The Parable of the Persistent Widow is definitely one of the many important lessons given by our Lord Jesus. The passage begins with the thesis statement in verse one, “he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart”. The Lord gave this parable after giving the disciples a somewhat cryptic saying in Luke 17 about the coming kingdom. There, we hear a slight hint of uneasiness in the tone of the question the disciples gave Him when they finally responded, “Where, Lord?”. After the many things the Lord Jesus said about the nature of His kingdom, about His coming, all they can utter are those two words, “Where, Lord?”.
These two words show us a picture of the disciples’ seriousness and eagerness pertaining to the sayings of our Lord, trying to make sense of it all. Their question echoes the sentiment of their hearts, “Where do we go Lord, what do we do?”. These are probably very similar words you hear from children who have been introduced to an entirely new thing.
I remember very well from computer shops when the younger kids who just discovered the game I was good at would try to navigate the game by themselves and fail. There I would go to their rescue, as if a hero, telling them what they needed to do, teaching them the strategies, of the right materials to build for a specific situation, the technicalities of the game, they would then say, “Inig human kuya? Unsa may akong buhaton?” Now, this analogy, I confess, might fall short in mirroring the situation of the disciples, but my hope is that it captures the picture of dependence and their eagerness.
So here they are, given the parable that they (and we) may “always pray and not lose heart,” this also as a continuation of Jesus’ answer to their request in Lk 11:1 “Lord, teach us to pray” where Jesus taught them the Lord’s prayer, the contents of their prayer, to persevere in prayer (to ask, to seek, to knock), trusting that the Father in heaven is good and will freely give the Holy Spirit to whoever asks. Now this is given by Jesus as a way of preparing their hearts for what is to come (vv. 31-34), that they may not “lose heart” or have their “hearts fail”.
As our Lord Jesus began His parable, He straight away gave the character of the judge involved in the story:
- Does not fear God
- Does not respect man
In simple words, though this judge is expected to be a servant of justice is nevertheless corrupt; he is wicked. This judge has no moral standards that he adheres to, nor a higher authority is afraid of. He is his own god, he is his own judge, blinded by his power, though he might not say this out loud. He probably sees himself to be higher and more righteous than the others. He is as corrupt as it gets. Funny enough, though this may only be a parable, we hear of people who are like this in real life. And friends, I want you to understand lest you fall into a delusion that this kind of heart is merely fictional, no, it is not. We all have the same tendency and sinful flesh and incline ourselves to be the same; the same fallen nature dwells in all of us; we, too, must be vigilant not to walk in such attitudes.
In continuation, we are given the second character, the widow. Widows are generally perceived as vulnerable, weak, even poor. We can see that it is only natural for her to seek the help of those who are in authority, and this widow does exactly that. Verse 3 mentions that this widow “kept coming” to the judge saying, “Give me justice against my adversary.” Now, we are given a context that the lady has an adversary, an enemy, an opponent. We are not given a context by our Lord of whatever it may be; we can only speculate. Now remember that the focus is not on what her adversary has done or what it is, but it is on her persistence.
Our Lord continues to emphasize in verse 4 that “For a while he refused,” but eventually “he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming. Jesus continues to say “Hear what the unrighteous judge says …” and before we continue in verses 7 and 8, let us do just that. Let us unpack what the unrighteous judge said and what made him do it.
“For a while he refused”, remember the widow, she “kept coming” and requested “justice”. Notice that it wasn’t really conviction, it wasn’t righteousness that moved him. For us Filipinos, we have this saying, “Walang matigas na tinapay sa mainit na kape.” It literally means what it says: no bread, no matter how hard it has become, can remain in that state when constantly exposed and dipped in that hot coffee.
Now you ask, is this not the same “Ask, seek, knock” thing our Lord has given? Yes. But dear reader, look at the heart’s posture of the widow. She keeps on coming, not moved by the intimidation of the judge’s character but knowing that he who is a judge will do his job, so she persists. See now, the words of the unrighteous judge, that though he has no regard for God nor man, because the widow keeps “bothering” him. No one is bothered by a mere tap on the shoulders and a mere smile from a stranger, but when it is consecutive, when it is consistent, our emotions are stirred, sighs are burned, and jaws are clenched. Finally, he gives her what she wants.
