“ALWAYS PRAY AND NOT GIVE UP”
Luke 18:1-14
Key Verse 18:1
“Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.”
Last week Jesus shared surprising facts about the kingdom of God, a reminder of his upcoming suffering and a frightening hint of some future calamity comparable to the flood of Noah’s time and destruction of Sodom. The kingdom of God was not a utopia like many expected. On the contrary, the time when the Son of Man is revealed will bring a swift judgment that separates people in a devastating way. One will be taken and another left. Many will be so busy with their plans, professions and other things that they never give any thought to Christ who died for them. They will be left behind to face the judgment day while those longing to see the Son of Man return will be taken to his kingdom. Right after this, Luke records two parables about prayer. One showcases a widow nagging a judge for help and the other shows two men praying in the temple about God’s grace. They seem related to the disciples’ expectations about God’s kingdom. But, since we have not seen Jesus appear like lightning yet, we should also wonder how we can follow Jesus’ examples in our day as well.
SLIDE In verse 1 Luke’s preface says the first parable had specific intention to show Jesus’ disciples “that they should always pray and not give up.” To understand the instructions, it is especially important to remember the context from the last passage when he told them they would long to see one of the days of the Son of Man but would not see it. He also warned them of false Christs here and there who would lead people away from the true hope for eternal life. It’s very discouraging to see family, fellow workers and friends led astray after many years sharing the good news. Some disciples might feel like they gave up everything for nothing if they did not see Jesus come like lightning in their lifetime. Apostle Paul worried many would give up the true gospel in favor of Judaic influences and he saw some run away who loved this current world. Jesus knew their future included times of despair so he challenged them with the story of the widow vs. the unjust judge.
SLIDE 2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.'” There is no explanation of the woman’s case, only the three characters, one judge who lives way above the law himself, very selfish and seems untouchable by anyone. He is a ruthless, greedy scoundrel who won’t even look at a case until he gets a big check from one side or the other. The second character is the pitiful, but so diligent widow who has an absolutely open and shut case to plead. The whole town knows she is 100% in the right; but they are ambivalent about her suffering. They know how it goes with the judge. However, with her widow’s income, she can never make the bribe high enough to have the judge act. So the neighbors often tell her, “Stop wasting your time. What’s the big deal over your petty little case anyway. Just move on and forget it.” The average person would have given up long ago. The last character is her adversary, who is also crooked and heartless. Somehow they scammed the widow and expected her to cry and give up. For them to bribe the judge in their favor would be 100 times more expensive than even satisfying the widow so they hoped to lay low, waiting for the widow to stop complaining.
There is a similar story from coworkers who were building a church in Ukraine. The building had windows and doors, and winter was coming, so they needed a gas pipe to turn on the heat. But the town official would not give them a permit to connect the gas pipe without a bribe. The church members had no money, but one shepherd had a widowed mom who loved the Bible. She followed the example and would not stop bothering the officials and judges daily, several times demanding a permit. In both cases, the widow kept coming to the judge with her plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’
SLIDE Verse 4 says, “for some time he refused.” When nothing happened the widow would see the judge in the temple and around town and tried to be nice. “Good morning Judge, have you had a chance to review my case to grant me justice against my adversary?” He smiled and said, “We are working on it.” But time went by with no action so she started to be on the street as he came and went to work each day saying, “Please grant me justice against my adversary today.” After several months of this, the judge was trying to find ways to sneak out the back door and took an extra long vacation to avoid the widow. After some time away, he thought everything blew over, but when he came back to work he saw the widow marching around the courthouse with a sign, “No justice, No peace” and he learned she had been there every day while he was hiding.
SLIDE It seems almost comical, but finally, the judge said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!'” The nagging widow finally got the case resolved though she was the least fortunate and most disadvantaged person among three characters. Jesus used the extreme disparity between the characters to illustrate the believers future situation where they stand in his place, as the least appreciated witnesses for God’s kingdom. Almost everywhere believers have to stand up for Jesus they end up like the widow, facing the society and opposition entities that actively try to silence or avoid them. To deal with opposition and despairing situations, Jesus asked the disciples to consider the unjust judge’s conclusion and compare his action to their father in heaven.
SLIDE Look at verse 6-8. “And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and age to night? Will he keep putting them off?” 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. Jesus implies that God considers his chosen ones cries for justice very precious and he will ensure their case is resolved favorably. God is not indifferent or corrupt, waiting for selfish benefits or bribes to move on behalf of his chosen ones.
When considered out of context it might seem like an empty promise because there are many believers languishing in prisons and many suffering persecution and rejection all their lives. When Jesus says swift justice will be theirs we hope everyone suffering for their faith may be acquitted in a moment and all believers prevail in every situation, even miraculously escaping as needed. But the reality is continual persecution. Even many Christians with political authority outlaw and persecute other believers as heretics and apostates all throughout history. It is why context is so important.
