The Unjust Judge and the Widow Who Wouldn't Accept 'No"

Scripture: Luke 18:1-8

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?”

Once spinach was a delicious green leaf and eating it made Popeye strong.  Now through the wonders of modern science, spinach can be a white leaf and Popeye’s already too fat.

But time teaches us that change is inevitable.

Pastor Charles Swindoll said, “We cannot change our past. We cannot change the fact that people act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude.

Jimmy Dean said, “I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.”

From C.S. Lewis, we get “Though our feelings come and go, God’s love for us does not.”  He is unchangeable in His love for us. 

Today’s lesson, based on a short parable about a widow and an unjust judge, urges us to persevere before God, for His love for us never changes.  In our difficulties and even in our blessings, perhaps we give up too soon, and God is waiting to hear from us.  The purpose of today’s lesson is to teach that God honors patience, persistence, and persevering prayer.  In this lesson, persistence is both required and rewarded.

18:1 And He told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. ;¾ This means that prayer should be persistent; we should persevere in prayer.  We are not to faint, meaning not to lose heart or give up. Why? Because there are great rewards, for God always answers with the right answer at the right time!

18:2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. ¾ Jesus tells them there was a judge in a city who didn’t fear God, and didn’t care what others thought of him.

18:3 And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, “Avenge me of mine adversary.”  This widow lady came to him asking for justice with her of her adversary (her enemy).  But he would not for a while. This was the time for persistent prayer to come in.

18:4-5  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.’”  This widow had become such a trial and trouble to this judge, that for his own reasons he decided to give her what she demanded.

Now, this judge thought he had truly made up his mind before, yet, there was another force at work!  He said, Yet because this widow’s persistence troubled him he would act on her behalf.  This meant that the judge honored her request because she continued to come and come, plead and plead, and would not let him rest. She would not be silent!

18:6  And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says.”  But on the other hand, Jesus calls him an "unjust judge." Why?  Because he had no fear of God, and cared even less of what other men said.  He took bribes and gave favors to persons who held position and authority. He didn’t care for conscience or law, even though he was a judge. Jesus told them to hear what the unjust judge said. Let this sink in of what he said of himself.

18:7 And will not God give justice to His elect, who cry to Him day and night?  Will He delay long over them?  ¾ So if he was an evil, unjust judge who was able to be worn down, "Don’t you think that God will surely give justice to His people who plead with Him day and night?"

The point is: God avenges His own elect which means when an enemy is coming against the elect, and the elect perseveres in prayer, crying out day and night, Jesus wants His disciples to know that if a widow goes and receives justice from a wicked unjust judge, how much the loving heavenly Father is there to avenge her adversary.

God is known for being longsuffering with unbelievers coming to Him for salvation, He also bears long with His elect.

18:8  I tell you, He will give justice to them speedily.  Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?”

God will avenge His elect speedily, meaning in His time He will act suddenly, quickly, and without hesitation. But then Jesus asks "will He find faith on the earth" when He returns?  We have building in our society a great tragedy, that few men of faith and prayer will be found when He returns to earth. He’s looking for faith; faithful men and women who persevere in prayer.

Now let’s look at a quick summary here:

You will notice that the Parable starts off with "Men ought always to pray and not faint."  Persistent prayer is required from the saints; we should persevere in prayer. We are not to be faint, meaning not to lose heart or give up.  Why? Because there are great rewards, for God always answers with the right answer at the right time! (18:1).

Jesus goes on to discuss this "judge in a city who didn’t fear God, and neither regarded man" (18:2).

A widow kept coming, wanting justice against her adversary (18:1-3).

The judge didn’t want to.  But even though he didn’t fear God nor man (18:4), yet this judge who thought he had truly made up his mind before, now, there was another force at work!  He said "Yet because this widow troubles me (her persistence troubled him), I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me" (18:5).

This judge honored her request because she continued to come and come; plead and plead, and would not let him rest. She would not be silent! It doesn’t matter how long before the answer. Saints have to be persistent to receive the answer from the One who can give the answer. His reward is great! (18:4-5).

But on the other hand, Jesus calls him an "unjust judge." He had no fear of God, and cared even less of what men said. He took bribes and gave favors to persons who held position and authority. He didn’t care for conscience or law, but even an evil unjust judge was able to be worn down.

Haven’t you run into people like this?  From the context this judge seems to be arrogant, proud and condescending.  Although he probably saw himself as superior to others in every way, there is the chance that others experienced this judge as a kind of knucklehead. 

Right here in Nashville, the past year or so, we’ve had a couple of judges removed from office because they overplayed their hand with their devious ethical behavior.  It became evident that in truth they lacked wisdom.  But we should not be surprised at that, because we read in Proverbs 1:7 that “wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord.”  And again in Job 28:28, “Look, the fear of the Lord is wisdom.”

So if an unjust judge can be turned, Jesus asks, "Don’t you think that God will surely give justice to His people who plead with Him day and night?"  The point is: God avenges His elect who persevere in prayer; crying out day and night when an enemy comes against them (18:7).

