An Introduction (Gospel of Luke 18:1-34)
As Christ approaches the cross, He readies His disicples for what they would soon be facing. He was guarding them from hopelessness that might arise after seeing their hope disappear at the cross. Although they could not understand any of this, Jesus simply reminded them to keep praying even when things looked dark. The disciples were now facing another problem of self-righteousness.
Jesus exposed two kinds of self-righteousness, both of which are devasting. The first had to do with comparing themselves to others while the other was to think that they had fulfilled the law when in fact they were far from it. The disciples were as blind as the ruler, perhaps worst. Jesus told the disciples several times about His coming death, but they refused to listen. They insisted on living on in their dreams which would never be fulfilled, at least in their way.
Some of the six passages listed in this mini-series are probably very much influenced by the passages before or after it. We suggest that the last section (18:31-34) give us insight into their total lack of readiness, hence the importance of this chapter's teachings.
Handling Hopelessness
The persistent widow – a lesson on persistent prayer
Luke 18:1-8
Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart, saying, “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God, and did not respect man. “And there was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me legal protection from my opponent.’ “And for a while he was unwilling; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection, lest by continually coming she wear me out.’” And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge said; now shall not God bring about justice for His elect, who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them? “I tell you that He will bring about justice for them speedily. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:1-8, NASB).
As we look at the whole chapter and the context at the end of Jesus' earthly ministry before His sufferings (Triumphal entry is in Luke 19), we should be aware of the way Jesus is preparing His disciples for the drastic changes that they soon would face. He is quietly preparing them as He is preparing us.
The Lord in the same way is addressing all of us so that we would be ready any dark times ahead of us. It is at the difficult times, we need to persevere. When it is dark, remember the dawn is coming. When things seem hopeless, it is just at that time we need to keep on praying.
• Have you ever faced a situation where you thought about giving up praying? Explain. Did you give up?
• Why do people give up hope?
• What is Jesus’ point of the parable of the judge and the widom as said in Luke 18:1?
• Describe the parable in Luke 18:2-7. If you can, act it out!
• What are the key components of this parable (Luke 18:2-7)? How might we face them in our lives?
• Why would the Lord compare God with an unrighteous judge (Luke 18:6-8)?
• Why might God’s people cry out day and night (Luke 18:7)?
• Why does God delay help to His people? (Note: how they have to keep crying out).
• What is the answer to Jesus’ question, “Will He find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:9)?
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“That at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart” (Luke 18:1).
• Have you accepted the fact that one day you might face some serious problem without immediate resolve? How might you handle that? In Job’s case, his wealth, family, friends and health were stripped from him.
• Why does God allow such things happen to His people? What should our resolve be in such cases?
• What will the end of the world be like (cf. Luke 17:20-37)? If many people fall away, will you join them? How do you know? Can you be sure?
Jesus is preparing His people for the worst. He knows things will drastically change for the worse (18:31-34). His days on earth are limited. Once gone, they must live by faith.
Faith is essential to communion with God. Without faith, we have no hope. The strength of our faith comes from the time we spend with Him each day. Satan tries to bring dire circumstances on us so that we will lose faith and stop praying. God, however, wants to keep us praying because He wants to do great and mighty things through our prayers. It is not us doing the great things, but Him. We are reminded of His great power as we day and night cry out to Him in prayer and see Him answer prayer in His time.
Darkness will come. Will we continue to pray?
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