May 09 2025

Friday May 09

Luke 18:1-8 – The Story of a Widow

1 Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, 2 saying: "There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. 3 Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, 'Get justice for me from my adversary.' 4 And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, 'Though I do not fear God nor regard man, 5 yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.' " 6 Then the Lord said, "Hear what the unjust judge said. 7 And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? 8 I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?"

Luke 18 is a chapter that has influenced my prayer life as much as any other passage in the Bible. I love Luke chapter 18. We mentioned yesterday how people change our lives, but it's not so much the people themselves, it's the stories from their lives that teach us lessons. We might forget a principle, but we rarely forget a story. That's why Jesus told parables, and why Luke, a compassionate physician who cared about people, wrote about widows and politicians, Pharisees and publicans, children and adults, rich men and beggars. He gave us a rich cast of characters to learn from, showing how God worked in their lives, how He can work in ours, and how He wants us to live, not just to make a living, but to enjoy life as He intended.

This is a powerful story about prayer. Jesus begins this parable by saying that men ought always to pray and not lose heart or quit. Either we're praying, or we're quitting. Luke introduces us to a story Jesus told about a widow, featuring three characters. First, there's a judge in a certain city—an unjust judge who didn't fear God or man. He did what he wanted, was corrupt, and favored his own interests, his party, and his friends. We live in a day in America where it seems we have many unjust judges, though, thank God, we have good ones too. Let's not give up on all of them because of the unjust ones.

Interestingly, Luke mentions widows more than do all the other Gospel writers combined (Luke 2:37-38; 4:25-26; 7:11-17; 18:1-8; 20:45-47; 21:1-4). In that day, widows usually had a difficult time making ends meet, in spite of the care God instructed His people to give them (Ex. 22:22-24; Deut. 14:28-29; 16:9-15; Ps. 146:9; Isa. 1:17, 23; Jer. 7:6). The early church was serious about the care of Christian widows (Acts 6:1; 1 Tim. 5:3-10; James 1:27), a good example for us to follow today.

Then, there's an adversary. The widow said, "Give me justice from my adversary." We are like the widow—hopeless and helpless without someone to stand up for us. In Jesus' time in Palestine, widows had no legal standing. They couldn't go to court themselves, had no husband to represent them, and no money to bribe a judge or court officials. Judges back then moved from place to place, setting up court in a tent. Bodyguards or officials stood at the door, and only those who paid bribes or had the right connections could even see the judge. This widow had no way to get to the judge. All she could do was stand outside, yelling and screaming, "Please avenge me of my adversary."

Jesus tells us this unjust judge is a picture of God, which we'll explore in the coming days. For now, we see that we are like the widow, and our adversary is the devil. He goes about like a roaring lion, deceiving, devouring, stealing, killing, and destroying. This widow had no way to defend herself, and by ourselves, we cannot stand against our adversary, the devil. We need to be sober and vigilant. He makes a lot of noise, making us think we're in big trouble—and we are, if we don't know how to go to our Father in prayer, asking Him to defend us, avenge us, meet our needs, and strengthen us.

That's why every morning, as I walk around our house, after I pray the Lord's Prayer, I pray, "Lord, avenge me of the adversary in my life, in Edith's life," and then I pray for my children and grandchildren by name, other family members, and church members, and their families, asking God to avenge us of the adversary today. We have a God who is willing, ready, and waiting with open arms for us to call on His name to avenge us. What a great lesson. We'll study it in more depth tomorrow. 

We must learn to pray, or we will be overcome by our adversary and will lose heart, faint, and quit. Are you learning to pray?

God bless!