Daily Bread 2010 - Luke 18
Luke 18
The Parable of the Persistent Widow
1Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2He said: "In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. 3And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary.'
4"For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, 'Even though I don't fear God or care about men, 5yet 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!' "
6And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"
There is a common theme throughout Luke 18. Those who continue to seek God will find him. Whether it is the persistent widow, the tax collector, the little child or the blind beggar, Jesus honors those who seek Him with all of their hearts. Also, it should be said that each of these persons would have had reasons to not seek Jesus based on their social status. Yet, they break through conventional reasoning to get a hearing from Jesus.
On the contrary, the rich young ruler had every reason to be “in the know” with Jesus. In fact, he even tries to flatter Jesus by addressing him as “good teacher”. Then, as Jesus describes what a true follower looks like, the Rich Man confidently thinks that he makes the grade because he has “kept the commandments”. Jesus exposes his “self righteousness”, by challenging him to sell all that he owns (showing that he missed the first commandment to have no other God!).
Jesus uses a metaphor that is often understood. He says it is harder for a rich man to enter into the kingdom, than for a camel to go through the eye of the needle. You will get in trouble in you try to take this story literally. First of all, it is obvious a camel can’t get through the eye of a needle (though some have to tried to explain how this might have happened!). Secondly, Jesus isn’t necessarily down on rich people, just those who riches are more important than Him.
So what does all this mean then? It means that all the others had true riches because they realized their own poverty. As they sought Jesus in humility, each in their particular condition (the widow, the child, the hated tax collector, the blind man), they became truly rich. Whereas the Rich Man learned if he wanted to be truly rich, he needed to serve only one Master, for he could not serve both God and money.
Prayer: Gracious God help us all to realize our spiritual poverty, so in humility we might approach you appropriately. Give us the tenacity of the widow, the faith of little children, the humility of the tax collector, and the boldness of the blind man. We know you will reward those who seek you with all of their heart. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
The Parable of the Persistent Widow
1Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2He said: "In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. 3And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary.'
4"For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, 'Even though I don't fear God or care about men, 5yet 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!' "
6And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"
There is a common theme throughout Luke 18. Those who continue to seek God will find him. Whether it is the persistent widow, the tax collector, the little child or the blind beggar, Jesus honors those who seek Him with all of their hearts. Also, it should be said that each of these persons would have had reasons to not seek Jesus based on their social status. Yet, they break through conventional reasoning to get a hearing from Jesus.
On the contrary, the rich young ruler had every reason to be “in the know” with Jesus. In fact, he even tries to flatter Jesus by addressing him as “good teacher”. Then, as Jesus describes what a true follower looks like, the Rich Man confidently thinks that he makes the grade because he has “kept the commandments”. Jesus exposes his “self righteousness”, by challenging him to sell all that he owns (showing that he missed the first commandment to have no other God!).
Jesus uses a metaphor that is often understood. He says it is harder for a rich man to enter into the kingdom, than for a camel to go through the eye of the needle. You will get in trouble in you try to take this story literally. First of all, it is obvious a camel can’t get through the eye of a needle (though some have to tried to explain how this might have happened!). Secondly, Jesus isn’t necessarily down on rich people, just those who riches are more important than Him.
So what does all this mean then? It means that all the others had true riches because they realized their own poverty. As they sought Jesus in humility, each in their particular condition (the widow, the child, the hated tax collector, the blind man), they became truly rich. Whereas the Rich Man learned if he wanted to be truly rich, he needed to serve only one Master, for he could not serve both God and money.
Prayer: Gracious God help us all to realize our spiritual poverty, so in humility we might approach you appropriately. Give us the tenacity of the widow, the faith of little children, the humility of the tax collector, and the boldness of the blind man. We know you will reward those who seek you with all of their heart. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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