheat and weed grow together so that
the good won’t be affected by an early destruction of sinners (Matthew
13:24-30). He might also be patiently waiting for the conversion of
sinners so that they also might be saved. "’Do I have any
pleasure in the death of the wicked,’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘rather
than that he should turn from his ways and live?’” (Ezekiel 18:23). God
will do justice in time for those who deserve his mercy. We should not
give up hope because we feel like God is ignoring our pleas. It is not
delay from the part of God, but a period of test to be over for us. The
end will be favorable for the faithful who would be keeping up the trust
in God even amid continued trials.
(8) I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
JUSTICE IS DONE FOR THEM SPEEDILY
When there is calamity and suffering, every minute is long. The
persecuted church and her members were eagerly waiting for the Lord’s
return to save them from the tyranny of persecution. God later saved the
church through the conversion of the Roman Emperor Constantine and his
successors. It was a miraculous intervention of God at an unpredicted
time.
WILL HE FIND FAITH ON EARTH?
The background of this parable is clear from the
last part of chapter 17 of St. Luke. Jesus was teaching on the “Day of
the Son of Man” when he will come to judge the world. “As it was in the
days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man; they were
eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage up to the day that
Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.
Similarly, as it was in the days of Lot: they were eating, drinking,
buying, selling, planting, building; on the day when Lot left Sodom,
fire and brimstone rained from the sky to destroy them all. So it will
be on the day the Son of Man is revealed.” (Luke 17:26-30). We need to
continue our faithfulness to God awaiting his return or our physical
death when justice will be established for the just and punishment for
the adversary in the final judgement or particular judgement.
1. Jesus wants us “to pray always.” (Luke
18:1). That means, we need to make our life a constant act of prayer by
our personal prayer, family prayer, church prayer and dedication of our
life as a sacrificial offering to God and to fellow human beings.
2. Jesus wants us to pray without getting
discouraged because of unanswered prayers. We pray that God’s will be
done because God knows best, and not us.
3. The lady in this parable was weak as a
woman 2000 years ago, and helpless because she was a widow. Some people
exploited her and the irresponsible judge did injustice to her by
ignoring her constant requests for justice. Like the widow in the
parable, we are spiritually weak and helpless. We need Jesus, the final
judge of the universe, to do justice for us. Let us keep up our faith
until the second coming of Christ when Jesus will deliver us completely
from the evil one.
4. The unjust judge in the parable is no
comparison to God; but is a contrast to God. The God of justice
tolerates the unjust allowing them time for conversion. The Lord will
one day come in glory to judge the living and the dead. We are waiting
for that day of final judgement. Let us pray and work for the place of
honor in the Lord’s kingdom in heaven.
5. The unjust judge who was neglecting the
right of a widow was committing a serious sin of omission. Only he could
do justice for her and he was avoiding her because of his lack of fear
of God and respect for fellow humans. Do we also commit such sins of
omission?
6. The widow finally got justice because of
her persistence. If she had given up her hope or repeated attempts, she
would have been the loser. Though we might be suffering for no mistake
of our own, as in the case of Job, there will be a light at the end of
the tunnel. For some, the suffering or disability can be lifelong.
However, there is no suffering or disability in the life after death of
a faithful Christian. So, we should not give up our faith; instead we
need to trust in God, even if we feel like we are unjustly suffering in
this world.
7. This parable is to be understood in the
background of Jesus’ teaching on his second coming. Even if we are
suffering like the widow in the parable with no hope or relief, we must
be patient and keep up our faith until our prayers are answered in this
life, and if not, until the end of our life or until the second coming
of Christ.