Sermon Index
October 16, 2022
In today's parable there are two characters, the judge and the widow. The judge was clearly not a Jewish judge, after all he says, "I don't fear God or care about men." Also, all ordinary Jewish disputes were taken before the elders, and not into the public courts at all. So maybe the widow's suit was not of Jewish law or against a fellow Jew. The judge was a paid magistrate appointed either by Herod or by the Romans. Such judges were notorious. Unless a plaintiff had influence and money to bribe his or her way to a verdict, they had no hope of ever getting their case settled. These judges were said to pervert justice "for a dish of meat." [People even punned on their title. Officially they were called, (in Hebrew) Dayyaneh Gezeroth, which means judges of prohibitions or punishments. Popularly they were called Dayyaneh Gezeloth, which means robber judges. The difference in pronunciation is "ro" and "lo," so they would sound the same in Japanese!]
The widow was the symbol of all who were poor and defenseless. (See Isaiah 1:17.) Usually widows were poor and without resource of any kind. The widow couldn't bribe him, so she had no hope of ever getting justice, or even a hearing, from such a judge. But she had one weapon--persistence. The NIV Bible translation is okay when it reads, "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!" But the Greek Bible expression is stronger. The word translated "wear me out" is "give me a black eye!" (upwpiazh me) It may be just an exaggeration, like "to be a pain in the neck," or the judge may have feared actual physical violence, that she might attack him as he came out of court, or something. He is more afraid of her than he is of God!
Jesus is not saying that God is like the judge, rather he is contrasted to the judge. The point is that if even a judge like this grants a widow's petition, how much more will God, to whom widows and defenseless people are a primary concern, grant the petition of the disciples' prayers. So, as verse one says as an introduction and explanation, "Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up." And Jesus concluded, asking, "Will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly."
It is a matter of patience. This is patience, not just in the idea of quietly waiting for a long time, but in the idea of "long-suffering," of not giving up in the face of difficulties. It is like the Japanese word "Gambate," "Stick in there!" And Jesus calls this patience "faith." He asks, "However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"
Like the judge, our patience has limits. Does our faith have limits also? Do we give up when it seems that God is taking too long to answer our prayers? Do we give up on other people when it seems that someone is bothering us so much to be a pain in the neck or that they actually might give us a "black eye," how much patience do we have? When will we give up, how long will our faith last? How much patience do we have toward other people before we strike out against them? How long can we put with the injustice of the world before we retaliate or work to correct the injustice, or compromise and just give in to it? How long will we pray and wait for God before we lose faith?
When the Son of Man comes will he find faith on earth? If he looks at our worn out, heartless impatience, no, he won't. Very few of us are like the widow who prays constantly with assurance. Because we give up. Our selfishness makes demands and demands that only we are correct. Maybe the problem is not that God doesn't answer soon, but that we don't like his answer, because we are asking for what we want. We pray until we get discouraged or disgusted and give up. And when we give up on God, our struggle becomes god-less and hopeless.
We may start like that widow. We know we are helpless and so pray to God. But when we get tired and our patience gives out, then we need a new "widow" to pray for us. Jesus becomes like the long-suffering widow for us. In a miscarriage of justice, he is abandoned upon the cross, but he does not cease to make a plea for our justice. Of course, you can argue whether it was a miscarriage of justice or not. The Jews condemned him because he said he was the Son of God. But he really was the Son of God. Pilate condemned him because he was the King of the Jews. But he really was the King of the Jews. They judged him and put him on the cross, but the real Judge that day was God the Father. Jesus had the sins of the world on himself. And so God condemned him as a Sinner. And God the Father gave the correct judgment. This was true justice. This justice is made because when Jesus takes the sin of the world upon himself, he receives the punishment that justice gives. He dies in place of us. Like the widow, he pleads for us, and this plea is indeed heard by the Father, the righteous judge. And we receive justice against our adversary, against death and the devil. And we are given life.
When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth? Yes, because we are waiting for him to come. "Thy Kingdom come," we pray. "Thy will be done," we pray.
When we call upon God in prayer, we are not praying to a crooked judge (God does not take our bribes of offerings, good deeds, or vows), but rather we pray to a loving Father (who gives what we need the most, especially the Holy Spirit). We have confidence in our prayers because Jesus is like that persistent widow. He keeps on praying for us. We are persistent in our prayers, because Jesus is persistent in his love toward us.
Amen.
Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church