As we have journeyed through the first three Gospels, we have seen that there are many passages that appear in all 3 writings or at least in 2 of them. The common material is sometimes given a unique emphasis to suit the Gospel writer’s purposes for writing his account of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. In today’s blog, I want to focus on a passage that we only find in Luke’s Gospel. It is the Parable of the Persistent Widow (Luke 18:1-8).

Persistence Is The Key

We mentioned a couple of days ago that one of the themes that Luke emphasizes is prayer. For example, we read that the extraordinary birth of John the Baptist was a result of prayer (Luke 1:13). His parents Zechariah and Elizabeth were well along in years (Luke 1:18) when John was conceived and born. We get the sense from Zechariah’s conversation with the angel Gabriel, that maybe he and his wife had prayed for many years for a child, but because of Elizabeth’s advanced age, they had stopped praying.

Yet the Lord honored their prior prayers and gave them their heart’s desire. He answered beyond their desires. John ended up being the forerunner of the long-expected Messiah and the greatest of all the prophets before Jesus came on the scene (Luke 7:28). Zechariah and Elizabeth’s experience with prayer highlights the need for persistence. I think there are many prayers of believers that are not answered right away. Not only that, but I believe the Lord has answered many of His people’s prayers in this world after the praying person has died.

In the Parable of the Persistent Widow (Luke 18:1-9) and in another Parable we only find in Luke, the Parable of the Friend at Midnight (Luke 11:5-13), the explicit teaching of Jesus is the need for faithful persistence in prayer. We are to keep asking, keep seeking and keep knocking. “For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks the door will be opened” (Luke 11:10). This is a promise from Jesus’ own mouth and heart.

In the Parable of the Persistent Widow, it is prefaced by these words in Luke 18:1:”Then Jesus told the disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.” Even an unjust judge will respond to the persistent petitions of a seemingly powerless widow. It’s like Jesus teaches us that even though this woman was powerless in men’s eyes, because she was faithful in prayer, she was powerful with God. Some of the most powerful people in our society are godly 80-year old women, who may have no teeth, who have learned to gain a hearing with the LORD of the universe. They scare the be-jabbers out of the powers of darkness.

Will Jesus Find Faith When He Comes?

The Parable of the Persistent Widow closes with these words of Jesus: “However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth? (Luke 18:8)” I think that question is a challenge issued by Jesus to his followers. As we experience the present Pandemic Crisis, I am reminded of the Lord’s words in Haggai 2:6,7 where he says “I will once more shake the heavens and the earth……….I will shake all nations, and then the Desired of All Nations will come.” I believe that this is a prophecy of Jesus’ first coming and second coming. Just like God shook the world and Judea in Christ;s first coming, so will he shake the earth in Christ;s second coming.

Are we ready to be faithful and fruitful in difficult times, or will we give in to dissipation? Will we be navel-gazers or idle sky watchers, rather than faithful stewards of God’s revelation and power? (See the Parable of the Ten Minas in Luke 19:11-27). In Luke 19:34-36, we read these words of Jesus:

Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. For it will come upon all those who live on the earth. Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.

Let us keep asking and seeking and knocking for God’s purposes to be realized in this world. Let’s keep asking the Lord to help us to live according to the values of God’s Kingdom and not man’s kingdom. Let us ask the Lord to open the hearts of loved ones who don’t know Him. Let us faithfully represent who God is in this world without arrogance of any kind. O Lord, help us, we pray!

QOTD: Are you persistently asking, seeking and knocking on God’s door for His Name to be glorified and His purposes to be realized in this world?