His retaliation will be speedily for His elect, meaning in His time He will act suddenly, quickly, and without hesitation. The question Jesus asks "will He find faith on the earth" when He returns? He’s looking for faith, faith that perseveres in prayer (18:8). (18:6-8).

Perhaps another way to put this is that in Christ we are all brothers and sisters, all equal, all deserving of the same love and the same justice.  In Christ, we are all one, so if you mess with one, you mess with us all.  And don’t think the enemy doesn’t understand that.  He does, which is why he is so intent on dividing us, separating us, finding ways to split us up.  But so long as we remain in Christ, he can’t.  We are all one in Jesus Christ, and it is Jesus Christ who tells us that fervent, persistent prayer is important.

          There is a story about former President Ulysses S. Grant, fighting his last campaign with cancer at Mount McGregor, and meeting with General O.O. Howard, who had earned the nickname of “The Christian Soldier”.  Howard spoke for a time with Grant about some of the battles and campaigns of the American Civil War, in which both men had played so well-known a part.

          It is said that Grant listened for a time and then, interrupting him, said, “Howard, tell me what you know about prayer.”  Face to face with death and the mysterious, the question of prayer was of greater interest to the dying former President and General than the reminiscences of his battles.

          Some folks think of prayer as sweet, well-spoken words addressed to God to do our will, a time to present to God our petitions of what we want.  When Jesus spoke of prayer, He suggested what Fred Craddock describes in a sermon titled “Praying Through Clenched Teeth.”

          Prayer is not so much prayer retreats, meditation, or having proper words or posture.  No, according to Jesus, prayer is more like beating on heaven’s door until someone answers.  It is prayer that is so persistent that even the most reluctant finally surrenders because he or she knows the one knocking is certainly not going to give up or give in.  Prayer is the persistent widow!

          Our need with respect to prayer is to see prayer from all angles.  In order for us to understand prayer, we need to remove it from a strictly stained-glass light.  Prayer is us putting on the working clothes of love and mercy in Jesus’ name.

          In the movie “Pat Garrett, Billy the Kid,” Bob Dylan sings the theme song called “Knocking on Heaven’s Door.”  Part of the lyrics go,

“Mama, take this badge off of me

I can’t use it anymore

It’s getting’ dark, too dark to see

I feel I’m knockin’ on heaven’s door.

Knock, knock, knockin’ on heaven’s door.”

          But laying on your deathbed is almost too late to think about knocking on heaven’s door.

          The easiest thing we will ever do is pray, and depending on the context, the hardest thing we will ever do is pray.  Sometimes we just don’t know where to start.  Even one of Jesus’ disciples asked Him, “Lord, teach us to pray.”

          Many people simply give up before they try to pursue some worthy goal.  Prayer takes discipline and persistence.  Too many quit before they get started.  But prayer is one of many Christian disciplines, such as worship, Scripture reading, meditation, service, self-denial, reflection, and fasting.  It is prayer that helps condition or train our inner life so that we can best engage the world as disciples of Jesus.       

          It is often prayer that will keep us from being too timid or shy about doing what Jesus has said we must do.  From prayer we get the boldness to reach out and share the love He shares with us from the Father.

          Jesus knows about our human tendency to give up.  When He was in the Garden of Gethsemane, surrender was one of His own temptations.  In Matthew 26:39 we read, “Then He went a short distance farther and fell on His face and prayed, ‘My Father, if it’s possible take this cup of suffering away from Me.  However – not what I want but what You want.’”

          It is when we are ready to quit, when we are ready to give up, when we are ready to surrender, earnest prayer to God takes the focus off of us and our circumstances and places it squarely on God where it belongs.

          Persistence is the key to so many areas of life.  Whether we are learning to play the piano, taking on school as an adult, trying to overcome an addiction, or digging out of a financial quagmire, persistence is the key.

          I was Jesus who “in His anguish He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground”, it says in Luke 22:44.  Jesus knows about prayer, as do many of you, I believe.

           Remember that the point of Jesus’ parable here is not that persistent prayer guarantees you anything you desire, but rather the parable unmistakably teaches that believers’ prayers are to offset timidity and cowardly resignation in the face of life’s hazards.  But remember the persistent widow, she would not take no for an answer.

          I’m going to ask us to consider once again these verses from Luke 18:1-8, in the light of of these questions:

1.    What does this text say about God?

2.    What does this text say about people?

3.    And what does this text say about the relationship between God and people.

          

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?”

          What are your thoughts God, people, and our relationship?

         

         

          Let us close then by reciting this prayer I’ve passed out.  Our lesson begins with prayer and ends in justice.  So let us close by reciting this prayer from Steven W. Manskar, director of Wesleyan Leadership at Discipleship Ministries, joins these two important concepts.

“God of compassion, You suffer in the grief of Your people, and You are present to heal and forgive.  May the sun of Your justice rise on every night of oppression, and may the warm rays of Your healing love renew each troubled mind; for You are the God of salvation and new life, made known to us in Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.”