Now consider this: if a corrupt, godless judge can be moved to act out of sheer persistence, how much more will our righteous, loving Heavenly Father respond to the cries of His children?
Brothers and sisters, now listen to verses 7-8, Jesus says, “And will not God give justice to His elect, who cry to Him day and night? I tell you, He will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?”
You are not a mere stranger to God, you are not a mere neighbor to God, you are not a mere afterthought to God, you are not a client of God, you are not His mere employee, you are His child (John 1:12-13). Also remember with soberness, that God is not a mere stranger, He is not your genie that does your bidding, He is not your mere neighbor, He is not a mere thought, He is not your client, nor is He your employee, He is your Father.
O that the sweetness of that reality and truth, dear Christian, abide in you continually. You belong to His family. His thoughts for you outnumber the sands on the shore (Ps. 139:17-18). You were redeemed and bought by the precious blood of His Son, Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:18-19). You are sealed by the Holy Spirit (Eph 1:13). Loved by your Heavenly Father, in whom there is no partiality. You are no less loved by God than He has loved the first disciples to the great preachers of old. He has branded you. You are kept by the great Shepherd of the flock; no one can pluck you out of His hands (Jn 10:27-29). He foreknew you, predestined you, called you, justified you, and will glorify you (Romans 8:29-30).
O that we would be overcome by the great and immeasurable depths of God’s love for us in Jesus Christ our Lord died that we might live. If He has not withheld, gave Him up for us all, ask your doubting soul the very same question Paul asks, “How will He not graciously give us all things?”. His love stops at nothing. He will restore you, He will empower you, He will sustain you, and gloriously make you to be like Christ. Now, dear brother or sister, I could go on and on and pass from exhaustion and still not bleed dry the riches of the promises of our Father that we receive in Christ Jesus. Nevertheless, all of them remain true for you.
To not pray is but to grieve the heart of our Father, to not pray is to starve the Spirit, to not pray is to be unbelieving in the words of our Lord Jesus. Prayer is most essential, dear Christian. May the most trained member of our body be our knees, our hands clasped, heads bowed, hearts humble before God. Prayer is God’s means for us to commune with Him. The question then is why should this not be one of the primary concerns of our souls?
Charles Spurgeon, the prince of preachers, once said, When he was asked, 'What is more important: Prayer or Reading the Bible?’ I ask, “What is more important: Breathing in or out?”. Prayer is the humble disposition of the heart saying, “My God, you are God, and I your servant”. This is our priestly duty. We are closer to Christ than when we go in prayer. Our Lord Himself often slipped away and prayed, O that we would ponder on that glorious sight - our Lord on His knees in prayer.
"The God to whom we pray is nearer to us than the very prayer itself before it leaves the heart." George MacDonald
You are assured, dear brother and sister, that your prayers do not fall in deaf ears nor are your afflictions left unseen. He is the El Roi, The God Who Sees, and the God who hears. Our Father delights in attending to our needs, He knows it but what makes it special is that He bids us to come and lay it down not for Him but for us. Though we are shortsighted that we often are frustrated that our prayers do not manifest in the way we want it to be. Travail in prayer. Press on. In the number of words that our souls could muster, in the silence we trust only the Holy Spirit could groan for us. We can rest assured that He will do that which is good for us and for His own glory. Pray, dear Christian, pray, for your Father in heaven hears and delights in the calls of His children. May it be that when the Son of Man comes, He will find us in faith, praying, eagerly, joyously, awaiting Him and desiring only nothing but Him.
May the parable of our Lord Jesus persuade our ever-doubtful hearts, strengthened and erected, we are called to pray not only for ourselves but also to intercede for others. We who are recipients of love ought to return it to the Giver, and to others who need it.
“… pray that you may not lose heart.”
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Member of MCF-Cebu