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This week we conclude our study of Luke chapter 17 and commence Chapter 18. Please read verses 17:25-37 and 18:1-8 every day this week and, if possible, use a different translation each day, asking God to open your eyes to fresh revelation from His Word.
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Luke 18:1-5 (NIV)
‘Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care about men yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!’”’
Anyone who has ever travelled any distance in a car with small children will be more than familiar with the next phrase: “Are we there yet?” I suppose that it doesn’t really matter how far the distance is to travel or the length of time it takes to get there, children don’t have the proper understanding of time and travel. 5 minutes to them seems to be an eternity when they want to get somewhere. For example, the excitement of going on holiday is the only thing in their minds and the journey there is an inconvenience. Every mile that is travelled seems to last forever when you’re constantly bombarded with “Why aren’t we there yet, you said we’d be there soon”. Playing games and singing songs distracts them for a time but eventually they’ll come back with the incessant “Are we there yet?”
In our verses today, there doesn’t seem to be an obvious connection between the previous chapter and this one. However, I think that Luke, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit records these 2 parables here in Chapter 18 in order to give us a valuable understanding of two aspects of prayer: We are to persevere in prayer and we are to maintain a spirit of humility.
We will look at the second parable next week, but for the rest of this week, we will look at the first parable that is divided into two distinct sections. Unusually, Luke writes the reason for the parable right at the start: ‘To show…that they should always pray and not give up’. It really is a story of perseverance in prayer.
The last chapter was all about the Christ’s return and our preparation for that event. It dealt with our attitude, our motives, our obedience and our willingness to let go of anything and everything that could hold us back. The disciples would have heard this and like many of our ancestors, firmly believed that His return could happen at any time. As I mentioned earlier this week, I believe that we have lost something of the anticipation of His return and perhaps as a result have become complacent in many areas of our lives. The excitement for His return and the anticipation of His coming has waned over the years. We’re no longer like the children in the car and we’ve stopped asking the “Are we there yet?” questions.
Jesus wants us to have that same kind of persistence and perseverance in our prayers and in our relationship with Him. The Lord may return in our lifetime but also it’s possible that He may not. We may see the fruition of our prayers and we may not. His position as the perfect judge is unchanged by time or circumstance. Please don’t understand the teaching in this parable. It doesn’t teach us that God will relent if we put enough pressure on Him. Luke’s introduction makes this absolutely clear: It’s all about our attitude to prayer. Pray earnestly and don’t give up. Rest in Him and leave the outcome to Almighty God.
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