Hi all,
Jesus has been talking about the goodness and generosity of our heavenly Father.
He started in Luke 11:2-4 with the Lord's Prayer, when the disciples had asked how to pray. The theme throughout His instruction in prayer is that one, requests go to the Father, and two, He is good, giving and generous. He starts by stating the Father does give us our daily bread, forgives our trespasses, and doesn't lead us into evil. To support He teaching He taught the Friend at Midnight parable. He teaches a hypothetical situation in which a man who has unexpected visitors, goes to his friend's house at midnight for some food. Jesus' point was that the man won't get out of bed for friendship, but will due to his friend's bothersome knocking.
He gave that parable as an example of an opposite to the giving heavenly Father in the preceding Lord's Prayer. First the Lord's Prayer, then the reluctant friend, concluding:"But I say to you all who ask will find, all who seek will receive, all who knock will have the door opened to them.
Jesus concludes His teaching about the goodness of the Father in Luke 11 with this, in verses 11-13:
11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead?
12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?
13 If you then, though you are evil (Gk:sinners), know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
This concludes His lesson about the goodness of our Father. When we look at Luke 11:1-13 as a complete teaching, we see that verse 13 circles around to the Lord's Prayer, that He does provide our daily bread, does forgives us our sins, doesn't lead us into evil. Again using contrasts, stating if a basic sinner knows how to give good gifts to His children, how much more will our heavenly Father give us the Holy Spirit (by implications the things of the Spirit)?
The unjust judge:Luke 18:1-8
The parable again uses contrasts to teach the Father is a good and patient Father, but if we don't set it in its context we will miss the larger point Jesus is trying to make. At the end of Luke 17 Jesus had been teaching about living right, living with expectation of His return and kingdom. Chapter 18:1 starts:"Moreover He spoke a parable that people ought to pray and not lose heart." The Greek word translated 'moreover' is the conjunction 'de', a conjunction being a word that connects a previous sentence with the current one. It means 'moreover, in addition to, indeed now, on top of that'. He is continuing His teaching about living right, living like we expect His kingdom to come at any moment. Within that context He teaches a parable about how we should pray (about these things) and not lose heart.
Luke 18:1-8
18 In addition to that, Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.
2 He said:“In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought.
3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’
4 “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think,
5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”
6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says.
7 Won't God bring about justice for his people, who cry out to him day and night, with whom He is long-suffering?
8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
Here again Jesus uses opposites to teach the goodness and patience of the Father, and in this parable, of Himself.
He tells of a judge who is corrupt. The judge doesn't regard the law, doesn't fear God, doesn't care what anyone thinks. In Judaism first century, this is the worst kind of man, and yet he is a judge. A widow comes to him with a just case, but he refuses to give her justice based on the principles of law and rightness. It is only after he observes 'because this widow keeps bothering me I will see she gets justice so she doesn't get angry and start attacking me!" The Greek word 'attacking me' here is 'hupopiazo' and means 'to strike in the face'. In the parable, the corrupt judge was worried that she might hit him, she was so intense in her continual returning to the judge for justice.
Many a preacher and reader have stopped there and thought Jesus was saying the Father in heaven is the unjust judge, but nothing could be further from the truth. Here Jesus makes His point:"Listen to what the corrupt judge says. And won't God bring about justice for His own people who cry out to Him day and night, with whom He is long-suffering? I tell you He will see they get justice. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith in the earth?"
His last rhetorical question about will He find faith on earth upon His return, ties this parable into chapter 17:20-37's context of conditions on earth when He returns. It isn't about now. It isn't about you and I praying for something that doesn't get answered. The context of the Parable of the Unjust Judge is about the conditions on earth in the last of the last days before Jesus' return - during the tribulation. BUT...it once again shows the patience and in Greek, long-suffering of the Father.
The word 'long-suffering' is the Greek word 'makro-thumeo' (makrothumeo). Macro is the maximum, in contrast to 'micro'. It is defined:"Longsuffering is that quality of self-restraint in the face of provocation which does not hastily retaliate or promptly punish. It is the opposite of anger, and is associated with mercy, and is used of God in Romans 2:4, I Peter 3:20, and in the Septuagint (Greek translation of the Old Testament) in Exodus 34:6. (W.E. Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words)
When Jesus says in verse 7:"Moreover, won't God bring about justice for His people who cry out to Him day and night, with whom He is long-suffering?" reads like this in the Greek:"Moreover (on top of that) shall not God execute the avenging of the elect of Him crying to Him day and night with whom He is 'exercising self-restraint in the face of provocation which does not hastily retaliate or promptly punish'? I say He will execute the avenging of them with quickness. Nevertheless, the Son of Man indeed when He shall have come, will He find faith in the earth?"
This parable encourages us to pray and not to lose heart, for there will be ultimate justice. We may not see it in this life, but Jesus assures us when the time comes, justice will come swiftly. It can be likened to the Father's instructions to the multitude of martyrs in The Revelation 6:9-11. They were before the Father's throne crying out for justice and vengeance against those who had murdered them. The Father told them it will be a little time yet, and they were given the white robes of righteousness and told to wait. So even after dying and going right to heaven, there are people before the Father asking for justice to be done on the earth...Jesus' point here in Luke 18:1-8 is that though it may not come immediately, justice will in fact be brought to those who have done evil. And in that we can take heart. All things will be made right in the end.
New subject next week, until then, blessings,
John Fenn
cwowi.org and email me at [email protected]
Jesus has been talking about the goodness and generosity of our heavenly Father.
