Outline
B
The significance of the parable in Luke 18:1-8 is profound, and we need to know God as He is revealed, as the hidden God:
１
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.
２
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:
ａ
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.
ｂ
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.
３
"When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?"—v. 8b:
ａ
Literally, the Greek words rendered "faith" mean "the faith"; this denotes the persistent faith for our persistent prayer, like that of the widow.
ｂ
The faith through which we were saved is the initial stage of faith; the faith that brought us into a life union with Christ is the linking faith—the faith that comes into us through our contacting the Triune God continually so that we may live by the Son of God—Rom. 1:17; Gal. 2:20; John 14:19.
ｃ
The linking faith is the divine requirement for the overcomers to meet Christ in His triumphant return—Luke 18:8b:
⑴
Linking faith is the Triune God moving in us to link us to His unsearchable riches—Eph. 3:8.
⑵
Linking faith is the faith of the believers who have no trust in themselves; rather, their trust is in God—2 Cor. 1:9.
⑶
When the Lord Jesus returns, He will find a number of overcomers who are living by the linking faith and will regard them as treasures for His kingdom in the thousand years of His reign—Luke 18:8b; Rev. 20:4, 6.
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.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 this parable the Lord indicated 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 should not lose heart.
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 us of our enemy will be at the Savior’s coming back. (Life-study of Luke, p. 337)
Today’s Reading
The Triune God is for man’s enjoyment. Nevertheless, the fallen human race has no concept of this whatever; it has no sense concerning it at all. The people of the world are busy with marrying and giving in marriage, with buying and selling, with planting and building (Luke 17:27-28). They have no thought concerning God being their enjoyment, for they all have been drugged, stupefied. Therefore, in His long journey from Galilee to Jerusalem, the Lord touched this matter a few times. For example, in chapter 14 He told His disciples that they must hate the things of this generation. They even need to hate their own soul-life, for they should hate anything that distracts them from the enjoyment of Christ. In chapter 17 the Lord came to this point again when He spoke about the stupefied generation, which keeps God’s people away from their enjoyment of the divine inheritance. Before He touched this matter again in chapter 18, He unveiled something else that concerns our enjoyment of the jubilee, and this is the persecution that comes from our opponent.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 Lord’s word to His disciples reveals that while we are seeking Him, we need to hate any thing and any matter that frustrate us from our enjoyment of Him. Furthermore, as we are enjoying Him, we will suffer persecution. This persecution comes from our opponent, the one who is the enemy of God and who has become our enemy because we take sides with God.
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. But during His apparent absence, we are a widow whose opposer is troubling her all the time.
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…Even today we are still undergoing unrighteous mistreatment.
When our Husband is apparently absent and we are left on earth as a widow, temporarily our God seems to be an unrighteous judge. Although He appears to be unrighteous, we still must appeal to Him, pray persistently, and bother Him again and again. (Life-study of Luke, pp. 338-339, 341)
Further Reading: Life-study of Luke, msg. 40