Sermon Commentary for Sunday, October 19, 2025

Luke 18:1-18 Commentary

The way this parable needs to be interpreted is given to us right at the beginning. Luke says that “Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart.” To keep doing something that doesn’t seem to be working—yet—and to not be discouraged to the point of giving up, are two postures that rely on trust. Specifically, trusting in God.

This parable compares opposites in order to emphasise the good character of God.

We find ourselves on the side of the lone widow advocating for herself in a system that’s been warped from its original purpose. On the other side is an unjust judge who holds all the power but instead of holding himself to his God-given standards, has taken advantage of his position and grown comfortable with apathy. Jesus describes the judge as someone who has no healthy fear and respect for God or others; his moral compass is clearly askew. In other words, he couldn’t care less about anyone besides himself.

Hence, it’s his own self-serving purpose that finally stirs him to action. The unjust judge reaches his breaking point as his comfort is disturbed by this woman who won’t give up her pursuit of justice.

The widow’s annoying persistence feels violent to him. The literal phrase in verse 5 for “wear me out” is “give me a black eye”! The judge thinks about how to get this situation back to the way he wants it—where he is left alone and this woman is out of his hair—and he realizes that though he doesn’t care about what God thinks, or how people view him, he will have to actually do his job and render a verdict in this woman’s case because he is tired of being pestered. Yes, he will do the right thing, but for the wrong reasons.

The unjust judge has to be forced to do the right thing by someone who shouldn’t have to work so hard. In God’s design, judges were meant to protect the vulnerable and to render justice. In Israel, a judge was more than a legal leader, a judge was also a spiritual leader (2 Chronicles 19.4-6). We ought to be able to trust judges!

But as Jesus goes on with the story, he juxtaposes this judge’s corruption with the goodness of God. The structure of the comparative comes to the surface as Jesus asks a series of rhetorical questions, beginning with, “And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night?” This strong double negative must be answered YES, OF COURSE! Of course God is more just and altogether more good than the human judge. Of course God is more trustworthy. Of course God will not delay in helping, of course he will quickly grant justice. All of these “of course” answers point us back to the reason Jesus tells this story: so that we would “pray always and not lose heart.”

The motivation for this story is also what leads Jesus to add his final rhetorical question. He wonders if he will “find faith on earth” when he returns. Can we deal with what is a “long” time to humans but “short” to God? Can we be persistent in doing and asking for what is right despite uncomfortable and difficult circumstances? Can we do what God designed for us as we live as part of his kingdom?

Giving up takes all kinds of forms. The widow could have given up and possibly had her lack of justice harden her heart. Who knows what the snowball or trickle-down effect of this event could have been. But there is also a real sense in which the unjust judge has given up. Even though his life likely looks and feels grand, he’s given up on the more fulfilling life that God intended him to have. He’s given up on a higher purpose and settled for baser things that will not last. He’s given up on believing that the God who made him is able to do immeasurably more through him than he ever imagined. He’s given up on demanding more from himself. He’s given up on community and he’s given up on God and faith.

For him, too, all it takes is that turn to prayer. He might have lost his heart, but God can give it back—and he doesn’t have to wait for the Second Coming for that. Amen.

Textual Point

Most scholars argue that verses 7 is best read eschatologically because of what Jesus says in verse 8. In other words, not all justice will be rendered for God’s people until the final judgment when Christ returns.

Illustration Idea

I’ve had a couple of friends who have been on the wrong side of their company’s downsizing or restructuring. One worked for a large Christian service nonprofit, the other for a massive tech company. Neither was treated justly in the process and had the unpleasurable experience of having to hire employment lawyers to petition for justice. That fact that it is more the norm that doing the right thing is hard to come by maximizes this comparative parable. Your company may finally “do” justice when it is forced to in a court of law, but will not God grant justice?

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