This story gives people a pause because while the point is obvious, the particulars are not.
Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’
“For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”
And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I 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?”
The point of the parable is clear – to show us we need to pray and not give up.
But the particulars? Is Go comparing himself with an unjust judge? That we need to weary ourselves before him so he doesn’t weary of us?
Actually the opposite is the case. God is comparing himself against the unjust judge. God, unlike the judge, will bring justice for his chosen ones. He will not put them off but rather they will get justice and will get it quickly.
That’s clear. He is saying basically if an unjust judge honors persistence, how much more will God who is a just judge, who loves his chosen ones, and will do so quickly?
Here’s the catch.
Why don’t we see justice when we pray for it and want it?
Murderers often get away with their crime.
Those who practice exploitation and extortion often get away with it.
Corrupt politicians often have no accountability.
So where is the justice? And where is the “quickly”?
Some have taken this to say that what Jesus is talking about is justice for those who have been martyred who cry out night and day for justice (Rev 6:9-11).
When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters, were killed just as they had been.
It’s possible that this could be the meaning because in Luke 18:18 the last verse talks about the Second Coming of Christ and wondering if he will find faith on this earth.
Another possibility is again to see it from an eternal perspective. Compared to eternity, this life we have now is barely a speck on the timeline.
We often say life goes by so fast. And it’s true. We will all die soon.
The LORD does guarantee justice after we die. He will met out justice. So that could be the other possibility. He will get justice, soon, in his time, and in eternity.
It’s a tough one to know for sure.
But coming back to the last phrase I think is important.
However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” (v. 8)
When we don’t get what we want in our timing, we tend to grow bitter and harden our hearts. We don’t believe God. We get hurt. And we really don’t have faith to believe that God will do as he says he will do. Mainly because his timing is different than ours.
But God calls us to have faith until the very end. Even when we do not see. It’s detailed like this in the chapter of the heroes of the faith:
All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. (Heb 11:13-16).
They were still living by faith when they died.
They did not receive the things promised.
Yet they still believed.
That’s truly what makes them special. They believed even when they did not see. And yet what they believed did indeed come to pass. Just not on their timetable or in their lifetime.
When we are focused on eternal matters and an eternal city and an eternal kingdom, time takes on a different reality. There is a different picture to be maintained.
I remember reading about a missionary in the Congo. He served for a lifetime and saw very few people give their life to the Lord. He came back feeling like a total failure. He eventually passed away.
What he didn’t know is that the gospel had taken root but not in his time. Missionaries came after him and found multiple followers of Jesus and thriving communities of faith. It was from this one man who died believing he was a failure.
The truth is there are so many things I want now. Good things, like justice.
But when I know that soon, in eternity, there will be justice for all matters, I can be at peace.
It doesn’t mean I stop praying. Because sometimes we do get those answers to prayer in this life.
But it also means even if we do not see it in our lifetime, we do not lose faith.
We will keep on believing.
We keep on Praying.
And we trust His character to the very end knowing that we will get what we need in His time.