“God’s anonymous: the persistent widow”
Luke 18:1-2
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus.
For some reason, and I’m really not sure why, there are quite a lot of court shows on TV, programs that started way back in the 1940s, just as television was becoming more and more popular.
Now there had already been a handful of courtroom radio dramas like The Court of Human Relations, narrated by an actor-judge named Percy Hemus and A. L. Alexander’s Goodwill Court, that featured real-life cases and defendants.
But as TV quickly took the place of radio, there were suddenly courtroom shows of all kinds, like Your Witness, Famous Jury Trials and The Black Robe, not to mention Perry Mason, The Verdict is Yours, Trial by Jury and The Court of Last Resort. Then in the 1980s and 90s, we had The People’s Court, featuring Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Joe Wapner and On Trial with Raymond Burr. Even Nickelodeon got into the act with something they called Kids’ Court, with cases decided by “the honorable Judge-O-Meter,” which was really just an applause meter.
And if all that wasn’t enough, today we have court shows of every imaginable shape and kind! With her saucy, “on your best day, you’re not as smart as I am on my worst day,” approach, there’s Judge Judy Sheindlin, as well as Judge Joe Brown and Judge Mathis and Judge Alex and Judge Hatchett and Judge Jerry, (as in Jerry Springer!). And now, since the beginning of January, Judge Steve Harvey has premiered yet another court show using, he said, “good old common sense to resolve small-claim disputes, big-claim disputes and everything in-between.”
For whatever reason, it seems we just can’t get enough of court TV!
The Bible has its own share of courtroom dramas too. Think, for example, of Moses in the book of Exodus. As crowds of people kept coming before him demanding justice, he was overwhelmed, till his father-in-law, Jethro, said, “What you are doing is not good. You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out” (Exodus 18:17-18). So he said, “Look for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe…and let them judge the people at all times” (Exodus 18:21-22).
Or think of one of the best-known court cases of all time found in the book of I Kings chapter 3. It’s where two mothers who lived in the same house said that one of their babies had been smothered, yet both claimed that the living son was theirs. So which mother was the real mother?
And what did King Solomon say? He said, “The one says, ‘This is my son that is alive, and your son is dead’; and the other says, ‘No; but your son is dead, and my son is the living one.’” Then he said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other.” And as only one of the women begged him to let the child live, he instantly knew which one was the real mother.
Now here in the book of Luke chapter 18, Jesus tells a story, a parable, about a woman and an unjust judge. I’ll start at verse 1: “And He told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, ‘In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, “Give me justice against my adversary.” For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, “Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming”’” (Luke 18:1-5).
Across the pages of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, Jesus told as many as thirty-eight different parables about, for example, a sower who went out to sow his seed. While some seed fell on the path where birds came and ate it up, other seed fell on rocky soil and thorny soil and good soil. He told of ten young women--five who were ready and five who were not. He told of a Pharisee and a Tax Collector, a rich fool, a Good Samaritan, a lost sheep, a lost coin and a lost son.
Now here in the words of Luke chapter 18, He tells of a persistent widow and an unjust judge.
To better understand this story, let me take you back in time to Jesus’ time, to right about 30 A.D.
Historians tell us that, in those days, judges traveled from place to place and held court in tents. And not only did they set their own agendas, the only way to have your case heard was to bribe one of the attendants to bring it before the judge.
In other words, if you had a lot of extra pocket change, there was a pretty good chance you’d get your “justice.” But if you didn’t, well, lotsa luck.
Also, you should know that in Jesus’ day, widows, not to mention women in general, were the most vulnerable of anyone in society. They were powerless and oppressed, not to mention obvious and frequent targets of exploitation by those who were in power.
In his book, Stories with Intent: A Comprehensive Guide to the Parables of Jesus, author Klyne Snodgrass writes, “Since women typically married in their early teens, widows were numerous, but not necessarily old. And widows were often left with no means of support. If her husband left an estate, she did not inherit it, although provision for her upkeep would be made. If she remained in her husband’s family, she had an inferior, almost servile, position. And if she returned to her family, the money exchanged at the wedding had to be given back.” And he wrote, “Widows were so victimized that they were often sold as slaves for debt.”
So you see, if a woman were to lose her husband in first-century Israel, she was suddenly in a very precarious and downright vulnerable situation. Not only did she lose her natural protector, she also lost her place and position in society, landing her squarely on the very bottom rung of the social ladder.
So what happened to this woman, this widow, in Jesus’ parable? It could have been quite a lot of things, like maybe someone owed her money, or she faced an unfair eviction from her home, or relatives had cheated her out of an inheritance. Whatever it was, with no money, no inheritance and no home, she was forced to face the most disastrous of consequences--either hoping to work at some meager-paying job for the rest of her life or begging or worse.