SLIDE The last part of verse 8 provides the big picture context. Jesus asked, “However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” It connects this parable to the previous lesson about the Son of Man coming like lightning, implying that believers at the time of Jesus coming might be rare. It may be hard to find those who endure suffering on account of Christ if the people melt into society, keep silent about salvation and generally abandon God for material things and their own ideas. Looking at the Son of Man’s coming as the day of justice for those Jesus relates to is challenging because we prefer to see results right now and we can grow weary of crying out day and night for justice.
SLIDE Apostle John saw one scene that resembles this calling in Revelation chapter six verse 9-11. There many souls of souls who had been slain because of the word of God and their testimony were crying out for justice. “How long, O sovereign Lord….” They were told to wait a little longer, even near the end of time, until the rest of their fellow servants and brothers would be slain as they were. That gives a hint that there will be faithful people alive at the end. Though Jesus says they will have justice quickly, they have been crying out for thousands of years and they were asked to wait a little longer. It reminds us that God’s time is not like ours. Even a thousand years are just like a day for God. Let’s be among the faithful on earth today who cry out day and night when we pray for those who are suffering and getting killed for their faith in our times.
SLIDE There is another “out of context” case that may cause confusion for believers when trying to implement Luke’s preface in regard to their personal prayer topics. Many believers pray to win the lottery and other kinds of success, some pray earnestly for their loved ones miraculous help and other divine interventions. When those things don’t work out as we prayed, believers may feel embarrassed or even get arrested. SLIDE On the other hand, there are others, maybe a minority, who pray for something and it works, even winning the lottery. One mom prayed and bought a lottery ticket. She won 9 million dollars. One islamic jihadist’s brother got sick and no doctor could help. For some reason they asked the Christian pastor to pray and the brother was healed. The jihadist and his brother turned to Jesus. One missionary said farmers might see their prayers for rain answered the most, because they can’t do anything but pray until it rains. Overall, the inconsistent reliability applying Luke’s lesson for these kinds of prayers may indicate it is not what Jesus had in mind.
SLIDE Based on the things Jesus mentioned, we can see what to pray about and what not to give up hoping for. The widow’s words were “justice against my adversary” and Jesus’ promise for God’s people was that God “will see that they get justice” swiftly, but the ultimate fulfillment was described as “when the Son of Man comes.” We should have these contexts in mind when joining the widow in crying out to God and when temptations abound and persecutions heat up. Apostle Peter wrote, “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” This Bible version wrote enemy, but it is the same word as the widows adversary. So the larger context should always be praying to overcome Satan’s temptations and stand against his accusations thanks to Christ our savior’s amazing grace.
SLIDE Since the Bible study headline and key verse mentioned persistent prayer, I took a side journey through Luke’s gospel to see what other things Jesus specifically instructed his disciples to pray about, along with justice and perseverance illustrated by this parable. I expected many more, and there are a few more in other gospels, but Luke only included a few verses showing specific prayers and prayer topics.
Luke 6:28 “… pray for those who mistreat you.”
Luke 11:2-4 2 He said to them, “When you pray, say: ” ‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. 3 Give us each day our daily bread. 4 Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation. ‘ “
Luke 11:13 “… how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Luke 18:10 & 13 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'”
Luke 21:36 “… 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.”
Luke 22:32 But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”
Luke 22:40 On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.”
Luke 22:46 “Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.”
The first prayer topic he wrote was for those who mistreat you. It is most opposite to our nature but if we try to practically live by the instruction to “always pray”, we should have the troublemakers on our mind all the time, asking God to forgive them and lead them to his kingdom, even through our Bible study. The Lord’s prayer is very humble, desiring just daily provisions, yet at the same it is very bold, asking for the greatest graces toward mankind, God’s kingdom coming and forgiving our sins. It is the most practical application and highest calling to always pray for these things. In chapter 11, Jesus encouraged his followers to ask for the Holy Spirit to inspire them in godly life and lead them to the truth regarding his word and hope for them. We consider the tax-collectors example next, but it’s worth noting that the prayer topic listed there (forgive us our sins…) matches one line of the Lord’s prayer in general urgency and application. In Luke 21:36, Jesus asks them to pray they may escape all that is about to happen which relates to persecutions and the end of Judaism. And that they may stand before the Son of Man, which focuses on the day of his coming to judge the world. Jesus’ prayer for Simon found in Luke 22, is included just as an example of how believers should pray for each other: that their faith may not fail and to strengthen each other every day. It is just what Luke encouraged us to do. Even Jesus practiced what he preached. The last two mentions from the garden of Gethsemane, also repeat the important aspect of the Lord’s prayer about temptations.
