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The Widow and the Judge Luke 18:1-8 Introduction Ø Draw attention to text Ø Society has twisted prayer from Jesus’ teaching o Contemplation of a tree o Positive thinking o Art appreciation o The desire to pray Ø Journey to Barnes and Noble o Two books that did not immediately appear to be in error o Some noteworthy books: § Prayer by Richard Foster from APU § Book jacket – “The truth of the matter is, we all come to prayer with a tangled mess of motives – altruistic and selfish, merciful and hateful, loving and bitter. Frankly, this side of eternity we will never unravel the good from the bad, the pure from the impure. But what I have come to see is that God is big enough to receive us with all our mixture. We do not have to be bright, or pure, or filled with faith or anything.” § Our only responsibility in prayer is to be there, and no effort is required on our part. § Pages 13-14 – “An opposite but equally important counsel is to let go of trying to pray too hard…Some people work at the business of prayer with such intensity that they get spiritual indigestion…The desert mothers spoke of the sin of ‘spiritual greed,’ that is, wanting more of God than can properly be digested.” § “When you have had enough, tell God simply, ‘I must have a rest; I have not strength to be with you all the time.’ This, by the way, is perfectly true, and God knows that you are still not capable of bearing His company continuously.” § The Power of Prayer edited by Dale Salwak § Back cover of book – “There is extraordinary power in prayer. Testimony to this truth comes from every era, every belief system, every walk of life. Too often, however, people don’t understand how to put prayer to work for them.” Ø Prayer has been misunderstood in our contemporary culture, and a return to the biblical teaching on prayer is much needed Ø Context: o This parable immediately follows Jesus’ discourse on His second physical appearance on earth. o There will be false teachers and false christs (vv. 22-23) o Foretells His suffering and death o The decline of society to the state of the days of Noah (vv. 26-27) o All of this is a response to the question of the Pharisees about the sign of the coming of the Kingdom (v. 20) o There is a mixed crowd: disciples, tax collectors, Pharisees, and others o After hearing about the downgrade of society, Jesus intends to encourage them, and thus we come to this text Ø Read text Proposition: The theme of this text, and what I want you to see this morning, is that God hears and answers the persistent prayers of His elect. God hears and answers the persistent prayers of His elect. Lead-in #1 To see how this persistence in prayer is effective, Jesus tells a parable. As a preface to the parable itself, Luke gives us an explanatory note, which is the… I. Purpose of the parable (v. 1) A. Men should pray at all times B. Men should not lose heart 1. We ought to pray at all times so that we do not lose heart 2. Praying at all times and losing heart are contrasted 3. We should never get to the point where we would faint or lose heart C. Isaiah 40:28-31 1. God is full of power and never tires (v. 28) 2. God gives strength to the weary (v. 29) 3. Youths and strong men stumble and fall (v. 30) 4. The man who waits on the Lord is promised to receive His strength (v. 31) D. Luke wants to give us the same encouragement – we should eagerly seek the Lord in prayer, realizing that this will prevent us from fainting in the evil days which have just been foretold in chapter 17. Lead in #2: Seeing that the purpose of the parable is that men should pray at all times, we now come to… II. The People of the Parable A. The judge (vv. 2, 6) – a magistrate, a judge of the people who heard public cases and grievances, so it was not uncommon for people from all different walks of life to come before this kind of judge for some legal action or ruling. This judge has three different traits: 1. He does not fear God (v. 2) – he was one who ruled his own life, probably corruptly accepting bribes for his judgments. He answered only to himself and did not feel compelled to act based on moral principles. 2. He does not respect man (v. 2) – no compassion Note: These traits are repeated in verse 4, thus showing that the judge lives this way purposely. He openly admits his lifestyle and disregard for all others, including God and men. The emphasis is that this judge is cold, hard-hearted, and self-centered. 