Parable of the Talents

Today in our series on the parables, today we are going to study the parable of the unjust Judge in Luke 18:1-8. This parable at its core is a story about persistence. More specifically this will be a story about persistence in prayer. In many cases when we reimagine this parable, we retell the story in a 21st century context. However it really won’t be necessary with this parable. This parable would be understood in the first century in the same way we view it today. Let’s read our passage of scripture today.

READ Luke 18:1-8

Luke 18:1–8 ESV

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

So we have a judge that really doesn’t care about God, nor did he care about people. This is disconcerting news. You have a judge who doesn’t care about the author of laws and morality. You would expect a judge of all people to hold himself to the standards of the one who wrote the laws of the land. Yet it isn’t the case with this judge. Not only does the judge NOT care about God, but he doesn’t really care about people either. We are getting a pretty clear picture of who we are dealing with here. This judge doesn’t care about justice, he cares about the status afforded to him by his position. This judge isn’t concerned with anyone else but himself.

However this judge had a thorn in his side. A widowed woman who was obsessed with getting justice for her late husband. It’s entirely possible this judge would have resided in one of the many cities of refuge in the land of Israel. According to Old Testament law, six cities of refuge were to be established to protect those who’ve killed a person accidently. In other words people who committed manslaughter could find refuge in one of these six cities.

It’s entirely possible this woman's killer has sought refuge in one of these cities. The widow knows nothing can be done to her husband's killer until the judge makes a ruling. Which is why this widow constantly approaches this judge and pleads with him to grant justice against her adversary. The judge initially refuses. Remember the judge doesn’t care about God or people. This judge is in his position for the benefit of one person, himself. The plight of this widow means nothing to him.

Illustration You can almost imagine how this widow would begin to annoy this judge. He walks into his office in the morning, and he asks his secretary Susan. “Hello Susan, how many meetings do I have today? She responds by saying. Well after lunch you have 2 vineyard owners in a dispute over land. You have a capital murder case at 10 am. You end the day with a decree nisi regarding a divorce.” The judge responds with “Excellent Susan, is that everything?” Susan hesitates. “Well no, that widow is asking about her husband again.” The judge is immediately annoyed. “Oh no, not her again! She won’t leave me alone with this. Every week it's the same, it really is starting to grate at me! Do me a favor, when she gets here, tell her I’m not in my office please.” Susan looks down at the floor and says,”sir she’s already in your office waiting for you.” The judge sighs, slumps his shoulders, and opens the door. He’s immediately met with pleas “Your honor please, my husband's killer has asylum in your city. Convict him so I can have justice against him. The judge responds “Miss Whitaker, I really don’t have time to address every trivial matter, take this up with someone else.” The judge then asks her to leave. However for the widow, this matter is far from trivial. The way this judge rules could affect the rest of her life, and who is responsible for her care. So every week she requests a meeting. Finally one day the judge thinks to himself. “You know what, not only is this woman really annoying me, but her pleas for justice are getting outside attention, and it’s making me look bad! I will give her what she wants, so she will finally leave me alone!! So the judge grants her request, and she finally gets the justice she deserves.

Do you remember the scene in Shawshank Redemption when Andy Dusfrene finally gets the necessary funds to improve the prison library? Andy had been sending letters to the state, requesting funds for a long time. He would send them a letter a week. The state would finally respond by sending him used books for the prison, and a check for 200 dollars. In the states reply they said “We trust this will satisfy the needs for your library. We now consider this matter closed. Please stop sending us letters! Andy had annoyed someone with his letters so much,they finally gave in to his requests. When Andy realized this he said “Next time I will send 2 letters a week!

In this parable, Jesus isn’t comparing the actions of the unjust judge to anyone. Instead he contrasts his actions.

This is classic “lesser to greater” logic. We apply this logic in our lives often. Let’s suppose you go fishing with a group of people. One of the people in the group is a banker who’s never been fishing in his life. He catches a fish on his first cast. What’s your first thought probably going to be? “Well if this banker catches a fish on his first cast, then I SHOULD have really good luck and catch a lot of fish today.

If a really bad football team can win 6 out of 16 games. Then a good football team should at least win 10 out of 16 right?

Jesus is basically saying “If the unjust judge is willing to honor someone's request because they annoyed them enough, do you really think a God who loves you, and cares for you will ignore your requests? Or perhaps think of it this way. If an unjust judge is willing to hear a person's petition because of their persistence, how much more will God be willing to hear the requests of those whom he loves?

This passage would have been controversial for the people in the 1st century. Jesus was giving us Carte Blanche to “nag” God with our requests. We are given permission to be as persistent in our prayers as we need to be. We just aren’t given permission, we are encouraged.

We read this in 1st Thessalonians 5:17

1 Thessalonians 5:17 ESV

pray without ceasing,

We read this in Ephesians 6:18

Ephesians 6:18 ESV

praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,

There is never a wrong time to pray, nor a wrong thing to pray for.

We are given Carte Blanche to approach God with our requests, and we are given Carte Blanche to approach with persistence.

Christians take advantage of this wonderful opportunity and gift. Don’t be shy. Pray in the spirit on all occasions, and with all types of prayers and requests. And do this persistently