But she had a chance--one chance--of finding justice. So taking that one small chance in her otherwise completely empty hands, she went to see a judge.
But there was a problem. As Jesus said: “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man” (Luke 18:2).
But that’s not at all the way it was supposed to be. After all, God, in His Word, had said: “You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to Me, I will surely hear their cry” (Exodus 22:22-23). And, “Cursed be anyone who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow” (Deuteronomy 27:19). And, “Learn to do good: seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause” (Isaiah 1:17).
But none of those words seemed to matter in the least because this judge cared nothing for God and nothing for anyone else but himself. And having no sense of honor and not even a hint of shame, he had absolutely no time for this poor widow and her claim.
He was unequal, unjust, unfair, unethical, unreasonable, unscrupulous, unprincipled and unconscionable. And if she were to ever expect to get any kind of justice, she’d be a whole lot better off to go somewhere else, because there was no possible way she would ever get it from him.
And notice, she didn’t ask for any kind of advantage. All she wanted was justice. “Give me justice against my adversary,” she said.
Back in the mid-1800s, artist John Everett Millais engraved what he called, The Unjust Judge and the Importunate Widow.
And in that engraving, he pictured the judge sitting down with his legs crossed on a throne-like cushioned chair. He’s wearing fine clothes, comfortable pointed slippers and a jeweled hat. His right hand pushes the woman away, while his left hand is upraised--in effect, telling her that he’s heard enough and that his answer is no. He turns his head away from her, and his smiling face reflects his pride and arrogance.
Meanwhile, a guard grabs her with both hands, trying to drag her away. A secretary sits on a cushion on the floor next to the judge’s chair, holding a tablet on his lap and a pen in his hand. And looking up expectantly, and even sympathetically, at the woman, he’s waiting to see what, if anything, will happen.
Beside the judge stands a servant holding a fan, another sign that, unlike the woman, the powerful judge has every comfort available to him.
At the center of it all, is the widow herself, the only woman in a room filled with men. She’s isolated and powerless, begging, hoping and praying desperately that justice will be done.
Finally, in the back, stands one man, looking out of the picture, challenging and even accusing the viewer, saying, “What will you do? How will you respond to this importunate widow?”
But the story’s not done. As Jesus said in verse 4: “For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming” (Luke 18:4-5).
“Beat me down,” he said. “Exhaust me.” “Wear me out.” In the original, the word can even be translated, “strike me in the face” and “give me a black eye.” “Because she keeps bothering me and even beating on me,” he said, “I will give her justice” (Luke 18:5).
So why did Jesus tell us this story about a persistent widow and an unjust judge? Luke wrote in verse 1: “And He told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart” (Luke 18:1).
And that’s the challenge and the opportunity for every one of us--to pray and to not give up.
Paul wrote to the Ephesians, “On all occasions, pray in the Spirit with all kinds of prayers and requests” (Ephesians 6:18). He wrote to the Thessalonians, “Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing” (I Thessalonians 5:16-17). And he wrote to the Romans, “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, constant in prayer” (Romans 12:12). And the book of Hebrews says, “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).
You’ve heard of the Serenity Prayer? Back in the early 1930s, American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr wrote, “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.”
You know that part. It’s a prayer that’s been prayed by millions around the world. But what you may not know is that there’s more, for he also wrote, “...Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time, accepting hardship as a pathway to peace, taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it, trusting that You will make all things right, if I surrender to Your will, so that I may be reasonably happy in this life, and supremely happy with You forever in the next.”
“Pray,” Jesus said, “and never give up.”
Before we leave this text, let me mention one more thing. This story about a persistent widow and an unjust judge is about prayer and how we should never give up.
But for just a moment, let me turn it upside down. You see, whenever we read it, we imagine that we’re the widow and that God is the judge. But what if it’s the other way around? What if God is the “widow” and we are the “unjust judge”?
For very much like that judge, we, by ourselves, have no fear of God nor respect for people. We put ourselves and our own agendas far above that of anyone or anything else. And if truth be known, every one of us is just as unfair, unethical and unreasonable as that unjust judge.
But just like that widow, our God is persistent in His love for us. By His rich and undeserved grace and mercy, He hopes to wear us down and to break down our defenses. He begs us and pursues us to follow Him.
Will you open your heart to Him?
You have invited us, dear Father, to constantly come before You in prayer. Help us to open our hearts to You, for You have opened Your heart to us, for Jesus’ sake. Amen