Luke 18,1-14
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 wear me out 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?”
The Pharisee and the Tax Collector
9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and treated others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men — extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Hello everyone, I am Kiki. The Chinese name of the second phase of our program is “读经大讲堂.” The English name is “Bible Study.”
We will adopt a relaxed and enjoyable learning mode to take you into a new world of learning. Each time, I will make a personal summary and analysis from a learner’s perspective, and then Sister Ingrid will help me lead an in-depth discussion of the passage and its questions with everyone.
I hope this interesting and interactive process will bring you a fresh learning experience. Below is my interview with Sister on related issues. Today is the 50th lecture on the Gospel of Luke.
Everyone is welcome to leave a comment for discussion!
2. My Summary of the 50th Luke Study
Well, everybody! First, here is today’s personal study summary.
Jesus told two stories about prayer.
The first story is about a widow who kept asking a bad judge for help. The judge didn’t care about God or people, but because the widow never gave up, he finally helped her. Jesus says that if even a bad judge will help because of persistence, then God, who is good, will surely help his people who cry out to him day and night. So we should keep praying and never lose heart. But Jesus also asks a hard question: when he comes back, will he find people who still truly believe?
The second story is about two men praying in the temple. One was a Pharisee who bragged about how good he was. He thanked God that he was not like other sinners. The other was a tax collector who felt ashamed. He would not even look up, and he simply prayed, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” Jesus said the tax collector went home forgiven, not the Pharisee. Why? Because the Pharisee was proud, but the tax collector was humble.
So, keep praying without giving up, and pray with a humble heart. God lifts up those who know they need him, but he humbles those who think they are better than others.
Now let Sister Ingrid take the summary further.
3. Sister’s Comment on My Study Summary
Hello Sister,
When we read the first story, we have to ask ourselves who represents whom. The adversary is the devil, who is accusing us the whole time. The judge is God, who is hearing the widow’s case and who does not need to be accountable to anyone. God has the authority to do as he wants.
But there is a widow who represents a praying believer, who is claiming justice. Since God does not want to be seen as an unrighteous God, in the end he will give in — because she keeps coming, and if he were not just, she might, so to speak, strike him in the face, which at that time and place would have been the same as humiliation or an insult in the Middle East.
When we pray, God will answer too, but the reason we sometimes don’t hear the answer can be that we lack enough faith.
In the second story, we see a Pharisee and a tax collector. Both are praying too. The Pharisee tries to win God over by mentioning his good works, while the tax collector acknowledges that God is right to call him a sinner and begs for mercy.
God heard the prayer of the tax collector because he humbled himself. The prayer of the Pharisee was not heard, because God is not corrupt and does not respond when we try to buy him with our good works. So the Pharisee remained in his sins.
Both parables are a warning and an encouragement about how we should pray, and they show that God hears a humble and persistent prayer.
4. Questions Based on the 50th Luke Passage
Okay, based on the Bible study content above, let me now ask Sister some related questions. We hope the following questions will be helpful to our brothers and sisters.
1. Why did the judge finally help the widow? Because she kept coming again and again.
2. What does the widow’s story teach us about prayer? We should not give up, even when the answer does not come right away.
3. Does God always answer prayers right away? Why? Sometimes he delays for several reasons: he wants to test us, or evil forces stand against him. There can be many reasons why we do not see the answer right away.
4. What did Jesus mean when he asked, “Will he find faith on earth?” When Jesus comes, many people will have turned away from him. So he is asking: will there still be people who pray with faith, or will everyone have rejected him?
5. In the second story, why was the Pharisee proud? He was proud because he did so many good works and felt righteous.
6. What did the Pharisee say that showed he looked down on others? “God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.”
7. Why did the tax collector not even look up to heaven? He was ashamed and did not dare to look up to heaven.
8. What did the tax collector pray? How was it different? He did not mention a single good work — only that God should have mercy on him.
9. Which man went home justified (made right with God)? Why? The tax collector went home justified.
10. What is the main lesson about how we should see ourselves? We should see ourselves with humility. The Bible says that we are all sinners and lack the righteousness we should have before God. So we can only pray for mercy — nothing else — when we come before the throne of the Lord.
