Season of Kaitha
Seventh Sunday: Luke 18:1-8
INTRODUCTION
The persistent widow in this parable is a
symbol of what a Christian must be in the 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 a 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 people insult you
and persecute you and speak all kinds of evil against you because you
are my followers. Be happy and glad, for a great reward is kept for you
in heaven. This is how they persecuted the prophets who lived before
you.” (Matthew 5:11-12).
BIBLE TEXT
(Luke 18:1) Jesus told
them a parable to show them that they should pray continually and not be
discouraged. (2) He said, “In a certain town there was a judge who
neither feared God nor had respect for people. (3) In the same town was
a widow who kept coming to him, saying: ‘Give me justice against my
opponent.’ (4) For a time he refused, but finally he thought, ‘Even
though I neither fear God nor care for what people say, (5) this widow
bothers me so much that I will see that she gets justice; otherwise she
will keep on coming and wear me out.’” (6) And Jesus said, “Listen to
what the unjust judge says. (7) Will not God do justice for his chosen
ones who cry to him day and night even if he delays in answering them?
(8) I tell you, he will speedily do them justice. Yet, when the Son of
Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
INTERPRETATION
(Luke 18:1) Jesus told them a parable
to show them that they should pray continually and not be discouraged.
They should
pray continually.
The 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 assign any time for prayer. Instead, he
said we must pray always. For Jesus, besides personal, family, and
church prayer, we must base all our activities on prayer. Payer without
mercy is meaningless (Matthew 9:13). They should go together. Our works
should be towards 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).
Not be discouraged
The early church went
through persecution from the Jews and Romans. At least some members of
the persecuted 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 existence of
the church. They had to defend their faith until death or until the
second coming of Christ. God would do justice and bring peace in time.
It happened with a divine intervention of the Emperor Constantine’s
conversion in 312 A.D. He stopped the Christian persecution in the Roman
empire.
This parable applies for innocent people
misunderstood as criminals or as evil doers. The society, the media, and
the legal system might mistreat them. The prayers of these innocent
might seem unanswered. There would come a time when Jesus will provide
justice. Those making false accusations will have conversion, or God
would bring them to justice.
There are people who
pray for a 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 worthy cause. St. Monica persisted in her prayer for 17
years for the conversion of her son Augustine and her pagan husband
Patricius. Finally, God answered her prayer and even raised Monica and
her son Augustine as saints. A Canaanite woman (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). Another woman who had
a hemorrhage continued treatment and prayer for twelve years. Jesus
healed her (Mark 25:5-34). During the public ministry of Jesus, he
answered the long-awaited prayers of many sick people. His second coming
would give consolation for all who are suffering now.
(2) He said, “In a certain town there
was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people.
In a certain town there was a judge.
He is not a Jewish
judge. For Jews, one person alone could not pronounce a judgement. The
minimum number of judges required was three in villages of less than 120
men. If the number was higher in the village, they had more judges in
the team. Thus, there were three classes of courts: (1) The Great
Sanhedrin in Jerusalem comprising over 70 was the supreme court (2) the
Lesser Sanhedrin of 23 judges, (3) the Court of Three or Seven. The head
(nasi) of the Sanhedrin or its three members had to authorize and ordain
judges. Such judges would be God-fearing Jews. Verdict of a single
Jewish judge had the value of an advice only.
Exodus 18: 13-27 describes Israel’s minor
judges’ qualifications. They should be “God-fearing and reliable men who
hate a bribe.” (Exodus 18:21). The judge whom the widow approached had
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 feared God
Nor respected any human being
(3) In the same town was a widow who
kept coming to him, saying: ‘Give me justice against my opponent.’
Widow
Jesus, the Son of God, also gave exceptional
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. “But a poor widow also
came and dropped in two small coins, the equivalent of a penny. Then
Jesus called his disciples and said to them, ‘Truly I say to you, this
poor widow has put in more than all those who gave offerings. For all of
them gave out of their abundance, but she gave from her poverty and put
in everything she had, her very living.’” (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).
A widow who kept coming to him
Against my opponent
(4) For a time he refused, but finally
he thought, ‘Even though I neither fear God nor care for what people
say…’
The judge kept his adamant behavior for a
long time. He acknowledged to himself that he did not fear God or the
public opinion. Such sinners are worse than those who commit iniquities
out of ignorance.
(5) This widow bothers me so much that
I will see that she gets justice; otherwise she will keep on coming and
wear me out.
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 feared that his constant negligence and
the 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. Eventually the justice prevailed. The
same is true in our spiritual life. If we give up our faith amid our
sufferings, thinking God ignores our prayers, we would be the losers. We
must wait for God’s time to come.
(6) And Jesus said, “Listen to what the
unjust judge says.”
Jesus called his listeners’ attention to
the judge’s decision. “Unjust judge” is an irony. The one who had to
punish the dishonest was himself a dishonest person.
(7) Will not God do justice for his
chosen ones who cry to him day and night even if he delays in answering
them?
Jesus contrasts a worst judge with God, the
supreme goodness, and a judge of the judges. God is the most merciful
and just. He is quick to answer. God allows the wheat and weed to grow
together so an early destruction of sinners will not affect the good
(Matthew 13:24-30). He is waiting for the conversion of sinners so he
can save them. “‘Do I want the death of the sinner?’ says the Lord. ‘Do
I not rather want him to 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 for us. The end
will be favorable for the faithful who would keep up the trust in God
even amid continued trials.
(8) “I tell you, he will speedily do
them justice. Yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on
earth?”
He will speedily do them justice.
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 will it be on the day the Son of Man comes. Then
people ate and drank; they took husbands and wives. But on the day Noah
entered the ark, the flood came and destroyed them all. It will be the
same as it was in the days of Lot: people ate and drank, they bought and
sold, planted and built. But on the day Lot left Sodom, God made fire
and sulfur rain down from heaven which destroyed them all. So will it be
on the day the Son of Man is revealed.” (Luke 17:26-30). We should
continue our faithfulness to God until his return or our physical death,
when he will establish justice for the just and punishment for the
adversary in the last judgement.
MESSAGE
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 any unanswered prayers. We pray that God’s will
be done because God knows best, and not us.
3. The lady in this parable was socially 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
supreme judge of the universe, to do justice for us. Let us keep up our
faith until Christ’s second coming, when Jesus will deliver us 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 last 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 the widow was committing a serious sin of omission. Only he
could do justice for her, and he was avoiding her. 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 suffer for no mistake of our
own, as with 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. We should understand this parable 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 God answers our prayers in this
life, and if not, until the end of our life or until the second coming
of Christ.