Sometimes Jesus told stories that included the bizarre in order to capture his audience’s attention and teach spiritual truth. The story of the guy with the log sticking out of his eye is a great example of this. But as we close our PRAY 10 series this coming Sunday here at Grace Church we are going to see another story that includes a somewhat bizarre scenario that Jesus told in Luke 18 to teach His disciples about prayer.
But first let’s be sure we understand why Jesus told this story. What was the purpose behind it. We learn in verse 1 that the purpose was twofold. First, Jesus told this parable so that His disciple would pray as a priority. And second, Jesus told this parable so that His disciples would pray persistently. He doesn’t want them to “lose heart.” In other words, He told this story so that when it came to praying, even if it didn’t seem like it was accomplishing anything, they wouldn’t get discouraged and quit. Galatians 6:9 tells us to never get tired of doing good because in do season we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t get discouraged and give up.
Now with those two purposes in mind, let’s move on to the story Jesus told. There are two main characters. First, there is a judge. Now this would be more of a circuit-riding judge who travelled around from town to town, pitching his tent for a few days to conduct legal affairs. We learn two very important characteristics of this judge in Jesus’ story. First, he had no fear of God. Second, he did no respect of men. Now that makes sense, doesn’t it? This guy doesn’t fear God nor does he respect men so let’s make him a judge. But nonetheless, in the story that is what this circuit-riding judge is like.
The second main character in the story is a widow. Now remember that in that day and culture widows had a difficult time making ends meet. This widow obviously had an opponent who was taking advantage of her situation. So, hearing that the judge was in town, she came to ask him for protection against her opponent.
It is important to note that this woman would have had three things going against her in trying to get this legal protection. First, as a woman she was not allowed to go inside the court. She would have had to speak from outside the tent. That may seem unfair but you need to understand that in that day and culture, women did not have a high standing. They were not allowed to testify in court. Also, as a widow she had no husband to stand up for her. That would have been the process. Her husband would have been her advocate. She had none. And from the appearance of things, there was no other male relative who could or would stand up for her either. And finally, as a widow she would have most likely been poor meaning she would have been unable to pay any type of bribe which was fairly common practice in that day as well.
Now here is where it gets bizarre. With all this against her, what does she do? The Bible says she kept coming (note the continual, persistent action) and she kept asking the judge for the protection she needed. Now if she could not enter the court, how would she do that? Be sure to read my posting for tomorrow for the conclusion of the story. This is where it gets bizarre but there is an amazing principle we can learn from this story that Jesus told about prayer.
But first let’s be sure we understand why Jesus told this story. What was the purpose behind it. We learn in verse 1 that the purpose was twofold. First, Jesus told this parable so that His disciple would pray as a priority. And second, Jesus told this parable so that His disciples would pray persistently. He doesn’t want them to “lose heart.” In other words, He told this story so that when it came to praying, even if it didn’t seem like it was accomplishing anything, they wouldn’t get discouraged and quit. Galatians 6:9 tells us to never get tired of doing good because in do season we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t get discouraged and give up.
Now with those two purposes in mind, let’s move on to the story Jesus told. There are two main characters. First, there is a judge. Now this would be more of a circuit-riding judge who travelled around from town to town, pitching his tent for a few days to conduct legal affairs. We learn two very important characteristics of this judge in Jesus’ story. First, he had no fear of God. Second, he did no respect of men. Now that makes sense, doesn’t it? This guy doesn’t fear God nor does he respect men so let’s make him a judge. But nonetheless, in the story that is what this circuit-riding judge is like.
The second main character in the story is a widow. Now remember that in that day and culture widows had a difficult time making ends meet. This widow obviously had an opponent who was taking advantage of her situation. So, hearing that the judge was in town, she came to ask him for protection against her opponent.
It is important to note that this woman would have had three things going against her in trying to get this legal protection. First, as a woman she was not allowed to go inside the court. She would have had to speak from outside the tent. That may seem unfair but you need to understand that in that day and culture, women did not have a high standing. They were not allowed to testify in court. Also, as a widow she had no husband to stand up for her. That would have been the process. Her husband would have been her advocate. She had none. And from the appearance of things, there was no other male relative who could or would stand up for her either. And finally, as a widow she would have most likely been poor meaning she would have been unable to pay any type of bribe which was fairly common practice in that day as well.
Now here is where it gets bizarre. With all this against her, what does she do? The Bible says she kept coming (note the continual, persistent action) and she kept asking the judge for the protection she needed. Now if she could not enter the court, how would she do that? Be sure to read my posting for tomorrow for the conclusion of the story. This is where it gets bizarre but there is an amazing principle we can learn from this story that Jesus told about prayer.
1 comment:
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