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Copyright © 2012 J. Neely. All rights reserved.
Chapter 29 - Unjust Judge
Unjust Judge
Luke 18:1-2
1 And [de] he spake [lego] [kai] a parable [parabole] unto them [autos] [pros] to this end, that men ought [dei] always [pantote] to pray [proseuchomai] , and [kai] not [me] to faint [ekkakeo] ;
2 Saying [lego] , There was [en] in [en] a [tis] city [polis] a [tis] judge [krites] , which feared [phobeo] not [me] God [theos] , neither [kai] [me] regarded [entrepo] man [anthropos] : KJV-Interlinear
1 Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart, 2 saying, 'There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God, and did not respect man. NASB
Similar to the parable of the Persistent Friend, which we have already studied, and of which teaches that persistent prayer yields results for the things that you want and need in life, so this parable of the Unjust Judge will teach that persistence in prayer is essential in a world where there is absolutely no concern for the human condition.
This is the first of two parables in chapter 18, concerning the importance of prayer. The second parable is covered under the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Gatherer, found in the latter half of this chapter.
This parable deals with living in an adversarial world.
The judge described in this parable, cares nothing for the condition of the widow, nor of anyone for that matter. He cares nothing for God, his creator. He cares nothing for humanity, one of whom he is a part.
This is the jungle of the world. In a jungle there are many residents. Some passive, some ruthless predators, some leaches, some devious diseases and so forth. There is tremendous prejudice in the jungle. There is no favoritism either. As the jungle cares nothing for anyone. Some will have the power to rule for a while, but even those who are powerful will succumb to others in due course.
The judge is the law of the jungle. He judges at his leisure, and is not interested in what is right or wrong, but in whatever that conveniently crosses over his desk.
The widow is the helpless state of mankind. Without anyone to stand up for her, without any resources with which to stand up for herself. She is in a hopeless and helpless state. She can only depend on the arbitrary pleasure of the judge. With no one to stand in her place, she has to look outwardly to another if she is to obtain any relief. That outward look is to God, and through prayer That is the only source from which anyone can expect help in times of trouble.
The intent of this parable is to spur believers on, to concentrated and relentless prayer.
Psa. 68:5
5 A father of the fatherless and a judge for the widows, Is God in His holy habitation. NASB
But this prayer also has another application. Jesus Christ controls history. From time to time evil raises its deceptive head, and history seems like it will take a dangerously wrong turn for the worse. So then, God expects us to pray intensively. At the end of the parable, Jesus indicates that there might be found on earth in the end days (in the Tribulation at its end), no one praying to God.
We have been studying Revelation, and specifically the Tribulation, the last half of it. Recall that in the second half there will be such negative volition toward God, and there will be such horrendous evil in the world, that anyone who is to be saved with the Second Advent of Christ, will either be hiding out in the mountains or in some obscure place, or they will be defending themselves in a surrounded Jerusalem.
The bowl judgments are about to begin, and that is where we interrupted our study, to go through the Parables of Christ. These parables give us an insight as to the mental attitude of man, and more important, the lack of excuse of mans failure in history. We will be returning to our study in Revelation after we complete this Parable study. As of now, I think that there are only eight parables left in the study. This is the 26th parable so far in our study.
This parable follows a discourse in chapter 17, covering Lot and his family and the city of Sodom. That place was empty of doctrine. Even Lot, if you recall, was pretty weak in his spiritual life, but for the sake of Abraham's prayer, Lot probably would not have been saved.
But anyway, the state of Sodom was one of extreme godlessness. There were none in the city, nor even in the region who were worthy of being delivered. We all know what happened to those cities. They were blasted from existence. And everyone within their borders was also destroyed. Everyone except Lot and a part of his family.
So this is the setting of this parable. An environment of worldliness. An atmosphere of me first. A society of lust, power hunger, approbation, lies, and degeneracy. The state of human existence in a world which rejects God and doctrine, and which cares even less about mans plight. This is the state of every human being when they live in the jungle as we have many times described the world apart from God and the influences of the scriptures.
Hummm! Sounds a little like our current election campaign. What with phony documents, spray on tanning products, debaters rhetoric emphasizing appearance rather than substance, double talk and so forth.
Remember the rich man and Lazarus, where the rich man made arguments which implied something which was not true. He ignored the truth, and substituted his own version of truth - 'If only someone would come back from the grave to give warning!' A cute little request, but with a very devious agenda. 'It's Gods fault, not my fault.'
The world is full of deception. Many will follow the deceptions of those who seek power where they are not qualified for it. At times that false power will seem unchangeable and unstoppable. But we have a power which is far greater than anything in this world - prayer. And so we'll continue tomorrow with this parable of the unjust judge - an unfair world.
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