THE PERSISTENT WIDOW
Text: Luke 18:1-8
There is the story of a woman who prayed for one of her bride’s maids salvation for fifty-three years before her prayer was answered. (Kelly Douglas. If God already Knows Why Pray? Brentwood: Wolgemuth and Hyatt, Publishers, Inc., 1989, p. 159). I have heard countless stories like this through my lifetime. Such a story tells us about the devotion of a friend who will stop at nothing until her friend has accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior. What would have happened had her friend given up in that prayer request? That is a question to ponder. More importantly still, what happens when we give up? The parable about the widow and the unjust judge can help us to answer that question. This parable is a parable about prayer.
There are times when we are like the widow in this parable. We know what we need, but we have to keep going in the direction of getting what we need through prayer. We cannot be in control of things beyond our control which is why we need God’s help because He has power over all things. How often do we pray for God’s help with those things?
THE FREQUENCY OF PRAYER
When we talk about the word "frequent" or "frenquency" we are talking about the number of times something happens. How often did this widow pray? She continued beg this judge, who appears to be a Gentile for justice. She wanted alleviation from her adversary. We are not told the circumstances of her adversary or how he was oppressing her. But, we are told that his oppression is unjust. She bothered this judge over and over again to get the justice that she was entitled to but also deprived of. The help that she needed was at the mercy of this judge.
Let us consider the plight of widows in the days of Jesus’s earthly ministry. As we know, women had sort of a second-class status in that day. In recent days, due to the rising conflict in the Middle East, we have seen how much freedom women have in the Islamic religion. That portrayal is similar to how things were for women in the days of Jesus’ earthly ministry. That brings us back to the widow in this parable. She had no husband or son standing with her in court to help her plead her case for justice. Her case was obviously in the realm of the Gentile court system, because under Jewish law, cases were taken before an elder in a Jewish context and not a public court system. William Barclay noted that "...under Jewish law one man could not constitute a court. What usually happened was that the plaintiff chose an arbitrator and the defendant chose another and then a third was appointed who would act as chairman and who would have the casting vote" (And Jesus Said. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1970, p. 114 ). She was having to fight for what was hers as a Jew in a Gentile court system without the aid and advice of a lawyer.
The element of longsuffering that proved to be in her favor was her frequency of prayer. She had no advantage or advocate in her favor. She was on her own to plead her case. The judge would not hear her. But, she would not remain silent. Jesus tells us that this judge cared neither for man nor God. If you have ever seen Judge Judy on TV, then you will not be surprised if someone described her as looking like she had a sour face. The judge that this widow faced made Judge Judy look like Mickey Mouse as far as justice was concerned under his ruling. Although Judge Judy might have a sour looking face most of the time, it seems that she does at least try to give rulings that are just concerning her litigants, in spite the sensationalism of a TV court show.
The court system that the widow went to for justice was a corrupt system. There were litigants who would stand outside the court room disputing as to who should have preference. The more prudent litigants whispered to the secretaries and paid bribes that were called fees. When the greed of one of these secretaries had been gratified, they would whisper to the judge who would promptly call the case (Jesus Said. p. 115). "Officially, they were called Dayyenah Gezeroth, which means judges of prohibitions or punishments. Popularly they were called Dayyenah Gezeloth which means robber judges" (William Barclay. The Daily Study Bible Series: The Gospel Of Luke- Revised Edition. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1975, p. 222 ).
Now if you think about this system, its corruption and the widow’s helplessness, you get the idea that she seemed hopeless. Hopeless though she may have been, she was also persistent. Barclay notes that the widow epitomizes symbolically those that were both poor and defenseless (The Gospel Of Luke. p. 222). What is striking about this widow was not the fact that she was a potential victim of exploitation as widows often were, but that she publicly and persistently cried out for justice. (John R. Donahue. The Gospel In Parable. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1988, p. 182). Despite how desperate she was, she would not resort to bribery (Donahue, p. 182). The rationale behind her reasoning in refusing to resort to bribery was for one or two reasons. Number one, she refused to degrade herself by following a corrupt way to obtain what was just, even if she had the money to do so. Number two, as a widow, she was somewhat destitute to begin with.
THE NECESSITY OF PRAYER
Sometimes people might be persistent but not sincere. St. Augustine once prayed for purity but also said "but not yet." His prayer was not sincere. He was praying for purity before he really desired it. However, later on, as we know from what history tells us, St. Augustine did one day have that prayer answered, but only when he meant it from the heart as he went on to become one of the most influential church leaders of the western world in the fourth century.
Another necessity of prayer is that we do our part in helping our prayers to get answered. The woman did not have the option of sitting back and watching things fall into place. It was necessary for her to go and plead her case before this judge over and over again because otherwise her plight would not have been known. She was her only advocate which necessitated that she speak on her own behalf in order to get the justice from the oppression of her adversary. James 4:2 makes the point that we do not always have what we need because we do not always ask God for it in prayer. James 4:3 makes the point that when we do ask for something but do not receive it it is because we are asking with the wrong motives.
THE REWARD OF PRAYER
Her persistence paid off. After being turned away so many times, it seems that this persistent widow would have given up and resigned to accept her fate and either lose some or all of her land and be "... faced with poverty and starvation of her rights are not respected" (Donahue p. 182). To say that her case involved a dispute over her land could be nothing more than mere speculation since the story does not tell us what her situation was. Regardless of what her situation was, it was obviously that what she needed was genuine justice----justice would truly be just. She was the only advocate there was for her own rights. Though she may have gotten frustrated, she never quit being persistent until she made sure that her case was heard and justice was granted. Instead of the judge wearing her down by refusing to help, she wore him down by refusing to give up.
Just this week I read of the story of a Danish noblewoman, namely Baroness Blixen whose character was made known in the movie Out Of Africa. She lived in Kenya as the owner of a large Coffee plantation. There was a tribe known as the Kikuyu tribe that Blixen had grown to love. Some of the Kikuyu lived on a part of the plantation. As a result of financial obstacles that followed World War I, Blixen lost the plantation as well as that part of the plantation where the Kikuyu lived. The new land owner was not concerned with anything but the land. This lack of concern meant that the Kikuyu would be a tribe without a home. Blixen lacked the money to buy back the land that she had lost. She then tried to take her cause to preserve the land of the Kikuyu tribe before government agencies but to no avail. The movie Out Of Africa, then depicts her passion and compassion for the Kikuyu tribe at a reception of the new Governor of Kenya. She was shameless in her endeavor as she disregarded “protocol” bypassing others in the crowd until at last she went to the Governor himself , fell on her knees, grabbing the governor’s hand as she pleaded for the Kikuyu. Guests who seemed to be embarrassed by her actions tried to get her up as continued to persist that the governor look into the matter as she asked for him to give her his word. It was then that the Governor’s wife stood up and stated, “You have mine” (word). She succeeded. (Douglas F. Kelly. If God Already Knows, Why Pray? Brentwood: Wolgemuth & Hyatt, Publishers, 1989, pp. 155-156).
Unlike the unjust, ungodly judge, God cares for us far beyond our ability to comprehend. God knows what you and I are in need of and He wisely answers our prayers according to His will what is best for us as the answer to our prayers. God can see things from an all-knowing (omniscient) point of view. God cares about our well being, unlike the sentiments of the unjust judge in this story who cared neither for man nor God. Jesus’ point in this parable is that if this arrogant unjust and ungodly judge can be worn down to answering the prayers of a widow who seemed insignificant to him, then how much more will God who cares for us answer our prayers in accordance with His will as to what is best for us. The unjust judge saw that he was going to have to yield to her in order to have peace. There was nobody that she could bribe, nor did she have the money for a bribe. She did the only thing that she could which was to be persistent. God knows the number of hairs on our heads (Matthew 10:29-31). He even knows us all by name (John10:3). God even knows what we are in need of even before we pray (Matthew 6:8). What God wants us for us to trust Him.
