Introduction
In entitling this article “The Unjust Judge,” I am using the common description of the parable in Luke 18:1-8. However, the emphasis in the story is on the widow, so perhaps we could better describe it as the Parable of the Determined Widow. We are not left to guess or theorize the purpose of the story. As with the following parable, an explanation of its prime point is supplied, “that men ought always to pray, and not to faint” (v1).1 The widow’s determination and courage make her a mighty illustration of Bible injunctions such as “continuing instant in prayer” (Rom 12:12), “continue in prayer” (Col 4:2) and “pray without ceasing” (1Th 5:17). She stands as an outstanding illustration of the kind of person who would step out and “come boldly unto the throne of grace” (Heb 4:16).
This widow is the fourth of five widows in Luke’s Gospel. The first was speaking; Anna “spake of him” (2:38). The second was serving; the widow of Zarephath was used by God to sustain Elijah (4:25-26). The next was sorrowing, and the Lord Jesus had to dry her tears (7:11-17). Our heroine was supplicating. And the final lady, in her penury with only her two mites, was sacrificing (21:1-4). What lessons can be gleaned from these touching stories!
The Setting
The chapter division obscures the fact that the Lord had been expounding prophetic truth, and the parable extends that teaching; there is the reference at the end to the Son of Man coming (18:8). It seems that its primary interpretation relates to saints of the Tribulation period and their need for persistent supplication in desperate circumstances and amid relentless harassment. Their tenacity is suggested by the fact that they will “cry day and night” (v7). Their need of patience is alluded to in the reference to God bearing long with them (v7). From their point of view the trial will perhaps seem interminable, but from God’s standpoint they will be avenged “speedily” (v8), for time is irrelevant to Him (2Pe 3:8). Praying will preserve them from fainting (v1), and thus when the Son of Man comes in power and great glory, amidst the extensive apostasy and rebellion, He will “find faith on the earth” (v8).
The parable stresses the massive need for earnest persistent prayer on the part of God’s people in these coming horrendous days of tribulation. That is the setting, but there are abiding principles in the story that affect our own lives and promote the earnest prayer that is enjoined in the verses already quoted. Such a prayer life was exemplified in a man like Epaphras, who was “always laboring fervently [agonizing]” for the Colossians (Col 4:12).
The Unjust Judge
The judge’s own admission concurred with the Lord’s description of him: “I fear not God, nor regard man” (Luk 18:2,4). His disregard for God and His laws, and his dismissive and superior attitude to his fellow men, placed him in the line of men like Samuel’s sons who “took bribes, and perverted judgment” (1Sa 8:3). Widows and others in poverty were always the victims of such corrupt practices; “they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right” (Amo 5:12). Judges in Israel were expressly forbidden to take bribes: “Thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift” (Deu 16:18-20). We must lift the principles then: God hates partiality and encourages integrity. The impiety of the judge and his entitled attitude should be “abhorred” (Rom 12:9).
The Adversary
There have always been those who are cold and unfeeling, bereft of any shred of compassion. Although our story is a parable, the attitude of this villain is reflected in a “creditor” in Elisha’s day who would happily have sold a widow’s sons into slavery (2Ki 4:1-7). The passing of the years had not improved the social conscience of the nation. In our Lord’s day the leadership was harsh and callous. Their hypocrisy knew no bounds, to the extent of “devour[ing] widows’ houses” (Mat 23:14).
Taking advantage of the underprivileged is distasteful to the God who is “a father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows” (Psa 68:5). As early as Exodus 22:22 He gave commandment, “Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child.” Treating the underprivileged unkindly is contrary to the nature of Him who voluntarily took His place within a lower stratum of society when “he became poor” (2Co 8:9). So God frowns on people who try to benefit from those who are oppressed and in straitened circumstances. That displeasure extends to the nastiness of “having fun” at the expense of the physically impaired: “Thou shalt not … put a stumblingblock before the blind” (Lev 19:14).
The Widow
We are in the dark about the nature of her grievance, but her appeal for justice seems perfectly legitimate. The judge resisted her pleas. There was no prospect of receiving a gift to color his judgment and sway his verdict, so he ignored her appeals! Eventually, her “continual coming” wore him down (Luk 18:5). Apparently the term “weary me” carries a literal meaning of hitting under the eye, bruising. Obviously she wasn’t literally assaulting him, but her continual knocking his door, accosting him on the street, and turning up at his office felt like a blow to the face every time, and so he relented and passed sentence in favor of this nuisance!
We must never think that his attitude reflects any reluctance on the part of God to bless men. He “giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not” (Jas 1:5). The point is that as far as prayer is concerned, we ought to be as resolute as the widow, “praying always with all prayer” (Eph 6:18). A single request can bring a response, as when Elijah called down fire from heaven (1Ki 18:36-38). On the same day, however, the inference is that he prayed seven times before the clouds appeared (vv42-46). He was persistent. The Lord prayed three times in Gethsemane, “saying the same words” (Mat 26:44). Paul “besought the Lord thrice” (2Co 12:8). These are all examples of those who, like the early apostles, “[gave themselves] continually to prayer” (Act 6:4). If we could replicate the discipline of Daniel’s three-times-a-day appointments with God (Dan 6:10), and Nehemiah’s intimacy with God which allowed him to converse with Him at any time (Neh 2:4-5), we would have caught the lesson that leaps from this parable: “Men ought always to pray, and not to faint.”
1 Bible quotations in this article are from the KJV.