3. He is unrighteous (v. 6) – he is a man of the world, who is prolific at sinning. He is cruel, cold, callous, and carnal B. The widow (v. 3) 1. Very little is known about this woman 2. The one thing that is known is that she was helpless 3. Women without a husband were helpless in this society, which is why the Bible so often exhorts the people to care for the widows, who had no other source of help 4. Her adversary may be such a person who takes advantage of her helpless state Lead-in #3 Now that we know the people of the parable, let’s look at… III. The Problem in the Parable (vv. 3b-5) A. The persistence of the widow (v. 3) 1. she continually comes to the judge 2. She continually comes to the judge with a specific request in mind 3. She continually comes to the judge resolutely B. The resistance of the judge (v. 4) – he refused for a while C. The allowance of the judge (v. 4-5) 1. The judge gives in because the woman would have brought him to the point of being beaten down, or knocked out 2. Her persistence utterly wore him down 3. He gives in, not out of compassion, but because he is tired of hearing the widow’s complaint and is worn out by her persistence Lead in #4 Having seen the overall purpose of the parable, that we should always be in prayer, and having met the people and seen the problem, we now come to… IV. The Point of the Parable (vv. 6-8) A. Ways Jesus makes a point with parables: 1. By comparison – two objects that are alike are compared 2. By contrast – two objects that are not alike at all are contrasted B. The Unrighteous Judge (v. 6) 1. Hear what this judge said who is absolutely unrighteous 2. Hear what this judge said who had a burdensome relationship with this woman, if he had a relationship with her at all 3. Emphasis falls on the word “unrighteous” 4. How much more would a righteous judge be willing to help such a just cause?? C. The Righteous Judge – God (vv. 7-8) 1. The character difference 2. The relationship difference a. God enjoys us, the judge did not enjoy the widow b. God loves us, the judge grew to hate the widow c. God delights in us, the widow was a burden to the judge d. God takes pleasure in our persistence, the judge was annoyed by her persistence e. Marcus Rainsford: “We are taught that prayer is not intended to move the heart of God – no need for that. The Lord will have His people pray, in order that they may assure their own hearts, by bringing their need, their difficulties, and their cases before Him whom they have been taught to know as able and willing to help them.” 3. The advocate difference – the widow was on her own, but we have Christ seated at the right hand of the Father, pleading our case 4. The time difference – the widow could only come once a day, we can come whenever and however often we want, even “day and night” D. An illustration from Daniel 10:2-13 1. vv. 2-3 – Daniel is fasting and praying continuously for three weeks. He realizes the desperate situation Israel is facing with the Persians 2. vv. 4-9 – A vision of the pre-incarnate Christ 3. vv. 10-12 – from the first day Daniel prayed God had heard his cry, and was sent because of Daniel’s prayer 4. v. 13 – the angel was withstood by a demon. Daniel’s prayers set in motion a spiritual conflict in the heavenly places. Daniel was unaware of this and continued to pray to God, all the while his prayers were being heard and answered 5. This ought to encourage us to pray all the more! When we ask, “Why isn’t my prayer being answered?” the answer may be because there is real spiritual warfare going on in the heavenly places, so keep on fighting from your knees, lifting up your prayers to God. E. An illustration from Ephesians 6:12, 18 1. v. 12 – our struggle is not against flesh and blood 2. v. 18 – we are to keep alert with all perseverance, praying for all the saints with the spiritual battle in mind, and praying to the end that we might be victorious over those spiritual forces of darkness F. The Answered Prayers (v. 8) 1. Justice is coming for the elect who continually cry out to God, and when it comes, it will come speedily 2. True faith on earth will continue to dwindle. When the Son of Man comes, it will be like Noah’s day, when there were 8 souls saved, or like Sodom and Gomorrah, when there was one family saved. 3. When He does come, the elect’s prayers will be fully answered, and justice will indeed come swiftly and speedily. Conclusion Therefore, let us be encouraged to be persistent in prayer! Let us not lose heart and faint because the days are evil, but let us make good use of our time. We ought to always pray, and we should never faint. The way we pray should be like the persistent widow who came day after day seeking what she needed from the judge. Let us not be like John Donne who said, “I throw myself down in my chamber, and I call in, and invite God…thither, and when [He] is there, I neglect God…for the noise of a fly, for the rattling of a coach, for the whining of a door.” Let’s not get into prayer and then forget that we’re praying and get distracted by every little thing that goes on around us, like a buzzing fly, or a squeaky door, or the air conditioning turning on, or a car driving by. Vance Havner said, “The problem is that the situation is desperate, but we’re not.” Let us be desperate in our prayers. [Home page] [ ]
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