Throughout his gospel book, Luke recorded mostly practical things to always pray about. Based on frequency of reminding, to avoid temptation seems like the most mentioned, so should be often exercised. Of course there are always other things beyond what God has revealed in the Bible to pray about. There are personal or situational cases or some goals or needs for a ministry or an individual, but those might not always be God’s ultimate plan or hope.
SLIDE Let’s look at the next story Luke provided. Let’s read verse 9. “To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: …” It’s not specified if it is the same conversation among Jesus and his disciples or a different scene where there might be some critics or opponents listening. In reality however, those attitudes described are almost universal in people all over the world. Listen to Jesus describe the self-righteous character and see if it reminds you of anyone. 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men–robbers, evildoers, adulterers–or even like this tax collector.” Jesus chose a Pharisee for the self-righteous character. Did he remind you of anyone? A former Pharisee described the group as the strictest sect of Judaism in Jesus’ time. They studied hard and did everything they could think of to implement the standards of conduct and behavior that are outlined in the Bible. They might be enviable for their amazingly good example of living up to God’s expectations. The Pharisee even sounds realistic, thanking God who helped him rise above temptations and pitfalls so that he did not turn out to be a bad apple like the tax collector. It’s very easy to fall into this sort of trap. It used to be very common for strangers to confidently talk about their righteousness when asked if they heard that Jesus can save them from their sins. They might say, “I’m not a bad person. I’m not a mass murderer. I don’t need Jesus’ help.” It is a very common attitude. It gets especially tricky for believers too. When they put their trust in Jesus and their hope in eternal life, the tempting things of the world seem dimmer and less appealing. They hope to invite everyone to God’s kingdom but when their wordly neighbors disagree and cause trouble, believers might look down on the lost souls, rather than have compassion on them. Soon believers might even give up inviting the strange looking people to Bible study because they don’t want sinful influences infecting the children. In a big, politically empowered group it can lead to all kinds of trouble. The biggest problem of all however, is that self-righteousness actually drives lost sinners away from God. If you are confident of your own righteousness, or if you’ve looked down on someone recently, listen to Jesus describe the second worshiper in verse 13.
SLIDE Let’s read verse 13. “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'” The tax-collector’s temple visit was much different. He stayed in the back of the room, just inside the door. It’s not only because he was generally disliked, but he found himself unworthy to approach God when he entered the temple in his own righteousness. He privately acknowledged his failure to accomplish all God’s directions and felt a sense of shame, and feeling of condemnation.
His prayer only mentioned himself without making any comparison to others. There is surely somebody who was worse than the tax-collector but he did not look around to establish his own standard of good and evil. He only saw himself in the presence of the holy God, kind of like Isaiah in the temple realizing he was undone, without anything to brag about. He realized and admitted he was a sinner. But he also experienced an interesting hope and made a unique request “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” A message from our Chicago chapter shared a little word study about his request for mercy.
SLIDE Pastor Mark said, “It’s not the usual Greek word for mercy, which is used often in the New Testament. This Greek word is much more rare. It literally means “make propitiation” or “atone for my sins.” Sometimes, mercy is just to let a person go free. There’s no justice in that. But in this mercy, this atonement, God’s justice is satisfied and his wrath is turned away. This is what the tax collector is asking for. It points to what Jesus is going to do for all sinners like him. He’s going to offer his own body and pour out his own blood to bring us God’s mercy, the forgiveness of our sins. In this way, we no longer need to go to a temple; we can go straight to Jesus himself for this mercy.”
SLIDE Jesus says in verse 14, “14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God.” According to Jesus, the tax collector is an example of saving faith and prayer for justification, in the sight of God for our own sins. We cannot earn God’s favor by our mountains of good deeds because there is always a sin that condemns us, maybe just one tiny little sin that nobody noticed. So, we have nothing to brag about and no way out because “the wages of sin is death.” But thank God we can approach him by faith and ask him to let Jesus’ death on the cross be our propitiation or atonement for our sins.
SLIDE Look what Jesus said in the last part of verse 14. “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” The tax-collector is a good example of praying humbly for God’s mercy. But it should not be a one time way of appearing before God. Self-righteousness is a very sneaky attitude that makes us proud so we look down on others. Pastor Mark said, “Even after a lifetime of serving God, we don’t build up a spiritual resume that makes us worthy of God’s mercy. At every life stage, we can only come to God humbly as a sinner like this tax collector and ask his mercy in the grace of Jesus.”
SLIDE Let’s read the key verse for today’s passage again. “Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.” There are three examples of people praying in today’s passage. Two good, one bad. The widow got justice against her adversary, the Pharisee wasted his breath bragging about himself and the tax-collector who went home justified by God. The widow showed us that we must alway pray and not give up and the tax-collector showed us that we all need God’s divine help to survive his demand for justice against all sinners. Let’s always pray and not give up on Jesus’ prayer topics and examples while we do our best to humbly share his amazing grace with everyone..