The Parable of the Pagan Judge

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?”

This parable cannot be interpreted in a vacuum. We cannot jump straight into this parable and properly understand it apart from the preceding paragraph. Before Jesus begins his parable regarding the widow’s persistence before the pagan judge we have to understand what Jesus was teaching previous to this parable. The end of chapter 17 sets up the parable in the beginning of chapter 18. For this reason, turn with me to Chapter 17 verse 20 and read with me to the end of the chapter.

Luke 17:20–34 ESV

Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.” And he said to the disciples, “The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. And they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them. For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. Remember Lot’s wife. Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it. I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left.

Luke 17:20–24 ESV

Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.” And he said to the disciples, “The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. And they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them. For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day.

Luke 17:

What is Jesus teaching on at the end of this chapter? What is the question he is answering for the Pharisees? They want to know when the kingdom is coming! Right off the bat he tells them the kingdom of God is not coming in a way that can be observed…for the kingdom of God is in the midst of you. In other words, the kingdom is not coming to overthrow the government and set up a militaristic religious state. Instead the kingdom of God is in your presence as I have come to preach the good news and reign in the hearts of men.

Then he turns to his disciples and reminds them that there day when they want to see the Son of man, but he will not be there, because before the day comes when lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, when the Son of Man has his day, he must first suffer and be rejected. We know what Jesus is talking about, the day when he was given over to man, the day when the Son of Man became the slain Lamb of God for the sins of the world. It was on that day that he was buried in the tomb that the disciples would think they hopes in the Messiah had been crushed. But, three days later he rose from the grave appearing to them again reminding them He was the guarantee of their hope. But he did have to leave them again, 40 days later he gave the disciples their great commission and ascended to the right hand of the Father ruling and reigning his kingdom from his heavenly throne.

As we come to verse 26

I. The Purpose of the Parable (Vs 1)

I. The Purpose of the Parable (Vs 1)

Luke 18:1 ESV

And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.

Luke 18:1

II. The Pagan Judge (Vs 2)

Luke 18:2 ESV

He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man.

III. The Persistent Widow (Vs 3-5)

Luke 18:3–5 ESV

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.’ ”

Luke 18:

IV. The Promise of God’s Justice (Vs 6-8)

Luke 18:6–8 ESV

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?”

Luke 18: