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Intro and verse 1
Today we are introduced to two parables which are linked together by prayer.
But with that said it is also linked to what Jesus said before in Luke 17.
When it says here in the NIV, “then Jesus told”, it is more clear in the Greek.
The translation is more: “So, then, following on from this we must be those who always pray”.
What was Jesus speaking of before but His return.
We are to be those who keep on praying until He returns no matter how long He is delayed.
The issue was that Christians were beginning to wonder when He will return and Jesus foresaw this and gave us this parable to grasp it.
Whilst there is a delay when Jesus returns it will be suddenly like lightning.
From the outset the point is we must pray and not give up before receiving an answer from God.
We need to notice what it says in verse 1 about prayer.
The Greek word δει is very important to Luke using it 41 times in Luke and Acts.
This word led to a conversation I had with a Roman Catholic nun about
Here the NIV translates it correctly as must be saved.
The nun I spoke of tried to argue with me that it is ‘should’.
Should and must have different emphases.
Should can be that there are other options but must does not give any other option.
So, in verse 1, when the NIV says we should pray and it is the same word in Greek we know has to be translated as ‘must’.
We must pray.
It is necessary to pray.
In fact, God requires us to pray.
There is no option, no get out clause.
In the same way that Salvation is only through Jesus, the outworking of our salvation must be through prayer.
The case Jesus is making is that we must pray and keep on doing so.
2-5
This parable is very easy to understand but we should see some of the background for the society we are in is not the same as it was back then.
The first requirement for a judge in Israel was that he feared God.
We see this in
But this judge did not fear God and couldn’t care less about other human beings.
How he became a judge, who knows.
All he was interested in was himself and this informed his morality.
And this made it bad for widows in this society.
They were the most oppressed and defenceless in these times and were often taken advantage of.
This woman was probably like Luke says in chapter 20 a victim of fraud and she wanted justice to restore what she had before.
Clearly she was poor and could not bribe the judge, she had no one else to help her but these things did not stop her.
She did not just approach the judge in court but wherever else she could get access to him whether in the street, in the market and at his home.
She forced him to take notice.
It was easier to give in than to let her keep on coming and disturb all the other things that this man wanted to do.
He felt he was under attack and this would have left an impression on others who saw this.
The judge had met his match.
The language here is that she metaphorically gave the judge a black eye.
6-8
Now, this is really important - God is NOT like this judge.
This is extremely important to grasp - this parable is about contrast.
They are opposites just like in a colour table: Yellow is the opposite of Purple, Green the opposite of Red, White the opposite of Black and so on.
In the Old Testament in 1 King 18 we have the Priests of Baal and Elijah battling for the hearts and minds of Israel.
Whom shall you serve? was the question.
They got no answer, of course.
But you see the relevance.
We are not trying to wake God up; He will not hear us because we scream and shout but Elijah prayed a simple prayer and God answered with fire out of Heaven.
This is our God.
Our God does not have to be forced.
Our God cares about justice, He cares about human beings.
And He has a special place in His heart for His chosen ones who are made in His image and redeemed by the blood of the lamb.
It is important that we get it clear.
We are not to imagine that our fervent prayers will some how accumulate to a point where God can no longer ignore us.
God is not like the unjust judge.
C. Samuel Storms poses some relevant questions in his book Reaching God’s Ear that we can use to evaluate our prayer lives.
• Do we repeat a request because we think that the quality of a prayer is dependent on the quantity of words?
• Do we repeat a request because we think that God is ignorant and needs to be informed, or if not ignorant at least he is unconcerned and therefore needs to be awoken?
• Do we repeat our prayers because we believe that God is unwilling to answer and we must prevail upon him, somehow transforming a hard-hearted God into a compassionate and loving one?
• Do we repeat a petition because we think that God will be swayed in his decision by our putting on a show of zeal and piety?
These errors are like the priests of Baal.
But we persist in prayer because we know He cares for us and will hear us.
This is where the name and it claim crowd are so wrong.
Paul had a thorn in the flesh, probably a sickness but the fact he was not healed despite asking God three times about it was nothing to do with a lack of faith but of grace and God knowing what is best for us.
There are times to pray incessantly especially when disaster hits or when super critical decisions have to be made.
But God knows what we need before we ask and knows the best way to answer.
And sometimes God allows believers to suffer.
And sometimes when we want justice God’s patience with others is extended so that they have time to repent and so it seems God is slow to answer us.
But as we said at the beginning, this parable follows on from what Jesus said about a time of judgement coming upon this world very suddenly and then all things will have to be accounted for.
To conclude this parable, let us get the single main point:
if an unrighteous, secular judge will finally hear your appeals, how much more will your appeals be heard by your heavenly Father, who loves you and cares about you supremely.
If you say, “Father, help,” He will hear.
Believe that God is on your side—always.
10-13
Then Jesus follows up this parable with another.
The first is about persistence and God’s justice and the second is about humility for without it God will not listen to our prayers.
The point we need to get is that we must learn to depend upon God rather than ourselves.
In the world there is a feeling that God and others are not needed but let this not be true of us.
Again this parable is of contrasts.
We have a Pharisee who was confident of his own righteousness and looked down upon others.
He lived what seemed to be a righteous life but he trusted himself rather than God.
He felt superior to others.
He feels he is good enough for God just as he is.
He is doing enough good for God to accept him.
God could never reject him.
He does wrong, but not much, it’s not enough for God to reject him for eternity.
He is a self-righteousness.
He has enough goodness to make him acceptable to God.
He is another of those who think God is pretty lucky to have him around to look out for his affairs.
I’m sure he felt he would one day have enough stock to be a director in Heaven.
We read how he fasted and tithed more than anyone else who was not a Pharisee.
He is compelled to give himself to as many good works as humanly possible and all this work is to secure God’ favour.
He believes his good works are what makes him good and righteous and builds him up in the eyes of God.
He is striving for God’s acceptance.
So, the Pharisee and the tax collector comes to the Temple.
It may even seem surprising that the tax collector is there at all.
Public prayers were said at 9am and 3pm which were mostly in like a prayer meeting about general things in the world but they would also go up to pray personal prayers too.
Now we come to the substance of their prayers.
We read that the Pharisee, whilst it would seem he was praying to God was only praying to himself, out loud and for the benefit of himself in front of others.
He thanks God.
This is usual in prayer and should always be included in ours.
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