Luke 18 English Standard Version

The Parable of the Persistent Widow

1 And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. 2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. 3 And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ 4 For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” 6 And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. 7 And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? 8 I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

In other translations nevertheless is replaced with however or but. Only one translation uses the verbiage, “The question is;” in truth the use of any of those translations is pointless.

Pointless synonyms: otiose, purposeless, senseless, superfluous, wasted. worthless. lacking in usefulness or value. adjective. not having a point especially a sharp point.

What if Jesus had said “When I come again will I find faith on earth?”

The immediate question would have been “Are you leaving us?” Towards the end of Luke 18 Jesus tells His disciples for the third time about His death.

Luke 18:34 But they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.

I will come to the point: sometimes God hides meaning because we are not ready to hear it.

Sometimes God shares things with us that are not to be shared because while one or two of us are able to handle the truth, it may damage the faith of others.

Luke 1:20 “And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.”

When the time is right the words will come.

• Isaiah 25:9 It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”
• Isaiah 33:22 For the Lord is our judge; the Lord is our lawgiver; the Lord is our king; he will save us.
• Isaiah 37:35 For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.”
• Isaiah 46:4 even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save.
• Isaiah 49:25 For thus says the Lord: “Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken, and the prey of the tyrant be rescued, for I will contend with those who contend with you, and I will save your children.

There is something to be said about exactly what God will do. Promises are kept. God is trustworthy.

Now let us personalize what God has done in keeping His Word to us as individuals. That is our witness because it happens on a personal level and not a global way.

God answered my first prayer in a way that only God could. He was instant in answering that prayer. It happened to me but no one else saw what happened, because it happened inside me. He changed me, instantly.

Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. I wasn’t there, I didn’t see it. Others saw it and believed, but it did not happen to them. When God reveals Himself in a real way and no one sees exactly what happens, who will believe our report? Only those who already believe.

I have told unbelievers about my miracle and the kindest thing any of them said in reply was “Good for you.” Most thought I would say anything to make them change their mind about God.

Who is looking for God?

Now that is a very personal question. We will never know without getting personal with people. That means we have to make ourselves available.

How busy are we? Too busy to get personal?

I cannot answer that question for anyone but myself.