The Gospel of Luke: The Kingdom and the Persistent Woman - Video

““And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ For a while he refused, but afterward 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.’” And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”” ‭‭Luke‬ ‭18‬:‭1‬-‭8‬ ‭ESV‬‬ Widows in Jesus's day would have been particularly isolated, and context indicates the widow in this story had no male family to offer her support- no husband, but also no brothers, no father, nor grandfather. Jesus uses this parable to instruct His church to handle troublesome days: to keep praying without losing heart. Luke gives us a bleak picture for the widow. She had no choice but to appear before a judge on her own behalf: she has no family to advocate for her. But to make matters worse - this judge is wholly unrighteous. But this widow is able to break this judge and get the mercy and justice she needed. Her persistence alone causes the unrighteous judge to relent. Jesus directs the church to exercise this same persistence. And how much more will the righteous judge care for His children? Persistence in God is all we will ever need - the unrighteous judge's phrase “beat down” in the Greek is an image of someone punching an opponet over and over until the opponent gives up. The widow with no real power wins just because she just keeps showing up. If her persistence makes the unrighteous judge give in, how much more will our persistence work with a righteous judge who also longs to bring us justice and mercy and grace and salvation? Persistence in God is all we will have when it is all said and done - this is a warning to keep praying, keep persisting and not lose heart. When we experience the terrible things in the world, it can be heavy. And Jesus asks “can I find any faith in all the earth?” He has unbelievers in mind, of course, but He’s speaking to His disciples. It’s easy for believers to fall into a series of functional unbelief. Going to service, but never going to meet God there. The lord wants the unbelievers to turn to him, but also the persistent believers to have faith through His physical absence. This woman is alone, and without power. And yet she showed up, each day delivering a single punch to the judge. She didn’t quit on the first attempt, nor the 100th. But eventually… she did win. Jesus is coming back, and He’s coming back for those who are still praying, still loving our neighbors, still blessing our enemies, and not losing heart.