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In Luke 18:1-8 the Lord Jesus told the disciples a parable “to the end that they ought always to pray and not lose heart”—v. 1:
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The significance of this parable is profound, and we need to know God as He is revealed here—vv. 7-8.
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The widow in verse 3 signifies the believers; in a sense, the believers in Christ are a widow in the present age because their Husband, Christ, is apparently absent from them—2 Cor. 11:2.
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Like the widow in the parable (Luke 18:3), we believers in Christ have an opponent, Satan the devil, concerning whom we need God’s avenging:
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This parable indicates the suffering we have from our opponent during the Lord’s apparent absence.
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During His apparent absence, we are a widow whose opponent is troubling her all the time.
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While our opponent is persecuting us, it seems that our God is not righteous, for He allows His children to be unrighteously persecuted—1 Pet. 2:20; 3:14, 17; 4:13-16, 19:
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Throughout the centuries, thousands upon thousands of honest and faithful followers of the Lord Jesus have suffered unrighteous persecution; even today many are undergoing unrighteous treatment—Rev. 2:8-10.
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Our God seems to be unjust, since He does not come in to judge and vindicate; because of this situation, the Lord Jesus used an unjust judge to signify God, who does not seem to do anything on behalf of His persecuted people—Luke 18:2-6:
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Our God is a God who hides Himself (Isa. 45:15), as the book of Esther indicates.
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We need to realize that the omnipotent and omnipresent God whom we serve hides Himself, especially when He is helping us—John 14:26; Rom. 8:26.
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We cannot see Him, and apparently, He is not doing anything; actually, in a hidden way He is doing many things for us—vv. 28, 34; Esth. 4:14.
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The widow in the parable kept coming to the unrighteous judge and asking him to avenge her of her opponent; we ought to pray persistently for this avenging and should not lose heart—Luke 18:1, 3:
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When our Husband is apparently absent and we are left on earth as a widow, temporarily our God seems to be an unrighteous judge—v. 6.
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Although He appears to be unrighteous, we still must appeal to Him, pray persistently, and bother Him again and again, for He will carry out quickly the avenging of His chosen ones, who “cry to Him day and night”—vv. 7-8a.
Morning Nourishment
Luke 18:1-3 And He told them a parable to the end that they ought always to pray and not lose heart, saying, There was a certain judge in a certain city who did not fear God and did not regard man. And there was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, Avenge me of my opponent.7 And will not God by all means carry out the avenging of His chosen ones…?
The widow in Luke 18:3 signifies the believers. In a sense, the believers in Christ are a widow in the present age because their Husband Christ (2 Cor. 11:2) is absent from them. In verse 3 the widow asked the judge to avenge her of her opponent. The Greek word rendered "avenge" may also be translated "procure justice for." In this parable the Lord indicates that the believers in Christ have an opponent. This opponent is Satan, the devil, concerning whom we need God's avenging. We ought to pray persistently for this avenging (see Rev. 6:9-10) and not lose heart. (Life-study of Luke, p. 347)
Today's Reading
According to Luke 18:4, the judge for a time would not avenge the widow of her opponent. Then he said within himself, "Even though I do not fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow causes me trouble, I will avenge her, lest by continually coming she wear me out" (vv. 4-5). Following this, the Lord went on to say, "Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God by all means carry out the avenging of His chosen ones, who cry to Him day and night, though He is long- suffering over them? I tell you that He will carry out their avenging quickly. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?" (vv. 6-8). The Lord's word in verse 8 indicates that God's avenging of our enemy will be at the Savior's coming back. Literally, the Greek words rendered "faith" mean "the faith." This denotes the persistent faith for our persistent prayer, like that of the widow. Hence, the faith here is the subjective faith, not the objective faith.We need to realize that as God's people in this stupefied and stupefying generation we are like a widow. In a sense, our Husband, the Lord, is absent. Furthermore, we have an opponent who is constantly persecuting us. The parable in 18:1-8 indicates the suffering we have from our opponent during the Lord's apparent absence. Actually, the Lord is not absent; He is present.
While our opposer is persecuting us, it seems that our God is not righteous, for He allows His children to be unrighteously persecuted. For example, John the Baptist was beheaded, Peter was martyred, Paul was imprisoned, and John was exiled. Throughout the centuries, thousands upon thousands of honest and faithful followers of the Man-Savior have suffered unrighteous persecution. Even today we are still undergoing unrighteous mistreatment. Our God seems to be unjust, since He does not come in to judge and vindicate.
Often we have prayed for God to vindicate us. Yet, many of our co-workers, faithful ones, have been imprisoned and even put to death. Where is the living, righteous God? Why does He tolerate this situation? Why would He not judge those who persecute us? Because of this situation, the Man-Savior in 18:1-8 uses an unjust judge to signify God who does not seem to do anything on behalf of His persecuted people. What shall we do in a situation when we are persecuted and it seems that our God is not living, present, or just? From this parable we learn to be a bothering widow, one who prays to God persistently.
Many times I have become tired of praying for the Lord to vindicate His recovery. It seems that the more I pray for the Lord to vindicate, the less vindication there is…. Nevertheless, I have learned that we need to bother God in prayer, that we should pray to Him persistently without losing heart. (Life- study of Luke, pp. 347-350)
Further Reading: Life-study of Luke, msg. 40