He started in Luke 11:2-4 with the Lord's Prayer, when the disciples had asked how to pray. The theme throughout His instruction in prayer is that one, requests go to the Father, and two, He is good, giving and generous. He starts by stating the Father does give us our daily bread, forgives our trespasses, and doesn't lead us into evil. To support He teaching He taught the Friend at Midnight parable. He teaches a hypothetical situation in which a man who has unexpected visitors, goes to his friend's house at midnight for some food. Jesus' point was that the man won't get out of bed for friendship, but will due to his friend's bothersome knocking.
He gave that parable as an example of an opposite to the giving heavenly Father in the preceding Lord's Prayer. First the Lord's Prayer, then the reluctant friend, concluding:"But I say to you all who ask will find, all who seek will receive, all who knock will have the door opened to them.
Jesus concludes His teaching about the goodness of the Father in Luke 11 with this, in verses 11-13:
11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead?
12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?
13 If you then, though you are evil (Gk:sinners), know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
This concludes His lesson about the goodness of our Father. When we look at Luke 11:1-13 as a complete teaching, we see that verse 13 circles around to the Lord's Prayer, that He does provide our daily bread, does forgives us our sins, doesn't lead us into evil. Again using contrasts, stating if a basic sinner knows how to give good gifts to His children, how much more will our heavenly Father give us the Holy Spirit (by implications the things of the Spirit)?
The unjust judge:Luke 18:1-8
The parable again uses contrasts to teach the Father is a good and patient Father, but if we don't set it in its context we will miss the larger point Jesus is trying to make. At the end of Luke 17 Jesus had been teaching about living right, living with expectation of His return and kingdom. Chapter 18:1 starts:"Moreover He spoke a parable that people ought to pray and not lose heart." The Greek word translated 'moreover' is the conjunction 'de', a conjunction being a word that connects a previous sentence with the current one. It means 'moreover, in addition to, indeed now, on top of that'. He is continuing His teaching about living right, living like we expect His kingdom to come at any moment. Within that context He teaches a parable about how we should pray (about these things) and not lose heart.
Luke 18:1-8
18 In addition to that, Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.
2 He said:“In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought.
3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’
4 “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think,
5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”
6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says.
7 Won't God bring about justice for his people, who cry out to him day and night, with whom He is long-suffering?
8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
Here again Jesus uses opposites to teach the goodness and patience of the Father, and in this parable, of Himself.
He tells of a judge who is corrupt. The judge doesn't regard the law, doesn't fear God, doesn't care what anyone thinks. In Judaism first century, this is the worst kind of man, and yet he is a judge. A widow comes to him with a just case, but he refuses to give her justice based on the principles of law and rightness. It is only after he observes 'because this widow keeps bothering me I will see she gets justice so she doesn't get angry and start attacking me!" The Greek word 'attacking me' here is 'hupopiazo' and means 'to strike in the face'. In the parable, the corrupt judge was worried that she might hit him, she was so intense in her continual returning to the judge for justice.
Many a preacher and reader have stopped there and thought Jesus was saying the Father in heaven is the unjust judge, but nothing could be further from the truth. Here Jesus makes His point:"Listen to what the corrupt judge says. And won't God bring about justice for His own people who cry out to Him day and night, with whom He is long-suffering? I tell you He will see they get justice. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith in the earth?"
His last rhetorical question about will He find faith on earth upon His return, ties this parable into chapter 17:20-37's context of conditions on earth when He returns. It isn't about now. It isn't about you and I praying for something that doesn't get answered. The context of the Parable of the Unjust Judge is about the conditions on earth in the last of the last days before Jesus' return - during the tribulation. BUT...it once again shows the patience and in Greek, long-suffering of the Father.
The word 'long-suffering' is the Greek word 'makro-thumeo' (makrothumeo). Macro is the maximum, in contrast to 'micro'. It is defined:"Longsuffering is that quality of self-restraint in the face of provocation which does not hastily retaliate or promptly punish. It is the opposite of anger, and is associated with mercy, and is used of God in Romans 2:4, I Peter 3:20, and in the Septuagint (Greek translation of the Old Testament) in Exodus 34:6. (W.E. Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words)
When Jesus says in verse 7:"Moreover, won't God bring about justice for His people who cry out to Him day and night, with whom He is long-suffering?" reads like this in the Greek:"Moreover (on top of that) shall not God execute the avenging of the elect of Him crying to Him day and night with whom He is 'exercising self-restraint in the face of provocation which does not hastily retaliate or promptly punish'? I say He will execute the avenging of them with quickness. Nevertheless, the Son of Man indeed when He shall have come, will He find faith in the earth?"
This parable encourages us to pray and not to lose heart, for there will be ultimate justice. We may not see it in this life, but Jesus assures us when the time comes, justice will come swiftly. It can be likened to the Father's instructions to the multitude of martyrs in The Revelation 6:9-11. They were before the Father's throne crying out for justice and vengeance against those who had murdered them. The Father told them it will be a little time yet, and they were given the white robes of righteousness and told to wait. So even after dying and going right to heaven, there are people before the Father asking for justice to be done on the earth...Jesus' point here in Luke 18:1-8 is that though it may not come immediately, justice will in fact be brought to those who have done evil. And in that we can take heart. All things will be made right in the end.
New subject next week, until then, blessings,
John Fenn
cwowi.org and email me at [email protected]
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